Reading 1 summary: Is your business ready for a digital future?

Reading tells us that simply utilizing technology is not that easy for a corporation.
Incorporating technology into a company and having undergone a digital transformation
involves more than implementation strategies, cultural diversification, and talent
management. It tells us that businesses must be cautious and always alert when evaluating,
understanding, and acting on the data that each platform offers. This talks about the digital
sophistication of an organization and how it differs from the digital approach, citing a variety
of examples that illustrate how many businesses try to enhance their customer experiences.
It means that we will begin to look at the effect of emerging technology on our business in
the next few years, go backwards by re-engineering the future and there by defining the
processes and main measures needed for the present. It helps us to stop capitalizing on
developments in the short term and moves us in the right direction.

According to most survey respondents, ability to innovate and take chances is a key factor in
reinventing the core market approach and changing cultural understanding helps a
organization take advantage of emerging technology. Since shifting culture is the greatest
obstacle associated with the introduction of the social communication platform of the
organization. However, the reverse may also be true, i.e. technology itself may also bring
change to the culture of an organization. If one chooses to ignite a spark of digital initiative
in a minor portion of the division, its effects may start to grow to other aspects of the firm
just like wildfire.
The reading then focuses on another aspect that separates the most technologically
advanced organizations from the least, and this is the production of human staff training.
Technology is changing from minute to minute. So, with this rapid speed transition, it's up to
the businesses and what they're doing with it. Irrespective of the type of maturity of the
company, many survey respondents found that the most significant ability to leverage
digital trends is "knowing this same business or being able to conceptualize how new digital
technologies can have an influence on subsequent company processes / models." This also
happens to be the capacity that many of them lack within their organizations.
The survey respondents were also worried about their company's leadership skills and
ability to operate the organization in a digital world. The problem with this is that leaders
may not be able to acknowledge their own shortcomings, and thankfully one of the ways to
overcome this gap is by hiring executives from tech companies.
Later reading, he discusses about the threat of employee dissatisfaction. The majority of
respondents all over industry, company size and region agreed that digital transformation
has the power to radically change how people can work as it affects them and their part of
the overall project alike. So, if digital transformation can increase the operations and
maintenance performance of the organisation, it will also do the same for our competitors.
Finally , the author asks us to consider a few questions about having a digital strategy for the
future that recognizes the entire organization, about the cultural identity of our company
that enables our digital initiatives to achieve success, and about the both these skills and
talents that our organisation requires to have a digital footprint and to prosper. These issues
need to be closely examined while drawing up a road map to rethink strategy, culture and
talent in order to be ready for such a digital future.