BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: Definition, process, strategies, agencies & model

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
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Business transformation has been a catchall term for decades now on how organizations make the right strategy to achieve their full potential. This is why Companies are bent on delivering healthy financial performance and organizational effectiveness before focusing on higher growth, new strategies, and tech-enabled solutions. In addition to this, the process can be unlocking the potential of employees, harnessing intellectual property and proprietary technology for other purposes, or becoming more efficient to maximize the company’s potential. Read on to learn about the business transformation model and the best agency that works.

What is Business Transformation?

Business transformation is more than creating a more efficient, digitized system. It involves a change in mindset and developing a business strategy that can continue to evolve now and in the future. Furthermore, the business transformation process is not just an option for any established organization, but a necessary component for long-term success as it allows you to execute intelligent energy in your management systems.

What are the Examples of Business Transformation?

There has never been a perfect approach that suits no ‘one size fits all’ approach to organizational change. How your business aims to transform itself will entirely depend on where you are right now, where you want to be, and why.

What are the three Types of Business Transformation? 

It varies greatly depending on a company’s industry, specific challenges, and demands. But one constant is the more technology changes, the more companies will need to adapt. That being said, there are several common business transformation types,

#1. Agile Transformation

Agile transformation goes beyond software development practices to include transitioning an entire organization to nimble practices and mindsets. It’s not just about adding agile software; it’s changing the mindset, creating cross-functional teams, and continuously improving processes and workflows. 

In other words, agile enables organizations to be more responsive to changing market forces and customer demands. keep teams aligned with strategic pivots, and ultimately, deliver the right value faster.

#2. Digital Transformation

A digital transformation is a complete change to how business gets done. It doesn’t simply move analog or manual processes to new software but creates new, faster, and more efficient digital strategies. Therefore, when undergoing digital transformation, the organization rethinks its entire business model through the lens of digital strategy.

This includes finding new digital solutions, amending processes with digital tools, and forcing digital technologies to create a better experience for customers and employees. For instance, A company may undergo a business domain change to update its areas of activity or commerce, especially if opportunities arise or change in adjacent markets.

#3. Organizational Transformation

An organizational transformation changes how employees operate, including communication and reporting flows, team structure, job titles, required skills, and even the number of employees. Hence, organizational transformation is often mistaken for general business transformations; however, in this context, the focus is placed on the human resource and departmental changes impacted across a business depending on the company’s purpose.

In addition, note that completing a business transformation of any type requires strategic planning and careful decision-making to ensure it goes according to plan and the company’s employees can experience minimal disturbance during work.

Business Transformation Agency

A business transformation agency is an organization of the United States Department of Defense that specializes in helping organizations become more efficient, effective, and profitable. By utilizing digital technologies established by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England on October 7, 2005. However, the goal of these agencies is to help companies create the most value possible from their digital technology investments.

This involves analyzing current processes and developing strategies to enhance them using the latest technological advances. Additionally, the mission of the business transformation agency (BTA) was to guide the transformation of business operations throughout the Department of Defense and to deliver Enterprise-level capabilities that align with warfighter needs

Benefits of Working with a Business Transformation Agency

Working with a business transformation agency can offer several key benefits. 

#1. Increased Productivity

Business transformation agency helps businesses become more efficient in their operations. This is because they make use of the latest technologies and expertise to streamline processes and find new ways to automate tedious tasks. Therefore, resulting in improved productivity, cost savings, and reduced operational risks. Thus, with the help of an experienced business transformation expert, businesses can maximize their potential and gain a competitive edge in their industry.

#2. Adequate Customer Experience

Business transformation agencies have the tools and skills necessary for creating a better customer experience that will keep customers coming back. They understand how customers interact with online services, which allows them to develop better user interfaces that will make it easier for customers to do business with your company. For this reason, investing in such expertise ensures that your customer experience will be top-notch and will keep customers coming back time and time again.

#3. Data Analysis & Insights

Finally, a business transformation agency offers valuable insights into customer behavior patterns through analytics and data-gathering techniques such as testing or cohort analysis. In addition, this information allows companies to gain valuable insights into how their customers are interacting with their website or product offerings so that they can adjust accordingly or focus on specific areas where improvement is necessary

Business Transformation Process

The business transformation process is a long-term change management process that is driven by external pressure to adapt to new conditions and requirements and meet business goals. It involves complete changes to business processes and must be aligned with company strategy. defining the strategy and rethinking ways of working to supporting execution and monitoring the results.

The business transformation process is a way of creating a strategic advantage that sets up a company for long-term success and short-term dividends. Thus, It is more like channeling the critical processes, functions, workflows, tools, and technologies to fit the business demands and hasten the time-to-market.

Steps in Business Process Transformation

One of the most important business process transformation steps is to understand where your organization stands and identify the processes that require changes/improvements. follows similar steps to business process management but attempts to make bigger, more drastic changes.

#1. Establish clear goals

For an effective transformation clarity on the goal for the transformation is vital to ensure you are headed in the right direction. So, Set achievable goals with as much specificity as possible.

#2. Gathering of metrics 

Business transformations function heavily on metrics in terms of cost, time, throughput, and any other definite metrics. Well-researched metrics are required to gauge the success of the transformation. Also, setting up metrics can help you stay on track and measure the success of the transformation. These can be in terms of cost, time, or any quantifiable metrics.

#3. Consider stakeholders

People play an important role in transforming processes. Hence, all the stakeholders should be considered what the transformation covers and the expectations from the new processes. Also, Get all those involved in the transformation for their feedback on what has worked well and what they can expect out of the new one.

#4. Test Your Environment

Before implementation, a mock run of the transformation to see how it affects the operations, data, and people is recommended. A test run helps detect major flaws and take corrective action.

#5. Gradual implementation

Rather than implementing all the changes in one go, it is better to implement them in a gradual manner. Because, for a successful business process transformation, you need a technology partner who can take you through the transformation. This will again help in keeping it manageable and if something goes wrong, you can correct it on the go.

When Should You Apply Business Process Transformation?

You should apply business process transformation in the following cases:

  • When an existing process is not meeting the demands of the business
  • If you have a significant number of errors in a process
  • When you’ve updated the surrounding technology
  • When your existing corporate organization no longer makes sense

Business Transformation Strategy

A business transformation strategy is a detailed plan for using digital solutions to improve the physical aspects of your business across engineering, manufacturing, and service. Business transformation is a broad business strategy developed by a roadmap for short- and long-term transformation guided by business outcomes.

Thus, a business transformation Strategy is an outline of the steps a business will take to best leverage emerging technologies which includes changes to business models, innovations to products and services, and the development of new value chains to meet the changing needs of customers.

How To Build A Reliable Business Transformation Strategy?

A business transformation strategy is a document that outlines your business goals, objectives, and digital initiatives. Therefore, companies should pay attention to the following,

#1. Business Evaluation

A good and effective business transformation begins with an honest and comprehensive evaluation of the current state of your business. Hence, this detailed assessment should evaluate your strategic business goals, potential growth opportunities, and key performance indicators.

#2. Understand Your Industry and  Competitors

After thoroughly evaluating the current state of your business, it is essential to understand how your industry operates and study your direct competitors. To effectively understudy your direct competitors, you need to find answers to the following questions,

  • What are their digital transformation strategies?
  • What digital solutions are they considering?
  • What latest technologies or tools are being employed in your industry?

Because detailed competition analysis will help you better understand the market and identify opportunities to position you for business success. If the people helping you don’t have the experience, knowledge, and background in your application, there will be struggles. 

#3. Create an Execution Plan

Your delivery plan should include a clear roadmap for each business innovation, initiative, resource requirements, and criteria for accessing/measuring the results. Before proceeding to the developmental stage, identify all necessary development processes to build standard routines for the progress of your business.

#4. Create a Workable Budget Plan

One of the main reasons why most digital transformation processes fail is due to insufficient funds. Therefore, when creating your budget, ensure you make provisions for unforeseen occurrences and plan for the time when new technology makes the current investment outdated.

#5. Develop a Workable Plan

Apart from technology, you need to plan for other areas of your business. Technology is not the only area of expenditure. So, gather a team of like-minded employees with the right skill set who will work with your overall goals to achieve desired results.

Conduct a thorough assessment of your current workforce and the skills you need to implement your digital innovations. Also, create a strong feedback loop with stakeholders to ensure everyone is learning from the experience as the digital transformation strategy unfolds

Business Transformation Model

Whether you are starting a new venture, expanding into a new market, or changing your go-to-market strategy. You can use a business model to capture fundamental expectations and decisions about the opportunity in one place and set the direction for success. Furthermore, the business model provides information about the target market, the market’s needs, and the role that products or services will play in meeting those needs.

Also, It answers fundamental questions about the problem the business will solve, how it will solve it and the growth opportunity within a market. In addition, it is the process of changing the fundamental way a company operates and delivers value to customers. To improve its performance, and competitiveness and adapt to changing market conditions. Thereby It involves reviewing the company’s strategy, operations, financials, and organizational structure, to create a new and more effective business model.

 Examples of Business Transformation Model

Here are a few examples of business model transformations: 

#1. Walmart 

Walmart transformed its business model from a brick-and-mortar retail store to an omnichannel retailer, offering customers the ability to shop both in-store and online. This transformation allowed the company to reach a broader customer base and generate new sources of revenue through e-commerce.

#2. Starbucks

Starbucks did not transform itself — it transformed an industry. Founder Howard Shultz was impressed with espresso bars in Milan and decided to create a shop where a sense of community was as important as coffee. The resulting sensation of Starbucks is a testament to the fact that influencing the customer’s perception of your organization can be as important as what you sell.

#3. IBM

International Business Machines transformed itself from a company selling large mainframes as its primary product into a company that has a global reach and is considered vital to the functioning of millions of businesses. It did this by creating a better focus on client needs, differentiating itself in the marketplace, and improving its handling of finances. This

#4. Apple

Apple started as a transformational company, creating a fan base among consumers who felt that Apple computers offer more user-friendly features than PCs. The company has continued to transform itself and is in some ways leaving the old computer model behind with the iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod. The company has transformed itself from a competitor trying to make laptops and desktop computers to a company that makes handheld devices.

#5. Netflix

Netflix is famous for being one of the most significant case studies for a successful business model transformation. They originally began as a mail-based rental business through a subscription-based system that specifically focused on selling DVDs.Thankfully, the company decided to reevaluate its business model and transform the business into an online streaming service provider.

Final Thoughts

Business transformation is all about identifying techniques, new processes, and technologies that aren’t being used to their maximum capacity. Therefore, any established organization interested in maximizing performance, increasing efficiency, and being around in five or ten years should explore business transformation opportunities. Because, there will always be places, processes, and structures that could benefit from an overhaul, and bypassing these changes in favor of the status quo often proves short-sighted and destructive.

References

  1. DIGITAL STRATEGY: Meaning Types & Transformation
  2. CHANGE AGENTS: How to Identify Change Agents in any Organization
  3. Innovative Ideas for Businesses to Grow in the New Normal
  4. DATA WAREHOUSE: Definition and How It Works
  5. MARKETING METRICS: Meaning, Examples, Email, Social Media & Content Marketing.
  6. PRODUCT BACKLOG: Definition, Examples, Management & Difference
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