There are those who do great technology shopping because he thinks that by spending a lot you buy the best, but in fact he jumps between an analogue head and a clear need for evolution without knowing what to do. There are those who (less and less) put their heads in the sand and continue to think that being analogue will not be a problem “after” (what the after refers to is all to be seen). There are those who, then, have their heads but unlike the former they do not know what to buy. And finally, there are those who eat them all.
A search for Anna Minà, Alberto Costa e Giambattista gnino of the Lumsa, University of Rome, which will be presented at the Sinergie-Sima conference to be held on 10-11 June, he related the transformative technological process and the mental orientation of top management the management of the transition between the analog and digital worlds resulted in four profiles freely inspired by the animal world.
Digital turtle. They are the ones who “trudge behind the market leader,” the researchers write on Management Notes, they have neither a digital strategy nor a digital mindset. Too slow to hope to win the competition. Classic example of turtle was Blockbuster, which did not know how to predict the changes in the market and found itself outside the competitive arena which quickly moved elsewhere.
Digital monkey. The monkey jumps from tree to tree, investing large amounts of energy to move. Thus the companies that belong to this category spend a lot of resources on technology and move to get to know the surrounding environment, without however being able to conclude much: the investments are there, but there is no strategy. A good example was in the past Walt disney.
Digital truffle dog. Here it is the opposite of the monkey, the head is there but they have not yet moved towards transformation. The “truffle dog” companies are aware of the change taking place and consequently when they decide to activate an adequate digital transformation process they will be able to face it. Probably, however, they are inserted in a context that is still not very digital. The example, in this case, is Kodak, which had enormous difficulties in implementing the digital transformation.
Digital Lion. It is the fourth profile identified and, as you can imagine, it is a winning profile: how the lion dominates the forest and is able to read the changes and dangers using the experience gained, thus dominating the other animals, the power of digital transformation becomes a driving force for the lion company which is able to evolve, integrate or transform its business model. The example? Netflix which, quickly passing from the shipment of DVDs at home, to the subscription, to streaming and the production of content, has shown how a digital “head” is able to activate adequate synergistic and technological solutions, developing a competitive arena and not limiting itself shopping inside.
In conclusion, the transition from analog to digital is mandatory but, if in the pre-Covid era the feeling was that every company or sector could foresee and consequently take its own times, the acceleration of the last year has put a certain hurry even to those who were more cautious. A step that, as has now been understood, is not limited to the acquisition of technologies but must include the formulation of one digital strategy, whose development proves impossible if the management does not have a digital “head”.
* director Markup and Gdoweek
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