Articles

Transforming Traditional Businesses Doesn’t Have to be an Elusive Goal

Firms need to develop an appetite for innovation, leverage knowledge about customers, and adopt agile ways of working.

Even though the literature on business transformation is enormous, managerial and organisational appetite for change tends to be limited. Leaders of organisations that are remotely successful are not inclined to change things. Transforming the business is not the same as implementing incremental change or improvements in processes, operations and products. We argue that transformation refers to an organisation achieving a sustainable quantum-leap improvement in performance while transforming the mindsets of employees and thus the culture of the organisation.

Digital transformation in the wake of a crisis: focus on people

Only 35% of projects today are completed successfully. One reason for this disappointing rate is the low level of maturity of technologies available for project management. This is about to change. Researchers, startups, and innovating organizations, are beginning to apply AI, machine learning, and other advanced technologies to project management, and by 2030 the field will undergo major shifts. Technology will soon improve project selection and prioritization, monitor progress, speed up reporting, and facilitate testing. Project managers, aided by virtual project assistants, will find their roles more focused on coaching and stakeholder management than on administration and manual tasks. The author show how organizations that want to reap the benefits of project management technologies should begin today by gathering and cleaning project data, preparing their people, and dedicating the resources necessary to drive this transformation.

Using Crisis as a Catalyst for Transformation

Most organizations are not well prepared to deal with a serious crisis. The end result of a crisis can either help transform the organization or leave it in a very dangerous position. Crises can emulate fight-or-flight conditions, which are physiological reactions in response to perceived danger, attack, or threat to survival. In animals, as well as humans, this is a natural response mechanism that helps keep us alive.

Unleashing the Power of Blockchain in the Enterprise

Blockchain is emerging as a foundational technology, but there is still groundwork to be done on standards development and the governance of change — and doing that work is critical to enterprise strategy

How Blockchain Will Change Construction

Blockchain technology is among the most disruptive forces of the past decade. Its power to record, enable, and secure huge numbers and varieties of transactions raises an intriguing question: Can the same distributed ledger technology that powers bitcoin also enable better execution of strategic projects in a conservative sector like construction, involving large teams of contractors and subcontractors and an abundance of building codes, safety regulations, and standards?

Blockchain and the Chief Strategy Officer: How Distributed Ledger Technology Will Change Strategy Design and Delivery

This research looks at blockchain technology’s impact on enterprise strategy and the role of the chief strategy officer. It discusses new elements of strategic design and delivery—shared ledgers, smart contracts, and tokenized assets—and develops the concept of strategic liquidity, the degree to which an enterprise can maneuver in a competitive environment and dynamically reallocate resources and access capabilities. 

Blockchain and the Project Management Office

This project takes a deep dive into the current state of project management and identifies key areas for improvement. It discusses five key areas where blockchain technology can improve project management including storing of digital records, exchanging digital assets, reinforcing and verifying proper stakeholder behavior, building reputation systems, and executing smart contracts. It presents case studies of enterprises that are currently deploying blockchain to improve project management, including which activities are suitable (or not suitable).

Ten Questions to Help you Turn Strategy into Reality

Sustainable growth depends on delivering the right strategies the right way. Yet this is something that organisations appear ill-equipped to do. Our work at the Brightline Initiative is examining what causes the gap between strategy and implementation and how it can be closed. Our research suggests that business leaders need to answer ten key questions for their strategies to more effectively make the leap from design to delivery.

The Innovator’s Mindset: Radical Can-Do

When business leaders are quizzed about what it takes to succeed today, they tend to suggest the usual suspects. Innovation is one constant refrain. But, look around. While radical innovation is a common aspiration, incremental innovation is the more frequent reality. Very few products or services are truly innovative.