A Strategic Foundation for Digital Growth

In board meetings, I experience the desire for digital growth. It is at the top of the agenda.

However, the reality in terms of implementation is different. According to Forrester, 75% of digital growth initiatives fall short of expectations.

What are the challenges for digital growth?

To achieve digital growth, companies from different industries face several challenges at the organizational level.

• A key challenge is the rapid pace of technological advances that require constant updates and adjustments to keep up with the latest tools and trends.
• In addition, there is often a lack of qualified professionals who can effectively use digital technologies for business purposes.
• Cybersecurity threats also pose a major challenge, as misuse of online data can result in significant financial and reputational damage.
• Finally, there can be resistance to change within an organization. That can hinder the progress of digital transformation and digital growth.

Tackling the challenges of digital growth

To turn the challenges of digital growth into opportunities, companies should develop strategies that focus on the value-added aspects of business model innovations.

In addition, they have the following options:

• Invest in training and development programs to upskill existing employees and attract new talent with digital expertise.
• Implement robust cyber security measures, including firewalls, encryption, and regular security audits to protect against misuse of online data.
• Creating a culture of innovation and change within the organization that encourages employees to experiment with new ideas and approaches.
• Develop a business-focused digital transformation roadmap with measurable goals and timelines to track progress and ensure accountability throughout the process.

The chart above demonstrates the importance of the KET domain. The objective is to align value proposition, value creation, and value capture with market needs and corporate strategy.

Some target values, for example regarding sustainability and ESG, cannot be achieved without the leverage of appropriate key technologies.

Against this background, rapid technological progress is a real challenge, especially in terms of medium to long-term strategy and investment decisions.

In areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, or quantum computing, even experienced CIOs and IT experts find it difficult to make concrete forecasts about developments up to 2030.

That situation doesn’t exactly make decisions at the board level any easier but all the more necessary. I will go into individual aspects in more detail in the next editions.