Abstract
The author in this study presents the new term called “Quadruple Change” as a framework for delivering high-value digital transformation in organizations. The quadruple change consists of technical, organizational, social, and global change during digital transformation. The author conducted a qualitative exploratory study to explore strategies that leaders need to adopt to cultivate transformation agents during digital transformation toward establishing sustainability. The study revealed that for successful digital transformation, organizations need to empower employees, engage them in the process of change, and develop the culture of transformation in the dynamic environment. Toward this achievement, cultivating transformation agents based on quadruple change is one of the significant steps. The study findings identified seven factors contributing to cultivating transformation agents in organizations, including vision creation, mindset change, knowledge improvement, innovation development, motivation increment, leadership support, and collaboration.
TopIntroduction
This chapter presented the concept of Quadruple Change as a framework of cultivating agents of transformation. An overview of the quadruple change in four dimensions was articulated: technical change, organizational change, social change, and global change. It elaborated on the importance of cultivating transformation agents toward establishing sustainable effectiveness organizations. The objectives of this chapter were to create a new perspective in digital transformation by presenting two new terms: quadruple change and transformation agent.
Digital transformation is a process of adopting and adapting digital technologies to augment existing services and optimize operations (Savić, 2019). Digital transformation has become increasingly important over the 21st century. In this everchanging era, all organizations endeavor to develop their digital strategies to make them more effective and efficient within the modern organization landscape (Ghafari, 2019; Schwamm, 2014), resulting in quality improvement, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility (Shah & Course, 2018). However, digital transformation is not solely about digitalization and digital technology implementation to create a new business model, but also about people and their mindset to accept and embrace digital changes (Tabrizi, Lam, Girard, & Irvin, 2019). Ziadlou (2020) stated that five factors in digital transformation contribute to building a smart organization, including people, technology, change, leadership, and globalization. Likewise, Becker (2014) pointed out, “Human beings can design their future by structuring the uncertain scenarios and use them as mental tools to anticipate consequences of different courses of action and then select activities that appear to lead to our desired state or goal” (p. 145). Yet, according to Ghafari (2019), Boskovic, Primorac, and Kozina (2019), Matthews (2017), and Evans (2017), organizations often struggle to maintain digital strategies because of lack of leadership skills; this issue has caused leaders to poorly forecast the trend of digital technologies or prepare their employees and their organizations for the future changes. Reis et al. (2018) described the digital transformation in three dimensions: technical, organizational, social change. The author added one more important angle in Reis et al. statement that is a global change and created a new term of Quadruple Change that must be considered in digital enterprise transformation. While modern and post-modern organizations are the systems that shift themselves from a command control system to a highly involved organization toward sustainable effectiveness organization, it is essential to consolidate these four dimensions to achieve effective outcomes. The sustainable effectiveness organization creates value for individuals, communities, and the environment besides economic return (Albers Mohrman & Edward, 2014).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Transformation: Process of adoption and adaption of digitalization that involves people, strategies, culture, and operation of organizations.
Comfort Zone: It is a state on the mind in which people have control over their lives and feel a sense of ease with minimum vulnerability, stress, and anxiety.
Transformation: A future-based journey with continuous improvement process toward creating effective outcomes.
Sustainable Effectiveness Organization (SEO): A future-based organization that develops its strategies based on ensuring the next generation also will bless from all resources. It ensures its organizational activities to create profit will not create harm for people, not only local people but also people around the globe, and it will not damage and threaten the environment on either land or below water.
Mindset: It is a set f beliefs, assumptions, and worldviews of individuals that can be fix or changeable.
Quadruple Change: It is a framework for delivering of high-value transformation in organizations.
High Involved Organizations (HIO): A network organization, the sense of ownership is high among the employees, and they have a significant contribution to improving the productivity and dynamic in their organization.
Command and Control Organizations (CCO): A hierarchy organization with the commanders or managers on top that create direction and make the orders, and the followers must obey the rules.