Digital Master: MIT identifies companies able to take advantage of digital technologies

A study, conducted with the support of MIT, analyzed the attitude of companies toward the use of digital technologies and established that virtuous behaviors have a significant impact on performance.

MIT ranked more than 400 worldwide companies in various sectors by inserting them into a matrix obtained from the intersection of two main dimensions:

• “digital capability“, i.e. the way in which they invest in technology, the actual investment, and hence the “what” of the digital transformation;
• “leadership capability“, i.e. the way in which technology is introduced into the organization, therefore the “how“.
  The result are four groups of companies:1. “Beginners“: companies that are still not investing in technology;
  2. “Fashionistas“: companies that invest immediately and massively in new technologies. For example, what happens in the B2C sector, in banks and producers of fast moving goods;
  3. “Conservatives“: companies that are driving the change, but that focus only on a small part of the business;
  4. “Digital masters“, companies able to take advantage of digital technologies despite their continuous change, that manage to find the right mix between all components, leveraging investments in digital technology in order to transform their business performance. These companies have been able to transform their operations through precise digital investments thanks to intelligent and effective change leadership.

For MIT researchers, this change is like a marathon, where nothing can be improvised and where new technologies must be continuously integrated and technological changes must be managed in a timely manner.

Digital transformation projects are always top down, and they need to be driven by management that is strong, knowledgeable and adequately trained.

The three years of research by MIT and Capgemini Consulting on the subject of digital transformation were collected in a book published by Harvard Business Review Press entitled Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation. The book was authored by Didier Bonnet, Senior Vice President of Capgemini Consulting, a Capgemini group company specializing in strategic business advice; and the scientific researchers George Westerman and Andrew McAfee from MIT.