Essay Sample on Impact of Digital Transformation on Operations of Organizations

Digital transformation leads to the creation of essential changes for the processes and information technology department in an organization. Moreover, it results in the need for the creation of vital changes in the operations and management of other business functions. However, a truly effective transformation impacts the entire organization (Sheen, 2019). The success of the digital transformation of an organization much relies on how other departments respond to the introduction of digital technologies and systems or fail to respond. The effective management of inter-organizational relationships across the supply chain is of supreme significance for every company involved as it affects the firm’s ability to attain competitive advantage and sustainable business performance (Zech, 2020). It broadly acknowledges that information and process integration is greatly supported by information technologies across the supply chain and operational strategies.

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Companies make use of new technologies to cut costs, deliver significant customer experiences, improve quality and transparency, and build value. Therefore, committing on the next-generation operating model is essential for corporations to construct value and offer client experiences at a low cost (Bollard et al., 2017). The new model of operation is a novel mode of running a firm that brings together digital technologies and operations experiences in a cohesive, well-sequenced way so as to attain step-change enhancements in cost, revenue, and client experience. It is worth mentioning that organizations today through digital transformation are unveiling a program that is integrated and operationally organized on journeys, which is a transformation from the running of uncoordinated efforts within siloes (Bollard et al., 2017). Moreover, another shift has been experienced from the application of individual capabilities or approaches in a piecemeal manner to the adoption of numerous levers in arrangement to attain multiple impacts. Therefore, firms are using five main methods, which include digitalization, advanced analytics, intelligent process automation (IPA), Business process outsourcing (BPO), and lean process design to attain complex outcomes (Wozniak, 2018).

Digital-age manufacturing functions are on a very diverse level when compared to the industrial age of manufacturing. Digital age manufacturing uses 3-D printers, automation equipment, and robots to carry out automation on the assembly instead of workers being driven out and variations carry out to perform similar operations repeatedly (Sheen, 2019). Today, the operators react to the ever-changing demand. Therefore, they shift capabilities and resources in real time to meet the current demand in the market. It is worth noting that workers in the industrial age manufacturing were hired based on the worker’s strength and skill. However, today the digital age manufacturing workers are hired based on the agility and judgment of the worker (Berruti et al., 2017). Moreover, a manager in the industrial age was hired based on experience and how smarter the individual is. However, the digital age manufacturing manager is based on how fast he or she solves problems and how best he or she perform the job by empowering the employees in the organization to make right decisions (Zech et al., 2020).

According to Forbes, digital transformation holds the key to turning marginal growth into exponential growth (Rogers, 2019). Digital transformation is viewed as an accelerator for bending the productivity curve, time to market, deployment of business models that are new, and generation of revenue. Thus, currently, digital transformation is considered to be significant for the survival of corporates. Today, businesses across every industry are capable of improving collaboration, increasing decision-making speed, developing and producing new products and gaining greater visibility into the entire operation due to the availability of digital tools and capabilities. A good example of such tools is Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which revolutionizes the manner in which firms operate by allowing them to decrease inefficiencies and implementing predictive instead of reactive strategies (Rogers, 2019). On the other hand, customer relationship management (CRM) systems are helping businesses in engaging customers and employees through visibility that is better into the sales process and customer service. Besides, businesses are enabled by Business Intelligence software to gathering and analyzing data like never before, hence being able to reveal insights that drive innovation and growth (Berruti et al., 2017).

The digital transformation through technology executes processes on a digital platform that is resilient, which is designed to be secure, available on-demand, and easy to set up and use. It is also designed to provide digital insights anytime, anywhere that is driven by analytics, thus improving the performance of the business (Accenture Operations, 2014). Moreover, it has created a digital workforce platform that supports knowledge of the performance of workers via advanced monitoring and analytics tools. Hence, proactively managing a digital innovation ecosystem for operations (Wozniak, 2018).

Conclusion

Becoming a digital business and attaining digital operations is no longer basically about how technology is incorporated into the organizations, but it is about how organizations use technology in reinventing those companies and reinventing operations to get out before dramatic changes created by technology happen. For firms and their service providers, the opportunity to shift from disrupted to disrupter cannot be overstated. Therefore, the main objective of business today is striving to come up with ways on to use the coming years to redefine their places in this new world.

References

Accenture Operations (2014). Digital Operations for the Digital Business.

Berruti, F., Nixon, G., Taglioni, G., & Whiteman, R. (2017). Intelligent process automation: The engine at the core of the next-generation operating model. Digital McKinsey March.

Bollard, A., Larrea, E., Singla, A., & Sood, R. (2017). The next-generation operating model for the digital world. Digital McKinsey”, March.

Rogers, M. (2019). Digital Transformation: Optimizing Your Operations.

Sheen, R. (2019). Industry 4.0: Digital Transformation of Manufacturing. Digital Transformation, (3), 23-38.

Zech, S., Fallas, E., & Gnamm, J. (2020). Digital Operations: Don’t Depart without a Strategy. Bain & Company.