Digital transformation and New Business Models

2020/2021

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

5

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Strategic and International Management

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

1 year, 4 module

Instructors

Milovantseva, Natalia

Ожогина Инна Александровна

Путинцева Нина

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course guides students through an exploration of the digital economy’s transformational impact on industries and companies and the accompanying modern management tools. It aims to evaluate the changing balance between traditional methods of doing business and new approaches to how technologies can be used for increasing the economic value of business activities. The main objective is to investigate how relationships between humans and computers, products and services, and centralized and decentralized knowledge are being structured in the digital era and the role of management in these structures. The course discusses the most common technologies and processes for the digital transformation of business systems and covers the following topics: economic theory underpinning the disruptive effects of digital technology; cross-cutting technologies and their impact on industries and companies; business strategies in the context of digital transformation; processes and technologies of the digital transformation of business systems; new business models of the digital economy: types, essence, specifics of application in digital and real businesses; implementation of the digital transformation strategy: modern management tools. Students will integrate the different kinds of transformations introduced in the course by way of working on a group project. This project will assist in building students’ ability to create a portfolio of strategies that take into account digital trends and their specific applications in different industries and businesses. After completion of the course, students will be able to formulate plans for the digital transformation of companies. Overall, this course will strive to help students develop skills for working in the uncertain business environment of our digital age.

Learning Objectives

• To introduce students to some core technological developments and the transformations that are fundamentally affecting business activities
• To provide a theoretical framework that will help to make sense of the disruptive digital technologies and to understand their potential

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Describe how digital technologies may affect industries and how to employ them effectively
• Explain differences between new and old business models and processes in the context of digital transformation
• Create a proposal for an organization to utilize the digital technologies’ transformational potential
• Present collectively developed ideas in a succinct and business-like format

Course Contents

• The economic theory underpinning the disruptive effects of digital technology
  Introducing digital transformation. Exponential evolution of technology. Economic concepts of the digital economy. The economics of innovation. Deconstruction of the value chain. Cases: (1) How Instagram has evolved using Open Source; (2) Observability at Google.
• Cross-cutting technologies and their impact on industries and companies
  Data science for managers. What is big data; three Vs. Data-driven decision-making. Fundamental elements of AI. Key challenges with AI. Applications of AI in management. Introduction to platforms. Platform economic concepts. Blockchain. Decentralization: the core and the crowd. Limits to decentralization. Cases: (1) How Spotify uses machine learning to personalize the user experience; (2) Hyperledger and Blockchain at IBM
• Business strategies in the context of digital transformation
  Technology’s disruption and new opportunities business, markets, and innovation. Types and domains of disruption. Drivers of digital economy’s disruptive potential. Competitive life cycles. Reasons for incumbents’ failure and success. Tools for mapping competitive digital strategies. Cases: (1) A Failure of focus: Lessons from Kodak; (2) How Slack rearchitected its system to achieve zero downtime and improve; (3) How Reddit mastered managing growth.
• Processes and technologies of digital transformation of business systems.
  1. Industry 4.0 as a precondition for DT 2. Digital Transformation cases - technologies for new models. Overview and Examples 3. Cloud computing and services – technology overview and how to use it in digital transformation. Cover IaaS, SaaS, PaaS. Key characteristics and advantages of Cloud Computing 4. Internet of Things and Digital twins- technology overview and how to use it in digital transformation 5. Customer experience and Mobile Technologies – overview and how to use this approach in digital transformation
• New business models of the digital economy: types, essence, specifics of application in digital and real businesses.
  1. Digital Business Models 2. Three components of Digital Business Model 3. From place to space 4. 4 ways of digital transformation
• Implementation of the digital transformation strategy: modern management tools.
  1. Points and approaches to technologies selection for digital transformation 2. How to make DT projects successful. TCO, ROI, KPIs, etc. 3. Leadership in the DT projects

Assessment Elements

• In-class participation
  Points will not be rounded up for this element.
• Two homework assignments
• Final examination
  An oral in-class presentation of the group project to create a convincing proposal for the digital transformation in a selected organization. Points will not be rounded up for this element.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.5 * Final examination + 0.2 * In-class participation + 0.3 * Two homework assignments

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Brynjolfsson, E. V. (DE-588)133434605, (DE-627)546056326, (DE-576)178389757, aut. (2014). The second machine age work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee.
• David L. Rogers. (2016). The Digital Transformation Playbook : Rethink Your Business for the Digital Age. Columbia Business School Publishing.
• Saldanha, T. (2019). Why Digital Transformations Fail : The Surprising Disciplines of How to Take Off and Stay Ahead. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Siebel, T. M. (2019). Digital Transformation : Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction. New York: RosettaBooks. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2101976

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Erik Brynjolfsson, & Kristina McElheran. (2016). The Rapid Adoption of Data-Driven Decision-Making. American Economic Review, 5, 133. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20161016
• Satoshi Nakamoto. (n.d.). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.E2C1762F
• Shapiro, C., & Varian, H. R. (1999). Information Rules : A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy (Vol. [Academic Subscription]). Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1798869
• Soni, N., Sharma, E. K., Singh, N., & Kapoor, A. (2019). Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Businesses: from Research, Innovation, Market Deployment to Future Shifts in Business Models.
• Wade, M., Noronha, A., Macaulay, J., & Barbier, J. (2019). Orchestrating Transformation : How to Deliver Winning Performance with a Connected Approach to Change. IMD International.