Digital Transformation is the use of any digital technologies to provide better products and services or better customer experience, thereby achieving product differentiation and competitive advantage.
With the emergence of disruptive technologies, such as WhatsApp drastically eroding the mobile revenue from Telcos and Uber championing a major transformation in the taxi market, companies are facing tremendous pressure in this era of rapid technological change. Digital transformation is everywhere on the agendas of corporate boards and has risen to the top of CEOs’ strategic plans.
The Internet and wireless technologies have been the main fuel for Digital Transformation. The Internet forms the backbone that enabled many emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing and other Internet of Things (IoT). In turn, the mass amount of data created by IoT gives rise to Big Data Analytics that can give competitive edge to companies that know how to use Analytics. Wireless technologies empower customers with mobility and have the power to revolutionize every industry.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that disruption is not just about technologies, more importantly it is about people—customers as well as leaders of an organization. A ‘disruptive technology’ can succeed not because it is a new, emerging technology but because it delivers greater value to the customers in the form of lower cost, greater ease of use, faster access to products and services, etc. For an organization to embark on a digital transformation, to embrace new technologies and new ways of delivering its goods and service, it involves transformation of the entire organization. Digital Transformation, therefore, has to be led from the top or at least requires strong buy-in from top management and all stakeholders.
Recognizing that people and company culture plays a key role in enabling enterprises to thrive in today’s competitive environment, Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) has developed the Business Model Innovation (BMI) MasterClass Programme, designed for the C level executives of SMEs and comprises both strategic planning and implementation plans for business model transformation.
Business Model Innovation, or BMI is defined as an innovative way to capture, create, develop and deliver value to the customer and market. Many SMEs in Singapore need to transform their business models which are becoming irrelevant. What we are witnessing today is an explosion of business model innovation that is not only changing the rules of the game but the entire game itself.
Using the BMI framework, SMF helps SMEs utilize a structured approach to create sustainable business value by translating their competencies, know-how, market knowledge and ideas into new or improved business models. A business model transformation project typically comprises of the following process: