Today digital transformation is no longer an alien concept, it is an individual or organisation’s overall and comprehensive change to their way of life, working style and production method based on digital technologies. Although digital transformation is not a mandatory requirement for now, it is an inevitable trend in the global flow of technology.
For organisations and enterprises that only use manual tools and basic software, their operations will be not as effective as those employing newer technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and blockchain, which have the ability to process millions of orders at the same time.
The benefits of digital transformation are enormous. The introduction of advanced technologies to traditional operation and business processes can help organisations and enterprises fundamentally change their implementation method, working style and internal culture.
With big data alone, enterprises can optimise their time, resources and geographical coverage to assess their customer potential, the risk of customers leaving the system, or the risk of the system failing to meet customer demand. However, not all organisations and enterprises are willing to break with the old and build a new foundation as their working, production and business habits have been formed over many years.
In addition, they have to face technical and financial barriers during the digital transformation process, which requires adequate and long-term investment in terms of both grey matter and capital.
But digital transformation relies on not only technology but also people, the mindset, the implementation process and the culture of an organisation. For digital transformation to be successful, one of the foremost factor is the leader. When a leader has yet to really want changes or fully understand the issue, they cannot direct their subordinates to adopt digital transformation in their professional activities.
The leader must make their staff understand the important role of digital transformation and should be the first to fully comply with their organisation’s digital transformation process. When the leader understands and is able to outline a digital transformation roadmap, the stages will be calculated in detail, then the fear of digital transformation will subside.
At this time, the leader acts as a compass to outline the directions and lead the entire staff to gradually change from old, ineffective working methods to new ones with greater efficiency and higher quality.
In Vietnam, many organisations and enterprises are becoming bright examples in digital transformation, exerting certain impacts on other organisations to quickly adopt digital transformation so as to catch up with the pace of growth and the demand of reality.
Financial difficulties can be overcome if technological innovations are made in stages and by finding linkages with foreign partners, international investors, or forging cooperation with solution providers, acquiring technology startups. For difficulties concerning the capacity of IT staff, solutions can be found in on-site training courses in accordance with an organisation’s requirements and through cooperation with vocational schools and centres.
Therefore, as the world is changing continuously, those in leadership positions need to quickly change their mindset regarding digital transformation so as to not be left behind.
