Chief Digital Officers’ Evolving Strategies: Balancing Lightweight and Heavyweight IT During the Digital Transformation

In this paper, we investigate how chief digital officers (CDOs) deal with the digital transformation over time. The study is based on interviews with the CDOs of 26 Norwegian organizations, conducted over a three-year period. Our analytical lens involves differentiating between the knowledge regimes of heavyweight and lightweight IT. Based on the CDOs’ perceptions, we identify three important shifts related to strategic, technological, and methodological aspects, all indicating a more balanced approach to the interplay of heavyweight and lightweight IT. We contribute to the literature on the digital transformation and CDOs’ contribution, and to the theory of lightweight vs. heavyweight IT

“Never is going to be as calm as now” – How do large Finnish organizations adapt their digital strategies to the fast-changing business environment?

There are more developments and disruptions in technology and business models than ever before. To react to and benefit from these changes, organizations have created digital strategies. However, solely implementing a long-term digital strategy can cause falling behind in technology and competition if the organization is not able to react to the fast changes in business environment. The purpose of this thesis is to study how large organizations adapt their digital strategies in order to simultaneously implement long-term digital strategy and react fast to the changes in business environment. The previous research of digital strategy’s adaptation to the fast changes in business environment and capabilities it requires from organizations is still scarce. This thesis is conducted as a multiple case study of 11 large Finnish organizations which have shown interest towards digitalization. One person participating to digital strategy or strategy work was interviewed from each organization meaning in total 11 semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed with Gioia method to bring rigor to the data analysis and to look for the themes in data with a consistent way. Findings of the study present that organizations adapt to the changes in environment by adapting their digital strategies and by following changes in environment, addressing new opportunities, and transforming the organization in ways they did not use with traditional business. This thesis contributes to the previous research by extending the literature of digital strategy and looking dynamic capabilities theory from the perspective of digital strategy. This study suggests that digital strategy develops through three steps: first digitalization is mentioned in strategy, secondly organizations have a digital strategy or transformation program, and finally digitalization is embedded to business strategy. To follow changes effectively, organizations do it as a part of their strategy processes but also use external partners, internal idea collection processes, or specified teams to support following changes. Addressing new opportunities differ from traditional product development and is aimed to be faster and more agile. Opportunities are addressed through three steps which include planning the pilot, implementing it, and finally ending or scaling it to a product. To implement the pilots, organizations engage customers and combine capabilities relating to business, IT and software development, and new knowledge. To support adaptation to the changes in environment, organizations have made changes to their structures, built new digital competences, used centralized funding, and tried to transform their organizational cultures. Furthermore, the findings suggest that organizations feel that the changes in business environment are becoming faster and organizations have the need for dynamic capabilities

Towards a dynamic capabilities view on ecosystem formation: A case study on the emergence of an innovation ecosystem

Digitalization is a catalyser that drives rapid changes in industries. While bringing huge opportunities for business, digitalization outdated existing capabilities and working methods, thus, it brings threats to companies who cannot timely innovate themselves. In today’s business landscape, no company has sufficient resources to develop digital innovation alone. Companies have to be able to attract, secure and combine a variety of new resources and competencies from other organizations to co-create new services on top of its technology platform. Currently, we see that innovation ecosystems are emerging to answer to this need. Innovation ecosystems are inherently complex as they consist of multiple actors coming from different cultural, political, economical and knowledge backgrounds. Thus, developing innovation ecosystems can be very challenging. However, we have not been equipped with sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge to understand how a company can form an innovation ecosystem. Therefore, this thesis was set to establish a deeper understanding of the factors and capabilities that support the formation of an innovation ecosystem. Through an extensive literature review of both fields - ecosystem and dynamic capabilities, this thesis established the first theoretical model that explains the development of an innovation ecosystem. This theoretical model was applied and developed iteratively in an in-depth case study of a European-based Intelligent Mine innovation ecosystem. This thesis was conducted using an exploratoratory, qualitative approach and followed an abductive research design. Data was collected through several open-ended interviews with ecosystem members and analyzed following Gioia methodology. The results of this thesis shed light on: (1) the key factors that trigger the formation of an innovation ecosystem, (2) the motivations of a hub company for forming an innovation ecosystem, and (3) the sensing and seizing mechanisms that a hub company employed while forming its innovation ecosystem. Moreover, a conceptual model was developed after refining the initial theoretical with new empirical insights. This thesis contributes directly to the development of new theory on ecosystem formation and the new application of dynamic capabilities framework in ecosystem literature. It also provides useful suggestions for companies whose aspiration is to develop innovation ecosystems around their core technologies

Social Construction of Retail Digitalization: Managerial Perspectives

Digitalization is a pervasive movement, shifting society rapidly into the next industrial revolution and causing disruption to traditional ways of working. This movement has had major ramifications on brick and mortar retailers, redefining the traditional business model and offering opportunities to enhance the customer experience. The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic understanding of the digital transformation of retail from a retail manager’s perspective, thus, this study explores the ways in which retail managers are socially constructing retail digitalization. To address the lack of an established conceptualization of digitalization from a retail managers’ perspective, I applied an exploratory, framing analysis approach to this research gap. This procedure involved integrating field-based insights from 26 managers within the retail sector across Finland and the UK with supplementary literature on the topic of retail digitalization. Through conducting this research, three framing categories were identified, including: 1) investing in digital strategy and management, 2) changing organizational competences and mindset, and 3) shifting power to the retail customer, which were formulated based on nine managerial framings that were developed in the analysis. The findings indicate that though managers are aware of the various threats caused by digitalization, overall, they consider it a positive movement that stimulates innovation, offers new solutions, improves business processes, and enables a better service offering for customers. This study suggests that undergoing the digital transformation is not only a technological change in processes and systems, but a human change in terms of ways of thinking and working. The findings further indicate that retail managers must develop with the organization and have a thorough understanding of their business and the retail market. This study makes theoretical contributions by supporting ideas that are explored in existing literature such as the challenges related to creating the omni-channel business model, while adding the managerial perspective on various issues surrounding this organizational change. This study also contests some points made in the current literature on the death of high street by highlighting the hedonic value that brick and mortar retailers offer their customers which cannot be replaced by other channels. New perspectives were also contributed through this study by exploring how managers view data and analytics as important tools in organizational decision making and understanding the business. Finally, this study highlights an unexplored area in the literature, more specifically, the significance that retail managers place on the human side of the organization through the digital transformation

Impact pathways: technology-aided supply chain planning for resilience

Purpose: Due to emerging uncertainties, supply chain planning (SCP) has become complex for many companies, and practitioners are unsure how emerging technologies can help. We address this gap by identifying pathways of how digital technologies may aid planned flexibility in SCP. Design/methodology/approach: The research builds on engaged scholarship and co-creation of knowledge. Eight senior managers from two companies participated in three rounds of workshops with us discussing and contrasting their planning challenges and potential solutions using examples of industry 4.0 applications drawn from the literature. Findings: Based on a novel framework for digital transition in SCP, this research shows how emerging technologies may aid SCP in building resilience to emergent uncertainties and open new research avenues through four impact pathways. Research limitations/implications: The SCP literature is ruefully short on studies that address technology-aided SC resilience. The research explains why this calls for a paradigm shift in SCP research. Originality/value: This research argues that resilience-building SCP requires planned flexibility and presents a digital transition framework that allows for it

Toward a Process Theory of Making Sustainability Strategies Legitimate in Action

We draw on a three-year qualitative study of the processual dynamics of implementing a sustainability strategy alongside an existing mainstream competitive strategy. We show that despite the legitimacy of the sustainability strategy at the organizational level, actors experience tensions with its implementation at the action level vis-à-vis the mainstream strategy, thus creating the potential for decoupling. Our findings show that working through these tensions on specific tasks, enables actors to legitimate the sustainability strategy in action and to co-enact it with the mainstream strategy within those tasks. Cumulatively, multiple instances of such co-enactment at the action level reinforce the organizational-level legitimacy of the sustainability strategy and its integration with the mainstream strategy. We draw these findings together into a dynamic process model that contributes to the literature on integration of dual strategies at the action and organizational levels as a process of legitimacy making

DIGITALIZATION MANAGEMENT: ENHANCED TOURIST ENGAGEMENT BAH KOH SAMED ISLAND, CHUMPHON PROVINCE, THAILAND

The issue of tourism governance in Bah Koh Samed is very important to find a solution, so that tourists can have a good experience and local communities can utilize tourism as a sustainable source of income. Good governance involves an online ticketing system and digitalization strategies to strengthen the image of tourism. This case study focuses on finding alternatives to Koh Samed as a creative tourism destination that not only attracts more tourists but also restores Koh Samed sustainably. A new tourism model can be created with the development of digitalization technology for Koh Samed Bah Island operations ranging from ticket validation, ticketing solutions, ticket point of sale, voucher codes, communication, and partnership to increase visitors as well as revenue. Through increasing the attraction of art activities, it can be directly listed on the Koh Samed Bah Island website and links. Offer and develop creative spaces for Bah Koh Samed Island that need to increase the art network through digitalization management. The main object of this research focuses on the role of tourists, local communities, and stakeholders through digitization management, and the networking of each destination location by utilizing the arts and cultural ecosystem. This research method uses descriptive qualitative methods, data collection, interviews, and documentation. Data collection is not only by interacting with each other, but written and in-depth. Then automatic verification from each stakeholder will help answer the obstacles that exist during or before. Then proceed with data analysis which is used to answer research problems by testing hypotheses through the data that has been obtained. Data analysis instruments use SWOT analysis as an initial basis for knowing weaknesses and strengths. Then in-depth analysis to increase visitors through increasing the attraction of art activities and developing digitalization technology

Chasing impact - how hybrid new ventures shape markets for sustainability

This study contributes to the market-shaping research in the field of business-to-business marketing. Market shaping refers to the purposeful efforts of actors to change market characteristics or to construct new markets. Existing research has focused on incumbent firms or collectives striving to improve their commercial viability through market shaping. However, few studies focus on market shaping undertaken explicitly for the renewal of existing markets towards sustainability. Moreover, we have scant understanding of how market shaping is conducted by hybrid new ventures despite the unprecedented opportunities that digitalization is providing for small actors to exercise their agency. Hybrids refer to entrepreneurial ventures designed from start to equally pursue commercial and sustainability goals, and who seek to drive industrial and/or societal change. This thesis thereby sets out to explore how the two processes of market shaping and hybrid new venture development are interrelated. To gain a holistic understanding, I draw from research on market shaping, hybrid entrepreneurship, and new venture development. The research process is abductive, iterating between theory and empirical data. Empirical knowledge is acquired through qualitative inquiry from a follow-up case study in the market for Guarantees of Origin (GO) for renewable electricity. As the main theoretical contribution, this study presents a process model of the intertwinement of hybrid new venture development and market shaping. The model shows this intertwinement as driven by four continuous, interrelated, and reciprocal subprocesses: visioning, legitimizing, engaging, and equipping. The findings illustrate that market shaping extends to the early stages of hybrid new ventures, and that their initial market shaping actions are taken long before they become legal business entities. Furthermore, the study extends current knowledge on the content of market shaping (i.e., what it is exactly that market shapers strive to shape and how) and provides a more nuanced understanding of the market shaping activities taken by the focal actor. The study also produces important implications for entrepreneurs and managers, enabling them to make more informed decisions related to their market shaping and to better navigate complex institutional environments.-- Markkinoiden muokkaamisella tarkoitetaan toimijoiden määrätietoista pyrkimystä muuttaa markkinoiden ominaisuuksia tai rakentaa uusia markkinoita. Nykytutkimus yritysten välisen markkinoinnin alalla on keskittynyt vakiintuneiden yritysten pyrkimyksiin parantaa kilpailullista asemaansa, jättäen huomiotta markkinoiden muokkauksen, jonka päämääränä on olemassa olevien markkinoiden uudistaminen kestävämpään suuntaan. Lisäksi ymmärrämme vain vähän siitä, kuinka uudet hybridiyritykset muokkaavat markkinoita, vaikka digitalisaatio luo ennennäkemättömiä mahdollisuuksia pienten yritysten muutostoimijuudelle. Hybrideillä tarkoitetaan uusia yrityksiä, jotka tavoittelevat sekä kaupallisia, että kestävään kehitykseen liittyviä päämääriä ja jotka myös pyrkivät ajamaan teollista ja/tai yhteiskunnallista muutosta. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena onkin ymmärtää, kuinka markkinoiden muokkausprosessi ja hybridiyrityksen kehitysprosessi ovat sidoksissa toisiinsa. Kokonaisvaltaisen ymmärryksen saamiseksi työssä hyödynnettiin markkinoiden muokkaamista, hybridiorganisaatioita ja uusien yritysten kehittämistä koskevaa tutkimusta. Tutkimusprosessi oli abduktiivinen, liikkuen iteratiivisesti teorian ja empiirisen aineiston välillä. Empiirinen aineisto kerättiin osana laadullista tapaustutkimusta, jossa seurattiin reaaliajassa uusiutuvan sähkön alkuperätakuiden markkinoita muokkaamaan pyrkivää hybridiyritystä. Tärkeimpänä teoreettisena kontribuutiona tutkimus esittää prosessimallin uuden hybridiyrityksen kehittämisen ja markkinamuokkauksen yhteen nivoutumisesta, jota edistää neljä jatkuvaa ja vastavuoroista osaprosessia: visiointi, legitimointi, sitouttaminen ja varustaminen. Tulokset osoittavat, että markkinoiden muokkaaminen alkaa jo uuden yrityksen alkuvaiheista. Lisäksi tutkimus laajentaa nykyistä ymmärrystä markkinamuokkauksen sisällöstä (eli mitä toimijat tarkalleen ottaen pyrkivät muokkaamaan ja miten), sekä tarjoaa monimuotoisemman käsityksen päätoimijan toteuttamista markkinoiden muokkaustoimista sekä niihin vaikuttavista kontekstuaalisista tekijöistä. Tutkimuksen tulokset auttavat myös yrittäjiä ja yritysjohtajia tekemään tietoisempia päätöksiä pyrkiessään muokkaamaan markkinoita ja luovimaan monimutkaisissa institutionaalisissa ympäristöissä

Resistance to resistance in digital transformation of an incumbent company

Abstract. This thesis studies resistance to resistance in the context of digital transformation. First, literature review of the most suitable resistance and digital transformation studies are covered. Second, a single case study of a Finnish incumbent financial services company is covered. Data of the empirical part of this study consists of semi-structured theme interviews. Three main themes and ten subthemes related to resistance to resistance in digital transformation were found from the data. These subthemes show what influences different responses to resistance have had on the case company’s digital transformation. The main finding is that resistance to resistance seems to have been in connection to innovation capabilities of the case company. The second contribution of this thesis is that studying resistance brought up social aspects of digital transformation more visible. Resistance as a research area has gained newly developed interest during the previous decades. One emerging issue is resistance to resistance which refers to change agents’ resistance towards change recipients’ resistance. Many studies have proven that change agents’ defensive response to resistance often preclude productive and positive aspects of resistance. This study shows that resistance can be used as a resource to manage change, and that resistance is not always something to be overcome. However, this study also shows that what responses change agents or managers give depends on the nature of the resistance they are responding to. In the case company it was common to try to use resistance as a developmental interactional practice. However, resistance was rarely facilitated truly or used proactively and intentionally as a source of positive change. Jobs are specializing at a fast pace and organizations are changing towards expert organizations. For example, this study presents how previously simple customer service has changed to a more demanding expert work that leverages sophisticated technologies. This change in the late capitalistic context is one major reason why it is increasingly harder to plan and implement change. Sometimes managers have little knowledge about what and how change should be done. This change in the context is also the aspect that ties resistance and digital transformation together. Digital transformation in turn refers to the widest form of digital change. Digital transformation includes digitization and digitalization, but what makes it different is that it includes changes in multiple processes, departments, and functions in an organization. In addition to technical and organizational changes, digital transformation is also a socio-cultural change. This study proposes a new framework to conceptualize digital transformation which includes a key addition of social dynamics. These social dynamics were proven to be the bottleneck of DT in many situations in the case company

Social entrepreneurship in the era of digitalization and disruptive technology

(Galvanauskaite, 2014) mentioned that, “Social entrepreneurship is an emerging phenomenon and an important field that tackles the social problems of today’s world (Mair & Marti, 2006; Nicholls, 2008)”. (MORTENSEN, 2021) in her dissertation mentioned that, “Business models in all industries are being disrupted by advanced technology (Morrar et al., 2017).”. This thesis is aimed at exploring the role of technology in social entrepreneurship. (Holmes, n.d.) mentioned that, “Social constructivism, a social learning theory developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, posits that individuals are active participants in the creation of their own knowledge (Schreiber & Valle, 2013).”. Through social constructivist and actor-network theory, existing literature covering the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship and the technology’s role in social enterprises has been reviewed. Interviewing the founders of several organizations that lie across the spectrum of social enterprises has been the source of this research’s empirical data, which was then analyzed according to grounded theory. Results showed that by utilizing technological capabilities, social organizations managed to do the job that other sectors failed to do, besides improving both economic and social conditions. Technology use breaks a lot of barriers and facilitates peoples’ lives and helps eradicate the endless loop of social injustice these people live in. in the field of social entrepreneurship, the use of technology enables anyone at any level to have a social impact. How technologies are utilized in social enterprises to serve unprivileged communities, especially in developing countries, how they are implemented, and the role of technology in disrupting the market by creating social impact. In addition to breaking trade hurdles, social organizations tend to co-operate on an inter-organizational level to overcome this. According to social constructivist theory, the findings of this research can be an interest to other researchers in this field, it will provide a clearer understanding of the technology’s role in SE. Policymakers can look for insights on technology means, such as an open-source model, that can be applied to ensure a better life. Nascent social enterprises, governments, and businesses can learn a lesson on using technology to create a social impact instead of using it to extend the gap between the rich and the poor. Finally, this thesis isn’t conclusive; there are still broader questions to be asked and more research opportunities to be taken and hopefully, these findings can define a wider scope for upcoming research on the technology utilization in social entrepreneurship(Galvanauskaite, 2014) mencionó que “el emprendimiento social es un fenómeno emergente y un campo importante que aborda los problemas sociales del mundo actual (Mair & Marti, 2006; Nicholls, 2008)”. (MORTENSEN, 2021) en su disertación mencionó que “los modelos de negocios en todas las industrias están siendo interrumpidos por la tecnología avanzada (Morrar et al., 2017)”. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo explorar el papel de la tecnología en el emprendimiento social. (Holmes, s.f.) mencionó que “el constructivismo social, una teoría del aprendizaje social desarrollada por el psicólogo ruso Lev Vygotsky, postula que los individuos son participantes activos en la creación de su propio conocimiento (Schreiber & Valle, 2013)”. A través de la teoría del constructivista social y de la red de actores, se ha revisado la literatura existente que cubre el fenómeno del emprendimiento social y el papel de la tecnología en las empresas sociales. Entrevistar a los fundadores de varias organizaciones que se encuentran en el espectro de las empresas sociales ha sido la fuente de los datos empíricos de esta investigación, que luego se analizaron de acuerdo con la teoría fundamentada. Los resultados mostraron que al utilizar las capacidades tecnológicas, las organizaciones sociales lograron hacer el trabajo que otros sectores no lograron, además de mejorar las condiciones económicas y sociales. Los usos de la tecnología rompen muchas barreras y facilitan la vida de las personas y ayudan a erradicar el ciclo interminable de injusticia social en el que viven estas personas. En el campo del emprendimiento social, el uso de la tecnología permite que cualquier persona en cualquier nivel tenga un impacto social. Cómo se utilizan las tecnologías en las empresas sociales para servir a las comunidades desfavorecidas, especialmente en los países en desarrollo, cómo se implementan y el papel de la tecnología en la disrupción del mercado al generar un impacto social. Para superar esto, además de romper los obstáculos comerciales, las organizaciones sociales tienden a cooperar a nivel interorganizacional. De acuerdo con la teoría constructivista social, los hallazgos de esta investigación pueden ser de interés para otros investigadores en este campo, ya que proporcionarán una comprensión más clara del papel de la tecnología en la SE. Los formuladores de políticas pueden buscar información sobre medios tecnológicos, como: modelo de código abierto, que se puede aplicar para garantizar una vida mejor. Las empresas sociales nacientes, los gobiernos y las empresas pueden aprender una lección sobre el uso de la tecnología para crear un impacto social en lugar de usarla para ampliar la brecha entre ricos y pobres. Finalmente, esta tesis no es concluyente; Todavía hay preguntas más amplias por hacer y más oportunidades de investigación por aprovechar y, con suerte, estos hallazgos pueden definir un alcance más amplio para la próxima investigación sobre el uso de la tecnología en el emprendimiento social