Going digital requires more than incentives: MDEC: Page 2 of 2

Why not all are on board

Quizzed as to whether or not he thought 34% of the respondents having a full strategy in place to embrace digital transformation was a good number, Golebiewski said this figure isn’t bad especially if you take into account that 47% did have some sort of strategy in place.

He did however acknowledge that the survey does not reveal whether companies are actually embarking on digital transformation but rather it measured where they think they are in the digital transformation adoption curve.

“It’s a perception survey, so we didn’t measure actual progress,” he said. “However, the results do suggest that Malaysia still has some way to go in terms of digital transformation.

“In Malaysia, the bigger companies have started this [digital transformation] process. If you take the two figures together, over 80% of those surveyed have embarked on some sort of digital transformation initiative,” he argued.

“Of course, any transformation can’t be immediately effective; companies will still need time to figure out their strategies and implement them.”

To a question as to whether this is related to the lack of organisational leadership to ideate, plan, and execute digital transformation, Golebiewski agreed that this is possible, noting that if organisations don’t have the right leaders, it will take longer for them to transform.

Golebiewski said leaders need to change the way they interact, communicate and fully grasp the potential that digital transformation has to offer to their organisation.

He said the study also revealed that leadership is crucial for digital transformation and that today, 36% of those surveyed feel chief executive officers (CEOs) are the main drivers for change, followed by chief information officers (CIOs) at 19%.

Interestingly, the survey indicated that in future, two other roles – CIOs and chief digital officers (CDOs) – are expected to make a bigger impact. Nineteen per cent of those surveyed believe that CIOs are driving change now but this would increase to 27% in future, while 19% of respondents feel CDOs drive change today versus 23% in the future.

“Today, CEOs are driving the digital transformation strategy in Malaysia's organisations, and respondents expect them to continue doing so in the future,” Golebiewski said.

In line with that, he said if a CEO is unable to, then there needs to be someone in a dedicated role coaching and leading the change – like a CDO or a CIO, who can step up to lead the business in driving the digital transformation within the organisation.

Leadership needed

Meanwhile, franchise food retailer Nando’s noted that the greatest hindrance to its efforts to transform itself into a digital company is legacy.

Speaking at the same event, Andre Chan IT director for Nando's Malaysia & Singapore, said the decision for the company to transform started three years ago, when the management decided that the business needed to grow, and that it needed to embrace digital transformation to do so.

Chan said Malaysian companies especially in the franchise food and beverage sector are very brick-and-mortar and traditional, with the exception of companies such as Starbucks, which is global in nature.

Asked how the transformation happened within Nando’s, Chan said the company had to deal with legacy thinking and processes and reengineer them.

“For Nando’s, we needed to do something different. So we took a look at what strategies were needed as we just sell chicken.

“We needed to engage our customers more and at the same time equip our employees with the power to do so,” he explained. “If we didn’t empower them, people would still hang on to their old ways. So we needed to provide the tools to our employees to meet the needs of our customers – both external (customers) and internal (employees).

“If we remained as we were [three years ago], our business would not be what it is today. Today, we operate 74 restaurants in Malaysia and 11 in Singapore,” he explained, noting that going digital has helped the company achieve this.

Chan also agreed that top management is needed to drive change and that is what happened at Nando’s. To do so, Chan suggested that an organisation identify champions and advocates within the company and empower them to push through changes.

“Once this is in place, operational efficiencies and revenue will come along,” he shared. “Digital transformation is a long journey so you’ll need to take it step by step.

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Holistic approach imperative to digital transformation: Red Hat

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