The culture of digital transformation

T of professionals and executives from various organizations, large and small, - “The Culture of Digital Transformation,” is just but apropos as the people and the culture of organizations are the ones responsible for the execution of the

I was honored to be one of the presenters and facilitators of a workshop under the People and Organizations segment, which integrated all the concepts that the attendees learned during the My session was titled “Demystifying Digital Transformation,” in which I attempted to concretize

I first asked the audience of more than 200 participants, “Do you get different definitions of digital transformation?” I saw a unanimous nod across the room like the proverbial dancing swans

Then I gave my usual defini activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact These activities and processes are composed of four pillars – optimizing your operations, transforming your products, engaging your customers, and lastly and most importantly, empowering employees who form part of your

REYNALDO LUGTU, JR.

organization’s culture that will ultimately carry out the transfor

we drive the digital transformation of our companies into highperforming organizations that can compete successfully in the midst of disruptions? The answer lies in the kind of culture that we propa

Organizational culture is a collection of core values and beliefs of the members of the organization, and the policies and practices that go along with them, such as the treatment of customers and employees, and the rules on employee an organization’s culture depends on the success of the business leader in translating core values and beliefs into policies and practices that help the organization capitalize on the opportunities and ward off threats in the com

It has been well established in management literature that organizational culture drives per - nizational culture supports digital transformation? The seminal work of Deshpande, Farley, and Webster - tional culture – clan, adhocracy,

culture promotes cohesiveness and teamwork, while adhocracy promotes innovation, creativity contribute to spontaneity and two others are hierarchy culture, which is all about order and rules; and market culture, which is furthering competitiveness and goal

My hypothesis is that clan and adhocracy culture types mainly support digital transformation To test this, I administered a mobile survey among the conference participants to evaluate the current individual culture

participants who answered the survey showed their highest scores in clan and adhocracy for desired cultures that will support digital by market culture, which will also the participants desire cultures of innovation, risk- taking, and teamwork to drive transformation

These results are supported by JMC, which surveyed 300 organi that organizations that support digital transformation display culture that is characterized by a strong shared sense of purpose, freedom to experiment, distribut- ed decision-making, and is open to

But interestingly and sadly, the survey I conducted during the conference showed the lowest in adhocracy for the current mean that many organizations in the Philippines, led by their owners and executives, do not promote creativity, risk- taking, and entrepreneurial ventures in my observation that many organizations in the country are not even starting their digitization initiatives; and this demands us to ask – how can our small and medium enterprises compete in this global competitive arena?

Business owners and leaders need to embrace the kind of culture that promotes innovation and risk-taking to support digital transformation of their businesses, because their employees desire driving consumer spending and spurring economic growth, both in transactions contributed about 10 percent to the Philippines’ gross By 2020, the government expects that e- commerce volume will reach 25 percent of the country’s GDP, with the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) eyed

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