Technological transformation: a challenge for business culture

Eight out of ten organizations are in a process of digital transformation, in which their greatest challenge is to consolidate in the new 4.0 economic model hand in hand with a technological strategy. This change,  according to a study  carried out on 600 business leaders from Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, takes between one, three and up to six years depending on the country for 76% of the companies.

Now, where should companies start their adaptation to a technological context? The first step requires a change in the organizational culture in order to accelerate and lead the disruption processes within an increasingly demanding environment in which, in addition, the starting point must be known to facilitate the transformation process. Because just as technology must evolve, so must the strategy, the culture and the team.

This new focus shapes organizational structures to find the best benefit between human- machine relationships  . For example, 1,300 executives from human resources or talent areas,  according to The Future of HR survey , are training and transforming their workforce, people, and functions according to their needs in the short or medium term.

The key to this digital start is to rethink internal processes: long-term planned projects, activities without a strategy or lack of co-creation between teams, to give rise to measurements through data, short-term planning, programs that are on the based on trial and error to iterate and, in case it does not work, reduce money and time.

Another factor in this transformation process is the technological infrastructure, because it must connect talent and give them more efficiency through digital tools such as  chatboxes , open or customized platforms, control systems, and microservices.

• Leadership:  the success of a company in a digital environment depends not only on the company’s technological level, but also on the ability of its managers and leaders to drive change. In this case, agile management styles, the implementation of new sources of income and opportunities that manage adaptation are key.
• Business model:  transforming business culture also requires companies to be willing to analyze their value proposition, customer segmentation, value creation with alliances or value capture, in terms of costs and sources of income.
• Culture:  technology is permeated by culture and organizational context. This can facilitate technological transformation or complicate it. The first step is to adopt agile methodologies, promote a culture of innovation and have technology as an ally.

Its implementation must be carried out by designing employee experiences with purpose to align the strategy from different levels:

They are the ones who must launch the process of technological transformation within the culture of companies. Through strategies, tools and leadership they will be able to give the team greater results.

The digitization of companies must be adapted to the needs of the teams and provide them with tools that streamline their work, including process automation and digital skills in e-commerce management, cybersecurity, online  customer service  , user experience  from online channels,  marketplace  and data and information management.

Each area or team must co-create and communicate with each other, in order to promote spaces within the company aimed at innovation that allow us to lose fear of change.

Finally, it is important to take into account that technological transformation must be progressive and must go hand in hand with an organizational culture that fosters models of innovation, knowledge management, interaction between interdisciplinary teams and the use of technologies such as big data , computing in the cloud or artificial intelligence.