Digitalization: Will and Skills

Apr 27-2020   

Gone are the days when some industries were thought to have more urgency for digital transformation than others. The pandemic has rammed home the reckoning that getting online and digitalized is now a compulsory option, said Prof. Chen Chunhua, Dean of BiMBA Business School, in a lecture for members of China Enterprise Reform and Development Society.

Her speech illuminated the core of digitalization with the aim of delineating the transformative path. First coined as a technical term, digitalization has evolved to denote technological transitions and is characterized by three main traits: First, getting connected can create value by itself, without the need of ‘owning’ something. Second, the real world and the virtual one have fused with each other to become Digital Twin, wherein new values are generated. Third, the velocity of changes is so speedy and impactful that it’s possible to condense both the past and the future into ‘now’.

In the digital era, managers should learn to cultivate collaborative management behaviors, create symbiosis with external environments, and work with partners and employees to identify new opportunities. To this end, managers should articulate their values, improve communication systems, and motivate behaviors that lead to collaboration.

Technological platforms are one of four ways recommended by Prof. Chen for nurturing collaborative management behaviors. To make it work, simplicity must trump complexity. Far too often, things get too complex to be of any help to clients and simply consume precious resources. In the meantime, managers should be committed to enhancing systemic efficiency by partnering up with both internal and external people. Overall, change has more to do with the will than with skills.