¶ … Digital Technology Adoption
Lynne Boisrond
Theorizing Technology, Communication & Media in Organization
Dr. Denise Antoon
Organizations operating in a digital environment are forced to develop digital strategies to be able to remain relevant and competitive in their respective industries. For this reason, digital technologies have become an integral part of business processes today. However, adopting digital technologies alone is not enough to ensure profitability and relevance in relation to one's competition. Organizations need to put in place effective mechanisms for ensuring that the technologies they use respond to the specific needs of users, and incorporate buy-in from all key stakeholders in the organization. This helps minimize the risk of resistance. Moreover, it gives stakeholders a sense of ownership, and increases their commitment towards contributing to the strategy's success. In addition, organizations need to ensure that they put in place effective frameworks for addressing the pitfalls that could arise from their use of digital technologies. This text presents a proposal that organizations could use to develop effective digital strategies.
A Proposed Digital Technology Adoption Strategy
Digital technology has become an integral part of businesses and organizations today. Its pervasive effects have resulted in the restructuring of organizations and entire industries. It is not surprising, therefore, that managers are getting increasingly interested in understanding digital technology innovations, and their effects on organizations. Research has demonstrated that digital technologies produce significant benefits for organizations and can be a crucial source of competitive advantage if implemented effectively (Nylen & Holmstrom, 2015). For this reason, firms need dynamic tools to support themselves in the creation of effective digital technologies. Success in a digital world, as Nylen and Holmstrom (2015) point out, depends on how well organizations are able to organize innovation work and change their product and service portfolios to align with the digital environment. The organization selected in week one utilizes internet technologies and emerging media to enhance its productivity and work processes. However, this alone does not guarantee success in the modern working environment. It is prudent that the organization develop an effective strategy for ensuring that digital technology realizes maximum business benefits for the organization. This text proposes a framework that the organization could use to support its ongoing improvements in digital innovation management. It covers six core areas: needs identification, user experience, value proposition, digital evolution scanning, skill, and organizational culture.
Needs Identification
The success of newly-adopted digital technology is determined in part by how well it responds to the needs of users. In their study seeking to analyze the factors influencing the effectiveness of an organization's technology strategy, Ghobakhloo and his colleagues (2012) concluded that organizations need to assess available services and products "that are compatible with their need" (p. 56). This would help to ensure that the changes made are relevant and productive (Ghobakhloo et al., 2012). The organization needs to identify the specific needs of both external and internal stakeholders, and then select digital technologies based on how well they respond to these needs.
Needs can be identified by assessing what stakeholders expect, vis-a-vis what the organization delivers. The organization could, for instance, conduct surveys, online or physically, to obtain views from customers, employees, owners, and other stakeholders, on what problems they have, what they would love to see the organization do differently, or what technological tools/digital media strategies the organization could adopt to improve stakeholder experience. Alternatively, the organization could identify needs by mapping business processes to determine the specific problems that stakeholders undergo. This knowledge could provide insight on what the specific needs of stakeholders are, and how they could be addressed through technology. Uber Technologies Inc., an American-based taxi-dispatch company, offers a perfect example in this regard. The company observed the difficulty that customers were forced to go through in order to get a ride -- they had to call a taxi company, wait to reach a dispatcher, wait for a taxi to be dispatched, and keep communicating with the driver until they finally met. The company moved to address this need by developing the Uber app, which links customers with taxi companies, allowing customers to summon the nearest car, and monitor its movement real-time on a map to know how far away it is.
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