Content

During the last decades we witnessed a growing importance of Information Technology (IT) in the business world alongside in increasing speed of innovation cycles. IT has become core for businesses from an operational company-internal and external customer perspective. Today, companies have to rethink their way of doing business. Industry 4.0 and Big Data are only some of the trends that are related to the digital transformation. 

Digital transformation is more than only digitizing millions of sheets in a company. A digital transformation comprises a wholesome transformation of a company, with all related areas. This does affect several aspects of a company, including the organization, IT, and individuals.
Large-scale information systems (IS) in organizations strongly interplay with work practices of individual employees as well as organizational structures shaping and being shaped by individuals' behavior. Thus, the successful implementation of IS requires dealing with transformation beyond technology. The ability to implement and use IS in a way supporting its overall value proposition has become a central success determinant for digital transformation.

Accordingly, the “Digital Transformation of Organization” course is designed to provide a comprehensive insight into theoretical foundations, concepts, tools, and current practice of IS. The lecture is complemented with a capstone project. Students get the opportunity to analyze and propose solutions for a selected real-world transformation.

Key Learnings

• Basic terms, definitions, foundational concepts, constituents of information systems, and aspects of digital transformation processes

• Fundamentals of organizational structures, contingency factors in organizational design, characteristics of individuals in organizations

• Key IT concepts, important process-, information-, and people-centric software packages for IT-enabled integration of organizations 

• IS transformation framework, key concepts of organizational change and innovation adoption

• Organizational perspectives on digital transformation: business-IT alignment, IS planning, organizational adoption, IS project & program management, (post-)implementation management, IS conversion

• Individual Perspectives on Digital Transformation: key concepts, satisfaction, acceptance, and IS success, post-adoptive behavior research

Learning Objectives

The students will:

• Get an overview on basic concepts and definitions of information systems and understand key characteristics of IS as a foundation for digitization of business processes, products and services

• Understand the importance of digital transformation in a company and the different aspects of a successful transformation

• Learn important concepts and theories in order to successfully execute a digital transformation process

Literature

Daft, R. L. (2009). Organization theory and design. Cengage learning.

Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. (2014). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 13th Edition, Pearson.
Sambamurthy, V and Zmud, R. Z. (2012). Guiding the Digital Transformation of Organizations. Legerity Digital Press, ISBN 978-0-9857955-0-4.