Helping a global client find the purpose and people to drive digitalisation
When it comes to digitalisation, technology is the easy part! This case study explores how we supported a leading global supply chain business to transform its culture and its people to drive a successful digitalisation agenda.
Service
Sector
“We understand that driving a truly successful digitalisation agenda relies on an organisation’s people and culture”.
The Challenge
A global business was embarking on a digitalisation agenda. Having already delivered an impressive list of achievements for the client – across people, process and technology – we were well positioned to help drive this change.
If ‘digitisation’ is a conversion (of data or processes), ‘digitalisation’ is a complete transformation – potentially touching every area of a business. Because of this, it needs buy-in across every level of the organisation. Often a tall order when faced with competing demands for funding, resourcing and customer excellence.
“When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. But when done wrong, all you have is a really fast caterpillar.” - George Westerman, MIT Sloan
The Solution
A digitalisation function, whether as a standalone team or integrated into the wider IT department, offers businesses the opportunity to accelerate digital adoption across the organisation by providing tailored support to key initiatives. Ensuring the function is embedded successfully is often cited as a top priority by our clients.
It’s all too easy to think of digitalisation as a technology project. But the technology is the easy part. We understand that driving a truly successful digitalisation agenda relies on an organisation’s people and culture.
If a company’s people don’t have training – or belief – in new technology, it’s pointless. Digitalisation, specifically, uses tech to automate or speed up ways of working. This is only worth doing alongside an effectively designed process. A bad process can do more harm than good.
With this in mind, we partnered with the client’s C-Suite to design and establish the future processes, governance and operating model.
The Impact
The ‘to-be’ operating model we delivered for the client helped drive their digitalisation agenda. With clear areas of focus to help them on their journey:
- Engage - the business at all levels to establish a clear understanding of their digital maturity and readiness to digitalise.
- Develop - a robust communications plan to engage and excite the team.
- Define - the value of a digital future – and how it contributes to the client’s team, business and customers.
- Integrate - the new ways of working into existing team structures – rather than starting with a blank sheet of paper.
Our operating model was supported by a suite of digital services, available through a service catalogue. This would allow internal customers to browse, understand and select services relevant to their function, culture and digital maturity.
