Strategic Digital Transformation

Emerging technologies are having a profound impact upon business as individuals and organisations increasingly embrace the benefits of the ‘always on’ attitude that digital technologies produce. The use of the web, apps, cloud storage, GPS and Internet-connected devices has transformed the way we live, learn, play and interact – yet how a business can fully benefit from this transformation is not always clear. In response, this book enables students and business leaders to take a strategic and sustainable approach to realising the value of digital technologies. It offers results-driven solutions that successfully transform organisations into data-driven, people-focused businesses capable of sustainably competing at a global level.

Split across four key parts, the material moves through understanding digital business to planning, implementing and assessing digital transformation. The current challenges facing all small organisations, including limited resources, financial pressures and the lack of dedicated IT departments, are explored. The authors consider the ways in which innovation can increase competitive advantage, how innovative business models can create new opportunities and how a data-driven perspective can release embedded value within the organisation. Contemporary international case studies and examples throughout each chapter bridge theory with practical application and systematically document the patterns of activities that enable success.

This textbook is a vital resource for postgraduate and undergraduate students of digital business, innovation and transformation. By showing how to initiate digital transformation across an organisation, it will prepare business owners, directors and management of small- and medium-sized businesses to take strategic advantage of new and emerging technologies to stay ahead of their competition.

Alex Fenton is Lecturer in Digital Business at Salford Business School, UK. He has authored a wide range of academic and practitioner articles relating to digital transformation, digital business and digital marketing. He has won an array of industry and teaching awards for his practical approach to enterprise-led, experiential education.

Gordon Fletcher is Academic Unit Head at Salford Business School, UK. Gordon’s research focuses on examples and experiences of digital business, culture and practice. Gordon has published work around conflict with online finance communities, economies within virtual game worlds, digital marketing and digital transformation.

Marie Griffiths is Reader and Head of the Centre for Digital Business, Salford Business School, UK. Her research focuses on the role of digital technologies and the convergence of the ‘real’ and digital worlds and the social influences of technology. She also writes and teaches in the fields of emerging Technologies, Security and Information Systems.