Business Digital Transformation

Career Focus

Enterprise Digital Transformation is envisioned to equip students to be able to design, help lead and implement digital transformation initiatives and come up with new business models for new or existing organizations. The course considers the digital revolution as its focal point, as many companies in various industries face transformational needs.  Managers, entrepreneurs and leaders alike need to understand that new management practices, their economics and technology usage can lead to success in business and private life. The course is built for students following business careers where new product and service development needs to incorporate digital technologies, e.g., consulting, managerial positions in strategy, product development or marketing and entrepreneurial endeavors. Guest speakers and industry experts will help students to better understand the career options in this new and developing area.

Educational Objectives

Modern companies rely a lot on understanding and applying digital transformation concepts. For example the traditional supermarket chains now have to be able to blend digital products and services with online store design and management. The Disney+ business model is heavily reliant on continuously building and enhancing digital products and services to compete against incumbents in the streaming industry. Amazon keeps investing in digital innovation along with its diversified retail strategies and supply chain digitalization. Automobile producing companies like BMW are considering future competitors like Uber and Google. In the same time new startups, are using crowdsourcing, digital fabrication and 3D printing processes to open up niches and challenge the establishment in many markets.

The course invites you to find out about the main elements of transitioning from traditional to digital products and services, how they can be built and modified, and how management leads to results. Some of its elements include principles leading to digital transformation of the company economics, spotting and supplying for diverse user needs, bringing innovation to existing products or services, considering crowdsourcing and external partnerships in innovation networks.

Course Content

The course materials tackle different areas, focusing on the managerial abilities and capabilities development needed in practice. While a lot of situations you may encounter assume the deployment of new technology, you will learn to look at it  as a way to improve the customer experience, rather than technically as a software engineer . If you happen to be specialized in technology, however, the client centric perspective will bring new understanding and opportunities of the value technology brings. According to the situation, you could assume the role of managing a team, a project, functionalities of a product or lead the company. This wide assortment of perspectives gives a glimpse on how pervasive digital innovation is becoming to business at different levels, and how in order to compete in the new environment mastering it is no longer a choice.

The course will enable you to explore further on:

• How the digital revolution happening depends on changing economic and technological factors;
• Rivalries between present business models and new digitally empowered and focused business models taking into account platforms and ecosystems view;
• Competition developing among companies with new digital business models;
• Developing products and services in the digital space and enhancing them with innovation by organizing and leading project teams;
• Understanding people and how to manage them while transitioning to digital innovation models
• Considerations upon the execution of various crowdsourcing business models.