Change management for digital transformation

Achieving digital transformation is a complex challenge for established companies, often culminating in unsuccessful outcomes. Failures typically stem from a misalignment of the change strategy with the digital technology, the organization, and the wider environment. Change managers too often embrace a classical, linear approach, an approach that is only appropriate in some cases.

This chapter introduces an alternative approach to managing a digital transformation. This approach, which draws on duality theory, recognizes and embraces the inherent complexity of digital transformation. Dualities refer to the interplay of contrasting or complementary forces that contribute to a balanced understanding of the digital transformation ahead.

The primary objectives of this chapter are: (1) to demonstrate how organizations can analyze digital initiatives; (2) to identify change strategies appropriate for these initiatives; and (3) to combine these change strategies into a duality framework for a digital transformation. This framework facilitates a balanced understanding of the digital transformation process by addressing the most common dualities that can arise and serves as a guide for those involved in realizing digital transformation initiatives.