The Digital Transformation of Automotive Businesses: THREE ARTEFACTS TO SUPPORT DIGITAL SERVICE PROVISION AND INNOVATION

Digitalisation and increasing competitive pressure drive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to switch their focus towards the provision of digital services and open-up towards increased collaboration and customer integration. This shift implies a significant transformational change from product to product-service providers, where OEMs realign themselves within strategic, business and procedural dimensions. Thus, OEMs must manage digital transformation (DT) processes in order to stay competitive and remain adaptable to changing customer demands. However, OEMs aspiring to become participants or leaders in their domain, struggle to initiate activities as there is a lack of applicable instruments that can guide and support them during this process. Compared to the practical importance of DT, empirical studies are not comprehensive. This study proposes three artefacts, validated within case companies that intend to support automotive OEMs in digital service provisioning. Artefact one, a layered conceptual model for a digital automotive ecosystem, was developed by means of 26 expert interviews. It can serve as a useful instrument for decision makers to strategically plan and outline digital ecosystems. Artefact two is a conceptual reference framework for automotive service systems. The artefact was developed based on an extensive literature review, and the mapping of the business model canvas to the service system domain. The artefact intends to assist OEMs in the efficient conception of digital services under consideration of relevant stakeholders and the necessary infrastructures. Finally, artefact three proposes a methodology by which to transform software readiness assessment processes to fit into the agile software development approach with consideration of the existing operational infrastructure. Overall, the findings contribute to the empirical body of knowledge about the digital transformation of manufacturing industries. The results suggest value creation for digital automotive services occurs in networks among interdependent stakeholders in which customers play an integral role during the services’ life-cycle. The findings further indicate the artefacts as being useful instruments, however, success is dependent on the integration and collaboration of all contributing departments.:Table of Contents Bibliographic Description II Acknowledgment III Table of Contents IV List of Figures VI List of Tables VII List of Abbreviations VIII 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation and Problem Statement 1 1.2 Objective and Research Questions 6 1.3 Research Methodology 7 1.4 Contributions 10 1.5 Outline 12 2 Background 13 2.1 From Interdependent Value Creation to Digital Ecosystems 13 2.1.1 Digitalisation Drives Collaboration 13 2.1.2 Pursuing an Ecosystem Strategy 13 2.1.3 Research Gaps and Strategy Formulation Obstacles 20 2.2 From Products to Product-Service Solutions 22 2.2.1 Digital Service Fulfilment Requires Co-Creational Networks 22 2.2.2 Enhancing Business Models with Digital Services 28 2.2.3 Research Gaps and Service Conception Obstacles 30 2.3 From Linear Development to Continuous Innovation 32 2.3.1 Digital Innovation Demands Digital Transformation 32 2.3.2 Assessing Digital Products 36 2.3.3 Research Gaps and Implementation Obstacles 38 3 Artefact 1: Digital Automotive Ecosystems 41 3.1 Meta Data 41 3.2 Summary 42 3.3 Designing a Layered Conceptual Model of a Digital Ecosystem 45 4 Artefact 2: Conceptual Reference Framework 79 4.1 Meta Data 79 4.2 Summary 80 4.3 On the Move Towards Customer-Centric Automotive Business Models 83 5 Artefact 3: Agile Software Readiness Assessment Procedures 121 5.1 Meta Data 121 5.2 Meta Data 122 5.3 Summary 123 5.4 Adding Agility to Software Readiness Assessment Procedures 126 5.5 Continuous Software Readiness Assessments for Agile Development 147 6 Conclusion and Future Work 158 6.1 Contributions 158 6.1.1 Strategic Dimension: Artefact 1 158 6.1.2 Business Dimension: Artefact 2 159 6.1.3 Process Dimension: Artefact 3 161 6.1.4 Synthesis of Contributions 163 6.2 Implications 167 6.2.1 Scientific Implications 167 6.2.2 Managerial Implications 168 6.2.3 Intelligent Parking Service Example (ParkSpotHelp) 171 6.3 Concluding Remarks 174 6.3.1 Threats to Validity 174 6.3.2 Outlook and Future Research Recommendations 174 Appendix VII Bibliography XX Wissenschaftlicher Werdegang XXXVII Selbständigkeitserklärung XXXVII

Exploring the Framework of Digital Transformation: A Multilevel Investigation from an Organizational and Employee Perspective

Les tecnologies digitals estan revolucionant les indústries, les organitzacions i les persones a tot el món. En aquest context, sorgeixen noves oportunitats i amenaces per a les organitzacions que requereixen respostes estratègiques i de comportament. Aquesta tesi doctoral va sorgir a partir de la pregunta sobre com el fenomen de la transformació digital impacta a les organitzacions i els empleats en un entorn disruptiu. La motivació inicial resideix en l'entorn digital en canvi constant que genera incerteses i la necessitat de canviar les estratègies digitals de les empreses, en l'economia global, per continuar sent competitius i atraure empleats. Per tant, aquesta tesi té com a objectiu explorar el marc de la transformació digital mitjançant una investigació multinivell des d'una perspectiva organitzacional i dels empleats. La investigació existent fins ara no té evidència empírica sobre predictors crítics i conseqüències d'una transformació digital amb èxit per a les empreses. A més, la pandèmia recent i les oportunitats digitals han conduït a una ràpida transformació digital del lloc de treball que ha afectat els empleats en diferents àmbits. Per tant, els dos primers articles d’aquesta tesi presenten un marc per garantir l’èxit de la transformació digital de les empreses, aprofitant les capacitats dinàmiques. El tercer article introdueix l’experiència de l’empleat i posa èmfasi en la cultura digital de les organitzacions. Els dos darrers articles d'aquesta investigació aprofundeixen en la transformació del lloc de treball digital i tanquen la bretxa del marc de la transformació digital. Es van fer múltiples estudis consecutius per assolir els objectius de recerca d'aquesta tesi. Començant amb les troballes d'un estudi de cas de múltiples indústries amb nou empreses multinacionals (article A i article D), es va fer un estudi quantitatiu posterior amb dades d'enquestes de executius d'empreses i TI espanyols (article B i article C). Els estudis anteriors es van complementar amb una investigació quantitativa de les preferències laborals dels empleats al mercat nord-americà per seguir un enfocament generalitzable (article E). Les troballes exploradores inicials indiquen que les capacitats dinàmiques i els valors culturals digitals influeixen en l'èxit de la transformació digital. La següent anàlisi quantitativa dona suport al paper de les capacitats i mostra que la transformació digital augmenta encara més el rendiment de l'empresa. A més, els resultats indiquen que la transformació digital condueix al compromís organitzacional dels empleats quan la relació és intervinguda pel lideratge digital i l'aprenentatge continu. Finalment, aquesta tesi estudia el futur del treball destacant la importància de les habilitats crítiques al lloc de treball digital i les preferències dels empleats al lloc de treball híbrid. En general, aquesta investigació explora el marc de la transformació digital i, per tant, representa un avenç substancial a la literatura acadèmica actual. Més precisament aquesta tesi assegura l'avenç de la teoria en aclarir el concepte d'èxit de la transformació digital entenent els facilitadors en termes de capacitats dinàmiques i valors culturals digitals. Especialment, aquest treball se centra a analitzar el paper del lideratge digital, de l'aprenentatge continu i dels nous coneixements sobre habilitats crítiques al lloc de treball digital, així com la rellevància d'un lloc de treball híbrid per al futur del treball. En considerar tres vies de recerca, (1) l'èxit de la transformació digital, (2) la cultura digital i l'experiència de l'empleat, i (3) la transformació del lloc de treball digital, aquesta tesi doctoral suposa un avenç en el coneixement acadèmic actual sobre transformació digital a les empreses i ofereix importants implicacions pràctiques.Las tecnologías digitales están revolucionando las industrias, las organizaciones y las personas en todo el mundo. En este contexto, surgen nuevas oportunidades y amenazas para las organizaciones que requieren de respuestas estratégicas y de comportamiento. Esta tesis doctoral surgió´ a partir de la pregunta sobre cómo el fenómeno de la transformación digital impacta en las organizaciones y los empleados en un entorno disruptivo. La motivación inicial reside en el entorno digital en constante cambio que genera incertidumbres y la necesidad de cambiar las estrategias digitales de las empresas, en la economía global, para seguir siendo competitivos y atraer empleados. Por lo tanto, esta tesis tiene como objetivo explorar el marco de la transformación digital mediante una investigación multinivel desde una perspectiva organizacional y de los empleados. La investigación existente hasta el momento carece de evidencia empírica sobre predictores críticos y consecuencias de una transformación digital exitosa para las empresas. Además, la reciente pandemia y las oportunidades digitales han conducido a una rápida transformación digital del lugar de trabajo que ha afectado a los empleados en diferentes ámbitos. Por lo tanto, los dos primeros artículos de esta tesis presentan un marco para garantizar el éxito de la transformación digital de las empresas, aprovechando las capacidades dinámicas. El tercer artículo introduce la experiencia del empleado y pone énfasis en la cultura digital de las organizaciones. Los dos últimos artículos de esta investigación profundizan en la transformación del lugar de trabajo digital y cierran la brecha del marco de la transformación digital. Se realizaron múltiples estudios consecutivos para lograr los objetivos de investigación de esta tesis. Comenzando con los hallazgos de un estudio de caso de múltiples industrias con nueve empresas multinacionales (artículo A y artículo D), se realizó´ posteriormente un estudio cuantitativo con datos de encuestas de directivos de empresas y TI españoles (artículo B y artículo C). Los estudios anteriores se complementaron con una investigación cuantitativa de las preferencias laborales de los empleados en el mercado estadounidense para seguir un enfoque generalizable (artículo E). Los hallazgos exploratorios iniciales indican que las capacidades dinámicas y los valores culturales digitales influyen en el éxito de la transformación digital. El siguiente análisis cuantitativo respalda el papel de las capacidades y muestra que la transformación digital aumenta aún más el rendimiento de la empresa. Además, los resultados indican que la transformación digital conduce al compromiso organizacional de los empleados cuando la relación está mediada por el liderazgo digital y el aprendizaje continuo. Por último, esta tesis estudia el futuro del trabajo destacando la importancia de las habilidades criticas en el lugar de trabajo digital y las preferencias de los empleados en el lugar de trabajo hibrido. En general, esta investigación explora el marco de la transformación digital y, por lo tanto, representa un avance sustancial a la literatura académica actual. Más concretamente, esta tesis asegura el avance de la teoría al aclarar el concepto de éxito de la transformación digital entendiendo a los facilitadores en términos de capacidades dinámicas y valores culturales digitales. Especialmente, este trabajo se centra en analizar el papel del liderazgo digital, del aprendizaje continuo y de los nuevos conocimientos sobre habilidades criticas en el lugar de trabajo digital, así como la relevancia de un lugar de trabajo hibrido para el futuro del trabajo. Al considerar tres vías de investigación, (1) el éxito de la transformación digital, (2) la cultura digital y la experiencia del empleado, y (3) la transformación del lugar de trabajo digital, esta tesis doctoral supone un avance en el conocimiento académico actual sobre transformación digital en las empresas y ofrece importantes implicaciones prácticas.Digital technologies are disrupting industries, organizations, and individuals globally. New opportunities and threats arise and require strategic and behavioral responses. This dissertation emerged from the question of how the phenomenon of digital transformation impacts organizations and employees in a disruptive environment. The initial motivation is the constantly changing digital environment leading to uncertainties and the need for shifted digital strategies in the global economy to stay competitive and attract employees. Therefore, this dissertation aims to explore the digital transformation framework by doing a multilevel investigation from an organizational and employee perspective. Existing research lacks empirical evidence on critical predictors and consequences of a successful digital transformation for businesses. Further, the recent pandemic and digital opportunities led to a rapid digital workplace transformation impacting employees. Thus, the first two papers of this dissertation form a framework for digital transformation success, drawing on an organizational resource-based view. The third paper introduces the employee experience and puts an emphasis on the digital culture of organizations. The last two articles of this investigation dive into the digital workplace transformation and close the bracket of the framework of digital transformation. Multiple consecutive studies were conducted to achieve the research objectives of this dissertation. Starting with the findings from a multiple-industry case study with multinational firms (paper A and paper D), three research streams were followed. A subsequent quantitative study was performed with survey data from Spanish IT and business executives (paper B and paper C). The previous work was complemented with a quantitative investigation of digital workplace transformation to follow a generalizable approach (paper E). Initial exploratory findings indicate that dynamic capabilities and digital cultural values influence digital transformation success. The following quantitative analysis supports the role of capabilities and shows that digital transformation further increases firm performance. Also, results indicate that digital transformation leads to employees’ organizational commitment when the relationship is mediated by digital leadership and continuous learning. Lastly, this dissertation studies the future of work by highlighting the importance of critical skills in the digital workplace and employees’ hybrid workplace preferences. Overall, this research explores the framework of digital transformation and thereby contributes to academic literature. More precisely, this dissertation ensures theory advancement by clarifying the concept of digital transformation success, understanding facilitators in terms of dynamic capabilities and digital cultural values, especially with a focus on digital leadership and continuous learning, and lastly, new knowledge on critical skills in the digital workplace and the relevance of a hybrid workplace setting for the future of work. By considering three research avenues, (1) digital transformation success, (2) digital culture and employee experience, and (3) digital workplace transformation, this dissertation contributes to future work on digital transformation and its implications for practice

Exploring the determinants of digital transformation in its different stages in Dutch SMEs: A digital dynamic capabilities perspective

Digital transformation (DT) has become a crucial strategic imperative for organizations seeking to thrive in the rapidly evolving business environment. While digital transformation has been extensively studied in large organizations, there remains a need for more available evidence in the context of (Dutch) SMEs and how organizations go through different DT phases. This dissertation aims to address this gap by adopting a digital dynamic capabilities perspective to explore the determinants of digital transformation in Dutch SMEs and investigate how these determinants change over the different digital transformation phases. This thesis has met these aims by integrating an extensive review of the relevant literature and implementing a qualitative study. The latter includes nine interviews with experts from different Dutch SMEs and an expert panel to validate these findings. The primary conclusions produced by this study include five internal determinants, five external determinants, three sub-capabilities, each of the sensing, seizing, transforming, and safeguarding digital dynamic capability clusters, and five desired digital transformation outcomes. ‘Digital safeguarding’ has emerged as a novel capability cluster focusing on skills required from the implementation onwards. In conclusion, this study has contributed to a deeper understanding of the differences in the digital transformation determinants and capabilities between large organizations and SMEs. Moreover, this thesis has identified that boundaries between the different digital transformation phases could be fading due to the continuity of digital transformation. Simultaneously, this research has practical relevance as these findings could support Dutch SMEs in navigating their digital transformations. Alternatively, the study could help Joanknecht, a Dutch financial advisory firm, improve its consultancy services. Looking ahead, future researchers should seek to validate and expand upon the presented findings.

Management Commitments that Maximize Business Impact from IT

A long-standing question for both IT research and management practice has been: how can IT be used in organizations to increase firm performance? IT researchers have provided many candidate capabilities that impact business and financial performance, including enterprise architecture, IT governance, IT metrics, top management engagement, IT-business alignment, and business and IT unit capabilities. However, based on a series of case studies, we propose that a limited number of enterprise commitments are key to maximizing business value from IT. We demonstrate, via a survey of 221 respondents in publicly traded firms, that these commitments are positively correlated to Business Impact from IT, which in turn correlates with higher financial performance

Promoting Digital Innovation for Sustainability in the Public Sector

Digital technologies and their uptake in society have advanced more rapidly than any innovation in history. However, research into how the public sector uses digital innovation has been slow to develop. Government has an essential role to play in sustainability by setting and enforcing policies around subjects such as pollution and carbon taxes, making digital innovation in government critical for digital sustainability. Further, the public sector’s values and priorities differ from those of the private sector, which confounds simple comparisons in areas such as digital ways of working and efficiency drivers. This paper draws on the public management literature and uses an exploratory and interpretive field study of a leading digital government. The research identifies six barriers to digital innovation within the New South Wales government, a world-leader in digital integration. The barriers are: varying digital maturity, non-digital mindset, slow mobilization, service-based silos, premature solutioning, and failure to align investment in digital innovation with broader government priorities. The paper identifies initiatives enabling world-class digital innovation and driving effective change. These enablers are structural service integration, ecosystem engagement, technology modernization, customer-centric strategies and processes, and agility in management. This paper finds that digital capability gaps and core rigidities interact requiring a comprehensive approach to realize the significant benefits offered to citizens and the environment

How CIOs Engage Boards on Digitisation: The Case of Financial Services Companies in South Africa

Boards as custodians of companies have to understand and lead digital transformation. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) can assist with educating and advising the board on digital transformation, but how do CIOs engage boards on the matter? Digitisation is at the heart of the financial services companies. Accordingly, this dissertation focussed on companies in the financial services industry. The main research question for this dissertation is: how do CIOs of South African (SA) financial services companies engage boards on digitisation? A detailed literature review was conducted which suggested research questions on digitisation, the role of the board and the CIO’s, engagement between them, and performance. The interview schedule was based on the foregoing topics. The researcher adopted an interpretivist epistemological perspective to understand digitisation engagements from the perspectives of board members, non-IT executives, and CIOs. The researcher employed a qualitative research method to gain an in-depth understanding of the subject. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with board members, non-IT executives and CIOs from financial services companies. Six key themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the interviews, namely: digitisation, the board’s role, the CIO’s role, non-IT executives’ role, digitisation engagement, and value. It’s important to note that the non-IT executives’ role was an additional role that emerged from the thematic analysis, this role had not been discussed in the literature review. Non-IT executives owned strategy and owned digitisation initiatives. A new Chief Digital Officer (CDO) role also emerged from the thematic analysis as a sub-theme of the CIO’s role. The CDO’s mandate was to drive company-wide digitisation over and above the CIO’s role. Considering the six themes collectively, the three entities (boards, non-IT executives, & CIOs) have a key role to play pertaining to digitisation. The findings suggested that CIOs often engaged the board through board meetings, board committees, and ad-hoc engagements. CIOs often educated the board on digital technologies, digitisation opportunities and digitisation issues. Further, findings suggested that digitisation engagement influenced How CIOs Engage Boards on Digitisation: The Case of Financial Services Companies in South Africa - 2 - value (e.g. responding to digitisation opportunities & issues) rather than performance which was difficult to prove. The dissertation concludes with methodological, substantive and scientific reflections, and recommendations for practice and future research. The dissertation contributes to the growing body of knowledge on digitisation and demonstrates how the logic espoused in the Complex context of Snowden and Boone's (2007) Cynefin framework can be used to guide how CIOs and boards engage on digitisation

Blockchain technology and green supply chain management (GSCM) - improving environmental and energy performance in multi-echelon supply chains

In this competitive and technology driven world, businesses are striving to gain benefits of environmental sustainability and energy conservation by implementing the latest technologies in their supply chains. A promising way of evaluating the environmental performance of a product or a process is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) modelling, but the reliability of LCA results is mostly compromised due to the lack of real data from upstream and downstream supply chains. Our research aim is to drive LCA modelling through Blockchain Technology (BCT) and internet-of-things which have the capability to record reliable, transparent, and secure data from across the supply chain. The modified LCA model will provide various industries with the quantified benefits of BCT in terms of industrial emissions reduction. This conference paper reflects the 1st stage of research where we carried out a detailed literature review on potential use of blockchain technology in green supply chain management and based on the findings, we developed an integrative framework architecture for the supply chain of a supermarket product. In the next phase, the integration of BCT and LCA will be studied in food supply chains using a supermarket case study of Walmart-IBM developed blockchain consortium

Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies

Purpose – Thepurpose of this paper is to criticallyexplorehow context asan antecedent to entrepreneurial digital competencies (EDCs) influences digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce environment. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprises semi-structured interviews with 16 digital entrepreneurs, as owner-managers of small digital businesses in Cameroon. Findings – The results reveal the ways in which EDCs shape the entry (or start-up) choices and post-entry strategic decisions of digital entrepreneurs in response to context-specific opportunities and challenges associated with digital entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications – The data comes from one African country and 16 digital businesses thus the research setting limits the generalisability of the results. Practical implications – This paper highlights important implications for encouraging digital entrepreneurship by focussing on institutional, technology and local dimensions of context and measures to develop the entrepreneurial and digital competencies. This includes policy interventions to develop the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, transport and local distribution infrastructure, and training opportunities to develop the EDCs of digital entrepreneurs. Originality/value – Whereas the capabilities to adopt and use ICTs and the internet by small businesses have been examined, this is among the first theoretically sensitised study linking context, EDCs and digital entrepreneurship

Dynamic Capabilities in Microfinance Innovation: A Case Study of The Grameen Foundation

Dynamic Capabilities in Microfinance Innovation: A Case Study of The Grameen Foundation by Sarah Elizabeth Kayongo May 2020 Chair: Lars Mathiassen Major Academic Unit: Executive Doctorate in Business The purpose of this research is to understand how microfinance organizations innovate their products, services, and processes to improve financial inclusion. The research approach used is a retrospective, longitudinal, qualitative case study (Yin, 2014) of how Grameen Foundation, a global non-government organization that partners with various microfinance institutions to provide micro loans, savings, and other financial and professional services innovated. Applying Dynamic Capability Theory (Teece, 1997, 2012 & 2014) highlighted the unique ways in which Grameen Foundation innovated its products, services, and processes through the three concepts of (1) sensing, (2) seizing, and (3) transforming. We conducted a total of twelve semi-structured interviews with staff and supplemented the interviews with publicly available materials, impact reports, press releases, trade journal articles, and website information. Our findings provide a detailed empirical process account of how Grameen Foundation has consistently been a leader at creating financial linkages through innovating its various programs and the activities within those programs over a ten-year period 2009 – 2019. We found the usefulness of Dynamic Capabilities Theory concepts of sensing, seizing and transforming applicable to studies of innovation in microfinance in the non-government sector; however, our analysis revealed elements of the theory’s core concepts that were not directly applicable. For instance, rather than create Valuable Rare Imperfectly Imitable and Non-substitutable resources, Grameen’s philosophy of creating open-sourced market-based solutions that they shared with industry resulted in “Valuable,” “Rare,” “Diffusible,” and “Non-substitutable” resources that were “transferrable” and “imitable”, hence we concluded that in the context of innovating in non-government microfinance organizations, this concept translated into Transferrable, Valuable, Imitable and Non-substitutable or “TVIN” resources. We offer a resource guide to microfinance institutions, non-government organizations, and governments of five insights that characterized how Grameen Foundation innovated its products services and processes to improve financial inclusion based on: 1) Sensing country-specific needs; 2) Seizing opportunities to use existing technology; 3) Funding projects that drove innovation overtime and creating financial linkages through multi-sectorial partnerships; 4) Adopting a business model that enabled innovation transfer to attain transformative scale; and 5) Strengthening the internal capabilities of how performance was measured, monitored and evaluated for program outputs in order to sustain the scaling of outcomes. Single case studies tend to suffer from limited generalizability, but details of this study will benefit microfinance practitioners in assessing the transferability of our findings to other contexts (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). We emphasize that in complex and ever-changing economic environments, it\u27s increasingly harder to predict the effects that unforeseeable circumstances such as health pandemics would have on global financial markets. We recognize that such changes are likely to produce different outcomes for innovation in microfinance organizations and their beneficiaries. Future studies will benefit from applying experimental design methods and theories that focus on innovation with inbuilt resiliency and capabilities to withstand such extreme but unforeseeable circumstances. Still, we provided a detailed empirical analysis of how a global microfinancing organization consistently innovated its products, services, and processes through four programs and twenty activities overtime, and across countries at an in-depth level that few studies have done. Lastly, we have demonstrated that Dynamic Capabilities Theory is very adaptable to studies of innovation in microfinance