Summary Management & Leadership in the Digital Age
Lecture 1
Traditional approach to work: managers should plan ahead, select and organize people, command and
drive employees, and coordinate and control activities. Principles of scientific management, 1 right way to
do everything. Systematic. Become efficient.
New approach to work: focus on leadership. Where are we going, why are we going there, how are we
going to get there? Anticipate changes, focus beyond tasks – more on vision and change, accompany
followers through change, communicate.
Digitalization=the move from analog, traditional approaches established in the industrial age to creative,
digital and technology-based approaches.
Organizational level: culture of innovation, experimentation and updating value proposition. Process
orientation as opposed to outcome orientation.
Dyadic / group: working closely but at a distance. Build trust.
Individual: managing boundaries with technology. Continuous learning. (time management, no manager
around. Work/life balance)
Digital transformation=a change in how a firm employs digital technologies, to develop a new digital
business model that helps to create and appropriate more value for the firm. Driven by 1) the emergence of
digital technologies; 2) wider reach of competitors, digital firms (without physical location); 3) digital
touchpoints (points of interaction), social media.
Digital maturity=how organizations systematically prepare to adapt or innovate based on ongoing digital
change. Communicate a clear, coherent strategy that is aligned with the overall organizational strategy.
Focus on the long-term. Experiment and explore. Invest in continuous learning and retaining talent.
Article 1.1
Digital transformation requires assembling the right team of 1) technology, 2) data, and 3) process people
who can work together — with a strong leader who can bring about change (4 organizational change
capability). Talen with great breadth and depth.
Most companies have enormous technical debt — embedded legacy technologies that are difficult to
change.
Article 1.2
Three stages for digital transformation: digitization, digitalization and digital transformation.
Digitization=the encoding of analog information into a digital format (i.e., into zeros and ones) such that
computers can store process, and transmit such information.
Firms aiming to transform digitally not only need to have 1) digital assets, but also acquire or develop
capabilities related to 2) digital agility, 3) digital networking and 4) big data analytics. Internally,
organizations need to develop agile structures with low levels of hierarchy, and internalize IT and analytical
functional skills within the firm.
Growth strategies for firms that use platform-based strategies: platform-based market/product
development (digitalization and digital transformation), customer co-creation (digitalization and digital
transformation) and platform diversification (only digital transformation).
Lecture 2
Adaptive & flexible leadership=leaders support followers during changes in the environment, step back
from the situation to gain a fresh perspective, and decide whether challenges are technical or adaptive.
When technical (clear solution), leader uses authority and expertise to solve. When adaptive (no clear
solution), leader uses several prescribed behaviors to move the adaptive process forward. Improve: focus
on adapting and responding to change, learn to diagnose the situation and contingencies, use a wide range
of behaviors, and proactively influence the situation. Enact: monitor changes and progress, identify
, strategies and resistance, articulate appealing vision and motivating, build optimism and provide
orientation, and keep people informed and focus their attention.
Networks=the relatively stable social structure or patterns of social relationships that are often a main
determinant of access to resources, well-being, and performance.
Networking=the act of connecting, building, maintaining, using the different relationships to fulfill our own
gains or organizational goals. Maximize ability to have a positive influence or to achieve our goals.
People who engage in a lot of networking have greater leadership potential than those who don’t.
Networking is a signal that you want to become a leader.
Having a high syntrality=having a lot of connections, leadership potential. Boundary spanner=someone
connected to (/ connecting) different networks, flow of information. Finally, overseeing the different
connections is also leadership potential.
Leadership effectiveness=how does this leader attain desirable individual, team, and organizational
outcomes? The ability to get things done.
Leadership emergence=who do we recognize as a leader? The nomination by others as a leader.
Artificial weak intelligence: can only do 1 thing.
Artificial general intelligence: displays human-like capability. Can interact, problem-solve. Does not have
emotional capabilities.
Artificial super intelligence: will surpass human beings in every single capability. Will not be programed by
humans (would include our bias), but evolve from AI.
5 leadership skills for the AI age:
1) cross-cutting. Sensing opportunities and dangers in the environment, keeping up with trends beyond
your industry, customers, country.
2) collaborating. To accomplish common goals – despite differences in convictions, cultural values, and
operating norms. Members of teams with higher psychological safety have greater confidence that the
group will not embarrass, ridicule, or reject a member for speaking up. Psychological safety=the shared
belief that the team is safe for taking risks. Necessary for teams to disclose personal information, challenge
each other on facts, reach better decisions. Can be increased by 1) ensuring air time is evenly distributed; 2)
not leading with your view first; 3) social sensitivity; 4) inquiry as opposed to advocacy (ask questions, don’t
argue).
3) coaching. Facilitating the development, learning and performance of another. Shift from monitoring to
coaching. Agile forms of working require simpler & faster loops driven by feedback and learning.
4) connecting. Authentic leadership.
5) curiosity.
Article 2.1
Digital leadership is about empowering others to lead and creating self-organized teams that optimize their
day-to-day operations. Strategies to create leadership at all levels:
- Build participation and accountability
- Provide direction, clarity and purpose
- Empower people to experiment, innovate and execute -> remain immune for creative destruction and
disruptions. Create a culture of learning
- Building bridges and finding solutions. Open-mindedness to new opportunities
- Agile teams and quick decision-making
- Constant evolution and reskilling
Article 2.2
Effective digital transformation delivers agility, adaptability, and customer centricity. Additionally, digital
workers want their values, not just their value, explicitly acknowledged.
Purpose gap: few employees believe in their organization’s ability to advance its purpose. Lack of
