98631 - DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGIES

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

"Data and technology are at the core of digital transformation, but these factors alone are not sufficient to make the leap towards staying relevant in the business realm. It's also about people and their capabilities. The Digital Transformation Strategies course takes participants through a formative experience which prepare them to: - identify opportunities to address specific problems within the firm and frame them in a way where a digital solution can be optimal, - explore the challenges associated with digital platforms and learn to develop strategies to deal with them, - harness the power of disruptive digital technologies by improving operations and increasing business value, - manage the organizational transformations, in the form of people and processes, required to enable measurable and significant change."

Contenuti

About the module leader: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianvito-lanzolla-baa22a/]

Module outline and aims

On this course you will have the opportunity to study the impact of digital technology on strategy, organization and organizing.

The course is divided into four parts. First, in order to develop a (preliminary) vision of what digital transformations are and of their far-reaching impact, we will review some evidence on the contextual implications of the diffusion of digital technologies.

Second, we will focus on the strategic responses to digital technology diffusion both from the perspective of established companies and entrepreneurs. Specifically, we will focus on customer-centricity and on ecosystem strategies as two of the new strategic paradigm. We will also delve into business model innovation as a driver of entrepreneurial success.

Third, we will look into the new organizational paradigms by exploring digital controls and digital coordination, and the new skills needed to thrive and govern Artificial Intelligence.

Fourth, we will look at the new innovation paradigms by exploring the role of innovation labs and corporate venture capital. ,

The aims of this module are:

• To acquire a deep and critical understanding of the far-reaching socio-economic implications of the ongoing digital transformations;
• To acquire a deep and critical understanding of the regulatory challenges and opportunities related to the ongoing digital transformations;
• To develop a deep and critical understanding of the disruptive dynamics triggered by the ongoing digital transformations;
• To develop a deep and critical understanding of the emerging digital ecologies;
• To develop a deep and critical understanding of the opportunities and challenges that digital transformations offer to established companies as well as of the entrepreneurial opportunities;
• To develop a deep and critical understanding of strategic and organizational options that established companies have to deal with the ongoing digital transformations;
• To reflect on capabilities, leadership and managerial styles required to succeed in a digitally transforming world and
• To equip participants with the confidence to lead the ongoing digital transformations both as corporate executives and/or entrepreneurs.

Content outline

Why do we speak about a fourth industrial revolution?
• Convergence of the digital, physical, and biological
• Opportunities and risks (beyond just cybersecurity)

The impact of digital technology diffusion
• New client trade-offs
• The geopolitics of data and AI
• Regulation in search of a script
• American and UK/EU perspectives on regulating digital markets

Strategic responses from established companies
• Customer centricity
• Rewiring value creation and value delivery in the digital ecosystem
• Why it is so hard for established companies to respond to digital disruption
• First mover or follower?
• Digital diversifiers

Entrepreneurial opportunities
• Blending technology and domain expertise
• Rewiring business models
• Why do new ventures often struggle to scale?

New(ish) business models
• Platforms and winner-takes-all economics
• Competing and cooperating with platforms

Organization and organizing
• New forms of control – algorithmic controls, digital controls
• New forms of coordination – planning and mutual adjustments
• Distributed organizations
• New skills

Management and leadership
• Management in the age of behavioral visibility
• Blending data science, science, and expertise
• AI augmentation
• Cyberthreats

Separation and integration
• Innovation labs
• Corporate Venture Capital
• Venture building
• The "not-invented-here" syndrome

What’s next in the technology landscape?

How to build and execute your own digital leadership roadmap.

Testi/Bibliografia

INDICATIVE READING LIST

Articles

Filatotchev, I., Lanzolla, G. and Syrigos, E., 2025. Impact of CEO's digital technology orientation and board characteristics on firm value: a signaling perspective. Journal of Management, 51(2), pp.875-912.

Lanzolla, G., Pesce, D. and Tucci, C., 2023. The digitalization of physical reality: theoretical lenses to incorporate digitalization into management research. In Research Handbook on Digital Strategy (pp. 83-101). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Filatotchev, I. and Lanzolla, G., 2023. " Open source corporate governance" in the era of digital transformation. In Research Handbook on Digital Strategy (pp. 309-323). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Vaast, E. and Pinsonneault, A., 2021. When Digital Technologies Enable and Threaten Occupational Identity: The Delicate Balancing Act of Data Scientists. MIS Quarterly, 45(3).

Kellogg, K.C., Valentine, M.A. and Christin, A., 2020. Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control. Academy of management annals, 14(1), pp.366-410.

Lanzolla, G., Lorenz, A., Miron-Spektor, E., Schilling, M., Solinas, G. and Tucci, C.L., 2020. Digital transformation: What is new if anything? Emerging patterns and management research. Academy of Management Discoveries, 6(3), pp.341-350.

Lanzolla, Gianvito, Danilo Pesce, and Christopher L. Tucci. "The digital transformation of search and recombination in the innovation function: Tensions and an integrative framework." Journal of Product Innovation Management 38, no. 1 (2021): 90-113.

Cennamo, C., Dagnino, G.B., Di Minin, A. and Lanzolla, G., 2020. Managing digital transformation: Scope of transformation and modalities of value co-generation and delivery. California Management Review, 62(4), pp.5-16.

Lanzolla, G. and Markides, C., 2021. A business model view of strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 58(2), pp.540-553.

Lanzolla, G. and Frankort, H.T., 2016. The online shadow of offline signals: Which sellers get contacted in online B2B marketplaces?. Academy of Management Journal, 59(1), pp.207-231.

Lanzolla, G. and Suarez, F.F., 2012. Closing the technology adoption–use divide: The role of contiguous user bandwagon. Journal of Management, 38(3), pp.836-859.

Lanzolla, G. and Giudici, A., 2017. Pioneering strategies in the digital world. Insights from the Axel Springer case. Business History, 59(5), pp.744-777.

SUAREZ, F., & LANZOLLA, G. (2005) The half-truth of first-mover advantage. Harvard Business Review, 83(4), 121-7.

AMIT, R., & ZOTT, C. (2001) Value creation in e‐business. Strategic management journal, 22(6‐7), 493-520.

BHARADWAJ, A., EL SAWY, O. A., PAVLOU, P. A., & VENKATRAMAN, N. (2013) Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471-482.

HAGIU, A. (2014) Strategic decisions for multisided platforms. MIT Sloan. Available from: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/strategic-decisions-for-multisided-platforms/

LANZOLLA, G., & ANDERSON, J. (2010) The digital revolution is over. Long live the digital revolution! Business Strategy Review, 21(1), 74-77.

MARKIDES, C., & CHARITOU, C. D. (2004) Competing with dual business models: a contingency approach. The Academy of Management Executive, 18(3), 22-36.

LANZOLLA, G., & SUAREZ, F. F. (2012) Closing the technology adoption–use divide the role of contiguous user bandwagon. Journal of Management, 38(3), 836-859.

Books

LANZOLLA, G & MARKIDES, C (2025). Diversification in the age of data and AI. Cambridge University Press

Parmy Olson, (2024) Supremacy, Pan Macmillan

Rogers, D., 2016. The digital transformation playbook: Rethink your business for the digital age. Columbia Business School.

DUHIGG, C. (2013) The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do and how to change. Random House.

SHAPIRO, C., & VARIAN, H. R. (2013) Information rules: a strategic guide to the network economy. Harvard Business Press.

ISAACSON, W. (2011) Steve Jobs. JC Lattès.

RIES, E. (2012) The lean startup. The movement that is transforming how new products are built and launched. Random House.

CATMULL, E., & WALLACE, A. (2014) Creativity, inc.: overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration. Random House LLC.

Online resources

Given the state of the arts nature of this module, references will (almost daily) be updated with online resources and selected new books and articles.

Metodi didattici

Lectures; case discussions; external speakers; workshops 

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Coursework

• Part A: Identify a problem and/or opportunity arising from the diffusion of digital technologies and develop a detailed strategy to address it.
• Part B: Create a comprehensive change management plan, including organizational structure, skills, incentives, project management, mindset, and governance, to support the large-scale adoption of the proposed strategy.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Gianvito Lanzolla