Professional services companies need to practise what they preach: the need to fast-track digital transformation in the industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Transformation Process ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Domain Expertise ◽  
Pain Points

Purpose This paper aims to clarify the relationship between professional services companies and changing customer expectations. It proposes following the digital transformation process and outlines how companies can adopt agile, digital-first ways of doing business to tackle major long-term pain points. Design/methodology/approach This paper’s author draws on the author’s deep domain expertise on delivering digital transformation projects to businesses and organisations in a variety of industries, including professional services. The author explains the crucial applications for technology to help industry leaders address key business pain points. Findings This paper provides insights into how companies have an opportune moment to build long-term digital foundations for greater management, process efficiency and collaboration – with data-driven reporting, end-to-end business management solutions, dedicated HR modules and greater connectivity capabilities. This paper demonstrates that a digital-first approach can help companies achieve higher levels of customer engagement and secure their place in a highly competitive market. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to explain how professional services companies can embark on digital transformation journeys to tackle outdated and manual ways of doing business.

Human determinants influencing the digital transformation strategy of multigenerational family businesses: a multiple-case study of five French growth-oriented family firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blandine Ano ◽  
Richard Bent
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Strategy

PurposeIn a context of technological disruption, companies face a digital imperative to adopt successfully emerging new technologies. While family firms have a huge potential for growth and innovation, they may – due to idiosyncratic but often limited resources, have to address the complex challenges induced by digital technologies introduction. The purpose of this paper is to explore how human and cultural resources influence the formulation and implementation of five French family firms' digital strategy.Design/methodology/approachBased on a phenomenological epistemology, semi-structured interviews among different generational cohorts of family business owners.FindingsThe thematic analysis highlights five main cultural and psychological determinants holding the potential for positive and synergetic outcomes while implementing a digital strategy: the change management nurtured by long-term sustainability, the emotional attachment to the firm, the entrepreneurial legacy influence, the personalised involvement of individual family members and the family owners' central focus on employees.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first research projects exploring the digital transformation process of family businesses from the perspective of the firm's human capital. The participants of the study reveal idiosyncratic attitudes such as long-term orientation, entrepreneurial bridging and non-economic goals leading to competitive advantages and transgenerational wealth creation.

The four spheres of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Pillitteri ◽  
Erica Mazzola ◽  
Manfredi Bruccoleri
Keyword(s):  
Service Design ◽  
Life Cycle Management ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Operations ◽  
Theory Of Value

PurposeThe study focuses on the value co-creation processes in humanitarian professional services provision, analysing the key enabling factors of beneficiaries' participation, involved in long-term integration programmes (L-TIPs).Design/methodology/approachThrough an in-depth case study, the research looks at the practices of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services, considering both the perspectives of the professional service provider and beneficiary.FindingsIn professional services beneficiary's participation affects the success of the L-TIPs outcomes. Participation's enablers can be classified into four different spheres, each belonging to different elements of professional service: the beneficiary, the professionals, the service design and the external environment.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper contributes to the literature on humanitarian operations & supply chain management. By focussing on an understudied phase of the disaster life-cycle management, it contributes to the theory of value co-creation by exploring new issues and drivers of beneficiary's participation.Practical implicationsThis research has interesting implications for policymakers and humanitarian practitioners. First, guidelines for professionals' behaviours and interventions should be designed as well as new practices and strategies should be adopted. Second, governments should avoid concentrating L-TIPs in few big humanitarian centres.Originality/valueThe study focuses on an understudied stage of humanitarian operations, namely the L-TIPs, and uses this setting to build on the theory of value co-creation in professional services by identifying its enabling factors, clustered into four spheres, namely beneficiary, professional, service design and environmental.

Transforming the service idea – a communication and learning process

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik Gottfridsson ◽  
Anna Stålhammar
Keyword(s):  
Turning Points ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Transformation ◽  
The Public ◽  
System Solution ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose – This paper is about service innovation processes and especially about how an idea about a new service proposition is realized and gradually transformed during the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the process by which the idea of what should be developed is formed. Design/methodology/approach – Empirically this study is built on two case studies from the public transport context. The cases studied are long-term and involves a number of different actors from different organizations put together to deliver a new system solution regarding information- and ticketing systems. Findings – The findings indicate that the service ideas gradually develop throughout the service innovation process; some of the changes are that distinct that they could be described as turning points. The reasons for the changes of the ideas are sometimes the renewed awareness that the involved actors get from communicating and learning from each other's, other times the turning points occur as a result form confrontation with the outside world, and what is their perceived as necessary and possible to do. Originality/value – The study is novel in several respects: the notion of the transformation of the service idea during a service innovation process is introduced; it provides an empirical analysis of the knowledge transformation process during a service innovation process, and it applies traditional innovation perspective in a new context.

scholarly journals Digital transformation in sales as an evolving process

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Wengler ◽  
Gabriele Hildmann ◽  
Ulrich Vossebein
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Transformation Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Management Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Productivity Gains

Purpose The majority of business-to-business companies are working on their digital transformation in sales. Despite enormous transformation efforts, the expected productivity gains are often missing in most companies. Based on empirical research, this paper aims to develop a new market-oriented transformation model. Management implications as well as future research directions are derived for a more focused digital transformation process in sales. Design/methodology/approach Within the exploratory research study, 90 key informants were interviewed to provide better insights in the context of digital transformation in sales. The accuracy of the research results was safeguarded by triangulation. Findings As this research paper will show, the reasons for the missing productivity gains caused by a limited knowledge about the main success factors of digital transformation as well as a lack of understanding of digital transformation as an evolving process. Originality/value Based on the empirical research, a new market-oriented transformation model is developed and management implications as well as future research directions are derived for a more focused digital transformation process in sales.

Tanzania’s oil and gas sector faces mixed outlook

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Regulatory Uncertainty ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector

Significance However, years of delays, regulatory uncertainty and a lack of political will -- compounded more recently by depressed global oil prices and the global slowdown caused by COVID-19 -- have seen many projects stall. Impacts Marginal projects may suffer as oil companies assess their investment strategies amid depressed oil prices and a global economic slowdown. The complexity of doing business may prove a serious impediment to finalising long-term investments, especially under Magufuli. Sustained delays in developing extractives projects are likely to feature heavily in opposition election campaign talking points.

scholarly journals Health care investments and economic performance in Portugal: an industry level analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1174-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo M. Pereira ◽  
Rui M. Pereira ◽  
Pedro G. Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Net Exports ◽  
Capital Spending

Purpose The purpose of this paper, on Portugal, is to determine the economic effects of public and private capital spending on health. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a vector autoregressive model to estimate the elasticities and marginal products of health care investments in Portugal on investment, employment and output. Findings Every €1m invested in health care yields significant positive spillover effects, boosting investment and GDP by €24.74 and €20.45m, respectively, creating 188 net jobs. Adversely, net exports deteriorate, as new capital goods are imported. While only 28.2 percent of the total accumulated increase in GDP occurs within a year, investment is front loaded with a corresponding 73.8 percent. Over this period, 68 workers are displaced for every €1m invested. At a disaggregated level, real estate, construction, and transportation and storage are industries where output shares increase the most. Employment shares increase the most in professional services, construction and basic metals. Research limitations/implications This paper adds to the empirical literature, corroborating, for example, Rivera and Currais (1999a) and McDonald and Roberts (2002) in that health care spending can have a very significant effect on macroeconomic aggregates. In addition to the analysis of the tradable/non-tradable divide, it adds two further novelties by discussing industry-specific effects on economic performance and the distinction between effects on impact and those over the longer term. Practical implications As policy implications, health investments have very significant long-term economic performance effects, but are unhelpful counter cyclically. Also, they will change the industry mix: construction and professional services are the non-traded industries that will benefit the most, while the traded industries of non-metallic minerals, basic metals, and machinery and equipment benefit much less. Social implications Given that capital spending on health boosts economic performance, especially in the long run, it ought to be a part of Portugal’s medium-to-long-term growth strategy. Also, if these projects depress economic activity in the short run, and are thus unhelpful counter cyclically, the timing of when they are launched matters. Furthermore, following a health investment, policies that boost net exports will be required to ensure trade balance. Originality/value The originality of this paper is to estimate, in a dynamic framework, the aggregate and industry-specific elasticities and marginal products on investment, employment and output, allowing the identification of effects both on impact and over the long term. Although health care investments are expected to have important macroeconomic effects, they need not be evenly distributed across industries.

Lean thinking in service digital transformation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Julião ◽  
Marcelo Calvete Gaspar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Academic Services

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic situation has imposed changes in the way many services are being provided. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of lean thinking and digital transformation on services redesign of a higher education institution. The aim is to improve efficiency and incorporate new health and safety recommendations because of the pandemic situation. Design/methodology/approach This paper follows a case study approach to explore how lean thinking contributes to the digital transformation of services. The data was collected through student surveys from a Portuguese University, where three different academic services were selected. Findings This paper identifies important requirements for new and improved online alternatives to face-to-face interactions of the students with the academic services. It also shows that lean thinking is a driver for digital transformation of services. Practical implications This paper presents a dedicated roadmap to aid the implementation of a digital transformation process within student academic services of higher education institutions. Originality/value This paper addresses the digital transformation of services through a lean thinking perspective and considering four dimensions: quality, efficiency, cost reduction and health and safety.

Quality 4.0: literature review analysis, definition and impacts of the digital transformation process on quality

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Margarida Dias ◽  
André M. Carvalho ◽  
Paulo Sampaio
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Era ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Review Analysis ◽  
Soft Factors ◽  
Do So

PurposeThe changes brought forth by the Digital Transformation have an impact on the way we think, assess and manage Quality. While the concept of Quality 4.0 has resulted from these changes, there is still limited understanding and unclear definitions in this new era of Quality Management.Design/methodology/approachThere is a clear opportunity to review and analyze the state-of-the-art of Quality 4.0, its main research efforts, topics and directions. To do so, a bibliometric analysis and descriptive/mapping literature review were performed.FindingsThere is a clear focus on the implications of technology for Quality, but other relevant topics include business management and strategy models and systems, as well as human or soft factors. Results reveal an increasing interest in Quality 4.0 as well as a link between topics.Originality/valueTogether with the review, analysis and digest of the literature, we offer our own contribution to a commonly accepted definition Quality 4.0.

Digital transformation success under Industry 4.0: a strategic guideline for manufacturing SMEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Ghobakhloo ◽  
Mohammad Iranmanesh
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
External Support ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Interpretive Structural Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exciting Opportunity ◽  
Base Matrix

PurposeThe digital transformation under Industry 4.0 is complex and resource-intensive, making a strategic digitalization guideline vital to small and medium-sized enterprises' success in the Industry 4.0 transition. The present study aims to provide manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a guideline for digital transformation success under Industry 4.0.Design/methodology/approachThe study first performed a content-centric literature review to identify digital transformation success determinants. The study further implemented interpretive structural modeling to extract the order at which the success determinants should be present to facilitate the SMEs’ digital transformation success optimally. The interpretive model and interpretive logic knowledge base matrix were also used for developing the digital transformation guideline.FindingsEleven success determinants are vital to SMEs’ digital transformation efforts. For example, results revealed that external support for digitalization is the first step in ensuring digital transformation success among SMEs, while operations technology readiness is the most inaccessible success determinant.Research limitations/implicationsThe study highlights the degree of importance of the 11 success determinants identified, which magnifies each determinant's strategic priority based on its driving power and dependence power. Theorizing the dependent variable of “digital transformation success” and quantitatively measuring the extent to which each success determinant contributes to explaining “digital transformation success” offers an exciting opportunity for future research.Practical implicationsDigital transformation success phenomenon within the Industry 4.0 context is significantly different from the digitalization success concept within the traditional literature. The digital transformation under Industry 4.0 is immensely resource-intensive and complex. Smaller manufacturers must have specific capabilities such as change management and digitalization strategic planning capability to reach a certain degree of information, digital, operations and cyber maturity.Originality/valueThe digital transformation success guide developed in the study describes each success determinants' functionality in relation to other determinants and explains how they might contribute to the digital transformation success within the manufacturing sector. This guide enables smaller manufacturers to better understand the concept of manufacturing digital transformation under Industry 4.0 and devise robust strategies to steer their digital transformation process effectively.

The future of work: how HR drives digital transformation in the new normal

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramkumar Chandrasekaran
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Leaders ◽  
Global Leader ◽  
Information Technology Services ◽  
Technology Services ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how organisations can leverage digital transformation by discussing the importance of having a zero-trust approach when it comes to security. This is something that is imperative, and so this paper aims to provide advice on how organisations can keep their networks and systems safe from cyberattacks and opportunistic cybercriminals. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a thought leadership piece and draws on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS’) COVID-19 Business Impact Survey, which surveys nearly 300 executives on how they are planning and managing the near and long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Those surveyed represented mostly large companies across 11 countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Moreover, 63% of these companies had an annual revenue of over $5bn. Findings The findings from the survey revealed that most organisations lack digital capabilities, and the coronavirus pandemic is exposing these weaknesses. It found that companies with essential digital capabilities (“leaders”) have held up better during the pandemic than those without (“followers). Moreover, the survey demonstrated that there is a significant lack of clarity on how to strategically move on multiple digital fronts cost-effectively. Originality/value As TCS is a global leader in information technology services, consulting and business solutions, this paper provides value to senior business and technology leaders in organisations that hold influence over the company’s security strategies. By focussing on zero trust, this paper recommends how such leaders can rethink and reassess their business strategy to thrive in a post-pandemic world.

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