DIGITAL ORGANISATIONS
Introduction to the course - What is a digital organisation?
A digital organisation implements technology or information systems.
Examples of information technologies:
- Enterprise Applications (ERP, CRM, SCM)
- E-commerce and M-commerce
- Collaboration systems
- Business Intelligence and Analytics
- Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging digital solutions (AI, Cloud, Augmented and Virtual Reality, …)
Succesful technology implementation requires more than buying and installing software.
- The availability of information technology doesn’t guarantee the correct usage of this technology.
- Building digital organisations requires more that the mere implementation of information
technology.
→ Technology is only one piece of the puzzle.
- Digitizing organisations is an architectural exercise with following building
blocks:
- Technology: components we need to ‘construct’ the building (as in the
example)
- Organisation: the people need to be trained for the technology
- Management: giving direction, making plans and strategies, management
to follow up
- Implementing information systems and technology alone does not deliver a
competitive advantage.
A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage. (DEFINITION)
Stategies for a competitive advantage:
- Lowest cost: Think of Ryanair building an application to easily guide its customers in their
journey. This is more cost effective than hiring people to solve customers problems.
- Product leadership: The Tesla application makes it possible to do really cool things with the car,
think of pre-cooling etc. This isn’t really cost effective, but they surely are leading this market.
Also the app that comes with the car isn’t made to make less costs, but to implement cool features
like pre-heating the car
- Customer and supplier intimacy: Netflix uses personalised recommendations to make the
customer experience more intimate.
Give these companies a certain amount of money, and they will all spend it differently. If we want
to digitise organisations, we need to know their strategic objectives.
Role of information systems:
- Supporting the current course.
- Technology is primarily seen to support in achieving pre-defined strategic objectives.
, - Supporting the current path.
- Emphasis is on optimisation and automation: doing better at what you are doing already.
- Technology is seen as a cost center (Ryanair).
- Driver for fundamental change.
- Technology is seen as a driver for stategic change.
- Instead of supporting the current path, technology is a driver to reshape the path itself.
- Emphasis is on innovation and transformation.
- Technology is seen as source of competitive advantage.
- Source of new companies and industries.
→ certain businesses will pop up, think of carpooling applications, but that will affect
carwashes for example, or will we still need to build 2 garages in houses, etc. Tech can
lead to new businesses, but at the cost of others.
Disruptive impact of new industries and business models.
- Banks & bank clerks?
- Translators?
- Cashiers & stores?
- Truck drivers & driving schools?
- Owning a car?
- Professors?
Example: KODAK was a camera company, but completely missed out on the technological and
digital revolution. They missed the digital transformation after actually starting it. An engineer at kodak
invented the digital camera, the company said that the quality was lower, the company had many factories
with camera rolls, so they filed for bankruptcy shortly after.
Triple P
→ The Triple Bottom Line framework goes beyond traditional measures of profit and additionally
includes environmental and societal dimensions to measure investment results in a more comprehensive
manner.
Profit: maximising profits for shareholders.
People: creating value for all stakeholders, highlighting a firm’s societal impact and
committment to people (including customers, employees, and community members).
Planet: positive impact on the planet.
A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage and create stakeholder value. It is a never-ending story. Think of Apple
who is constantly innovating.
In today’s fast-paced technological landscape, organisations must continuously monitor technological
innovations and their impact on:
- Own organisation: what are the opportunities in supporting our current strategy or enabling new
strategies?
- Competitors: how do our competitors adopt these innovations and what risks does this bring to
our organisation?
- Customers: how do customer requirements and behaviour evolve?
- Society: what does society expect from technological innovation? (sustainability)
- Government: What about evolutions in legislations? (AI act, companies need to report how they
use AI)
,A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage and create stakeholder value in a rapidly changing environment.
You will all work in a digital organisation.
- There is no such thing anymore as a non-digital organisation.
- Non-profit sector
- Public sector
- Start-ups
- Established firms
- You will be critical elements of digital transformations:
- As a consultant, guiding and advising companies.
- As a manager, responsible for digital transformation leadership and decision-making.
- As an employee, digitally transforming your daily activities.
- Business-IT fusion: everyone digital.
- From purchasing to production and sales.
- From production operator to CEO.
- From junior to senior.
- AI fastens business-IT fusion.
- War for digital talent, capable of leading and implementing digital transformations.
Goal of this course:
- Prepare you to work in a digital organization.
- Prepare you to drive digital transformations.
- By providing you with digital literacy.
- By introducing you to all building blocks of a digital organization.
- By giving you as much examples from practice as possible.
, 1 Business and IT strategy
Reminder: Examples of information technologies:
- Enterprise Applications (ERP, CRM, SCM)
- E-commerce and M-commerce
- Collaboration systems
- Business Intelligence and Analytics
- Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging digital solutions (AI, Cloud, Augmented and Virtual Reality, …)
Information technology investment.
WHY WOULD A COMPANY INVEST IN IT?
→ Business and IT strategy:
1. Strategic business objectives of information systems.
2. Porter’s competitive forces model.
3. Disruptive innovation model.
4. Value webs, synergies, corecompetencies, and network-based strategies.
5. Digital transformation framework.
1.1 Strategic business objectives of information systems
Five strategic business objectives for which firms invest heavily in information systems:
1. Operational Excellence:
- Companies that excel in this discipline are known for their reliable, efficient, and
low-cost products or services.
- Deliver products and services at lowest-cost through improving operational efficiency and
increasing productivity by automating routine tasks and streamlining processes.
- Improved efficiency results in higher profits.
- Information systems and technologies help improve efficiency and productivity.
- Examples:
Colruyt Group is testing some innovations that should enable them to save costs. It may help the group
stabilize its declining profit margins. For example, there are cameras above the cash register that register the
barcodes so that products no longer have to be scanned manually. "We want to bypass the barcode," said Jo
Introduction to the course - What is a digital organisation?
A digital organisation implements technology or information systems.
Examples of information technologies:
- Enterprise Applications (ERP, CRM, SCM)
- E-commerce and M-commerce
- Collaboration systems
- Business Intelligence and Analytics
- Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging digital solutions (AI, Cloud, Augmented and Virtual Reality, …)
Succesful technology implementation requires more than buying and installing software.
- The availability of information technology doesn’t guarantee the correct usage of this technology.
- Building digital organisations requires more that the mere implementation of information
technology.
→ Technology is only one piece of the puzzle.
- Digitizing organisations is an architectural exercise with following building
blocks:
- Technology: components we need to ‘construct’ the building (as in the
example)
- Organisation: the people need to be trained for the technology
- Management: giving direction, making plans and strategies, management
to follow up
- Implementing information systems and technology alone does not deliver a
competitive advantage.
A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage. (DEFINITION)
Stategies for a competitive advantage:
- Lowest cost: Think of Ryanair building an application to easily guide its customers in their
journey. This is more cost effective than hiring people to solve customers problems.
- Product leadership: The Tesla application makes it possible to do really cool things with the car,
think of pre-cooling etc. This isn’t really cost effective, but they surely are leading this market.
Also the app that comes with the car isn’t made to make less costs, but to implement cool features
like pre-heating the car
- Customer and supplier intimacy: Netflix uses personalised recommendations to make the
customer experience more intimate.
Give these companies a certain amount of money, and they will all spend it differently. If we want
to digitise organisations, we need to know their strategic objectives.
Role of information systems:
- Supporting the current course.
- Technology is primarily seen to support in achieving pre-defined strategic objectives.
, - Supporting the current path.
- Emphasis is on optimisation and automation: doing better at what you are doing already.
- Technology is seen as a cost center (Ryanair).
- Driver for fundamental change.
- Technology is seen as a driver for stategic change.
- Instead of supporting the current path, technology is a driver to reshape the path itself.
- Emphasis is on innovation and transformation.
- Technology is seen as source of competitive advantage.
- Source of new companies and industries.
→ certain businesses will pop up, think of carpooling applications, but that will affect
carwashes for example, or will we still need to build 2 garages in houses, etc. Tech can
lead to new businesses, but at the cost of others.
Disruptive impact of new industries and business models.
- Banks & bank clerks?
- Translators?
- Cashiers & stores?
- Truck drivers & driving schools?
- Owning a car?
- Professors?
Example: KODAK was a camera company, but completely missed out on the technological and
digital revolution. They missed the digital transformation after actually starting it. An engineer at kodak
invented the digital camera, the company said that the quality was lower, the company had many factories
with camera rolls, so they filed for bankruptcy shortly after.
Triple P
→ The Triple Bottom Line framework goes beyond traditional measures of profit and additionally
includes environmental and societal dimensions to measure investment results in a more comprehensive
manner.
Profit: maximising profits for shareholders.
People: creating value for all stakeholders, highlighting a firm’s societal impact and
committment to people (including customers, employees, and community members).
Planet: positive impact on the planet.
A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage and create stakeholder value. It is a never-ending story. Think of Apple
who is constantly innovating.
In today’s fast-paced technological landscape, organisations must continuously monitor technological
innovations and their impact on:
- Own organisation: what are the opportunities in supporting our current strategy or enabling new
strategies?
- Competitors: how do our competitors adopt these innovations and what risks does this bring to
our organisation?
- Customers: how do customer requirements and behaviour evolve?
- Society: what does society expect from technological innovation? (sustainability)
- Government: What about evolutions in legislations? (AI act, companies need to report how they
use AI)
,A digital organisation implements information systems to realise its strategic objectives in order to
achieve a competitive advantage and create stakeholder value in a rapidly changing environment.
You will all work in a digital organisation.
- There is no such thing anymore as a non-digital organisation.
- Non-profit sector
- Public sector
- Start-ups
- Established firms
- You will be critical elements of digital transformations:
- As a consultant, guiding and advising companies.
- As a manager, responsible for digital transformation leadership and decision-making.
- As an employee, digitally transforming your daily activities.
- Business-IT fusion: everyone digital.
- From purchasing to production and sales.
- From production operator to CEO.
- From junior to senior.
- AI fastens business-IT fusion.
- War for digital talent, capable of leading and implementing digital transformations.
Goal of this course:
- Prepare you to work in a digital organization.
- Prepare you to drive digital transformations.
- By providing you with digital literacy.
- By introducing you to all building blocks of a digital organization.
- By giving you as much examples from practice as possible.
, 1 Business and IT strategy
Reminder: Examples of information technologies:
- Enterprise Applications (ERP, CRM, SCM)
- E-commerce and M-commerce
- Collaboration systems
- Business Intelligence and Analytics
- Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging digital solutions (AI, Cloud, Augmented and Virtual Reality, …)
Information technology investment.
WHY WOULD A COMPANY INVEST IN IT?
→ Business and IT strategy:
1. Strategic business objectives of information systems.
2. Porter’s competitive forces model.
3. Disruptive innovation model.
4. Value webs, synergies, corecompetencies, and network-based strategies.
5. Digital transformation framework.
1.1 Strategic business objectives of information systems
Five strategic business objectives for which firms invest heavily in information systems:
1. Operational Excellence:
- Companies that excel in this discipline are known for their reliable, efficient, and
low-cost products or services.
- Deliver products and services at lowest-cost through improving operational efficiency and
increasing productivity by automating routine tasks and streamlining processes.
- Improved efficiency results in higher profits.
- Information systems and technologies help improve efficiency and productivity.
- Examples:
Colruyt Group is testing some innovations that should enable them to save costs. It may help the group
stabilize its declining profit margins. For example, there are cameras above the cash register that register the
barcodes so that products no longer have to be scanned manually. "We want to bypass the barcode," said Jo
