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Disentangling the Fuzzy Front End of Digital Transformation: Activities and Approaches
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2017-12-10
Author(s)
Abstract
Digital transformation poses critical challenges to organizations. The initial phase – the “fuzzy front-end“– in such a profound innovation process is often perceived as ill-defined and chaotic, yet it may have great impact on the outcome. However, managers struggle with initiating this process and prioritizing between different activities. Prior research has pointed out the importance of a digital transformation strategy, however, less emphasis is put on the activities that enact this strategy. Drawing on qualitative data from eleven organizations with an ongoing digital transformation program and by employing activity theory, we delineate nine patterns of typical activities in the beginning of digital transformation. The prioritization of these activities reveals five approaches – centralized, bottom-up, IT-centered, innovation-centered, and channel centered. The results contribute to a better understanding of the initial phases of digital transformation for practitioners and complement prior research on digital transformation strategy with deeper insights on typical activities and approaches.
Project(s)
Language
English
Keywords
digital transformation
organizational change
digital innovation
digital transformation strategy
fuzzy front end
activity theory
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SoM - Business Innovation
Book title
ICIS 2017 Proceedings
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Start page
1
End page
17
Event Title
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2017
Event Location
Seoul
Event Date
10. - 13. Dezember 2017
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
254097