Forced Digital Transformation: Adapting to a New Reality During COVID-19 - Case Studies of Leading Companies' Responses

Main Article Content

Mohammed Benmoussa

Abstract

This extensive research article analysed how COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation globally across businesses. Technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, 5G networks and IoT have enabled organisational resilience and adaptation throughout the pandemic. Remote work, online delivery models and supply chain digitisation have all been dramatically hastened. While forced by external shock, digital transformation has supported business continuity and recovery during an extraordinarily challenging period. Companies further along in their digital journeys generally exhibited greater agility in the face of massive uncertainty and volatility. Digital capabilities and mindsets will only become more critical as technological change accelerates. COVID-19 pulled future trends forward by years in mere months. Organisations must continue prioritising smart investments in emerging technologies, dynamic workflows, cybersecurity, continuous workforce upskilling and decentralised innovation. By leveraging the pandemic's lessons, companies can build greater resilience to withstand future shocks. Though imposed by crisis, digital transformation can enable organisations to flourish in the next normal.

Article Details

How to Cite
Benmoussa , M. (2023). Forced Digital Transformation: Adapting to a New Reality During COVID-19 - Case Studies of Leading Companies’ Responses . Finance and Business Economies Review, 7(3), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.58205/fber.v7i3.1744
Section
Articles

References

Abramson, M. (2020). How collaboration hubs will transform the digital workplace. Nextplane, Inc. https://nextplane.net/blog/how-collaboration-hubs-will-transform-the-digital-workplace/

Aramco. (2020). Our response to COVID-19. https://www.aramco.com/en/news-media/covid

Bestsennyy, O. et al. (2021). Telehealth: A post-COVID-19 reality? McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/telehealth-a-quarter-trillion-dollar-post-covid-19-reality

Brewster, M. (2022). Annual Retail Trade Survey Shows Impact of Online Shopping on Retail Sales During COVID-19 Pandemic. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/04/ecommerce-sales-surged-during-pandemic.html

Chaturvedi, A. (2022). The China way: Use of technology to combat Covid-19. Geospatial World. https://www.geospatialworld.net/prime/technology-and-innovation/the-sino-approach-use-of-technology-to-combat-covid-19/

Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018

Equinor. (2020). Equinor second quarter 2020 results. https://www.equinor.com/news/archive/equinor-second-quarter-2020-results

Flexera. (2021). Flexera 2021 state of the cloud report. https://www.flexera.com/about-us/press-center/flexera-releases-2021-state-of-the-cloud-report

Gartner. (2020). Gartner survey reveals 82% of company leaders plan to allow employees to work remotely some of the time. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-07-14-gartner-survey-reveals-82-percent-of-company-leaders-plan-to-allow-employees-to-work-remotely-some-of-the-time

Grant, N. (2020). Z Zoom Daily Users Surge to 300 Million Despite Privacy Woes. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-22/zoom-daily-users-surge-to-300-million-despite-privacy-woes#xj4y7vzkg

IDC. (2021). IDC predictive analytics and data science survey, 2021. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US47412821

Khan, A., Milne-Ives, M., Meinert, E., Iyawa, G. E., Jones, R., & Josephraj, A. N. (2022). A scoping review of digital twins in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Biomedical Engineering and Computational Biology, 13, 117959722211021. https://doi.org/10.1177/11795972221102115

Khan, S.N. (2016). Leadership in the digital age – A study on the effects of digitalisation on top management leadership. Stockholm Business School. http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A971518&dswid=-6491

Koonin, L.M., et al. (2020). Trends in the use of telehealth during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic – United States, January–March 2020. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6943a3.htm

Li, L. et al. (2018). Digital transformation by SME entrepreneurs: A capability perspective. Information Systems Journal, 28(6), 1129-1157. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12153

Mbunge, E., Chitungo, I., & Dzinamarira, T. (2021). Unbundling the significance of cognitive robots and drones deployed to tackle COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid review to unpack emerging opportunities to improve healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. Cognitive Robotics, 1, 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogr.2021.11.001

McAfee, A. & Brynjolfsson, E. (2017). Machine, platform, crowd: Harnessing our digital future. W. W. Norton & Company.

McKinsey & Company (2021). The quickening. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/five-fifty-the-quickening

McKinsey & Company. (2020). Contactless operations: Creating safer, more distinctive experiences. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/about%20us/covid%20response%20center/pdfs/contactless-operations-main-document-creating-safer-more-distinctive-experiences.pdf

Nissan (2021). How Nissan is supporting the fight against COVID-19. https://canada.nissannews.com/en-CA/releases/release-c3e06693c956601fcc6da267d1029df5-how-nissan-is-supporting-the-fight-against-covid-19

Rose, N., Rowe, F., & Dolega, L. (2023). How consumer behaviours changed in response to COVID-19 lockdown stringency measures: A case study of Walmart. Applied Geography, 154, 102948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.102948

Shi, Y., Lin, Y., Li, B., & Li, R. Y. M. (2022). A bi-objective optimisation model for the medical supplies' simultaneous pickup and delivery with drones. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 171, 108389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2022.108389

Siemens. (2023). The digital transformation imperative: How organisations are achieving competitiveness, resilience and sus. https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:ddec8b08-9346-4ba0-8957-67988f0dca2c/the-digital-transformation-imperative.pdf

UNCTAD (2021). COVID-19 and e-commerce: Impact on businesses and policy responses. https://unctad.org/news/global-e-commerce-jumps-267-trillion-covid-19-boosts-online-sales

UPS. (2020). How UPS is responding to the Coronavirus. https://www.ups.com/gp/en/about/news/important-updates.page

Verhoef, P.C. et al. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889-901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.022

Vial, G. (2019). Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 118-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2019.01.003

Ye, F., Liu, K., Li, L., Lai, K., Zhan, Y., & Kumar, A. (2022). Digital supply chain management in the COVID-19 crisis: An asset orchestration perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 245, 108396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108396

Unlocking success in digital transformations. (2018, October 29). McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/unlocking-success-in-digital-transformations#/

Stieg, C. (2020, March 6). How this Canadian start-up spotted Coronavirus before everyone else knew about it. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/bluedot-used-artificial-intelligence-to-predict-coronavirus-spread.html

Wiggers, K. (2020, April 6). Mayo Clinic starts using autonomous vehicles to deliver coronavirus tests and medical supplies. VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/ai/mayo-clinic-autonomous-vehicles-deliver-coronavirus-tests-medical-supplies/

WWD Staff. (2021, January 17). WWD. WWD. https://wwd.com/business-news/retail/adyen-qa-on-trends-1234700040/

AppsFlyer. (2021, November 11). The state of eCommerce app marketing - 2021 edition. AppsFlyer. https://www.appsflyer.com/infograms/state-of-ecommerce-2021/

Econsultancy. (2022, March 4). Stats roundup: the impact of Covid-19 on e-commerce. Econsultancy. https://econsultancy.com/stats-roundup-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-ecommerce/

Statista. (2023, July 7). Remote work frequency before/after COVID-19 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122987/change-in-remote-work-trends-after-covid-in-usa/

Verizon (2020). 11/30 Update: Verizon is prepared to serve customers during COVID-19 crisis https://www.verizon.com/about/news/update-verizon-serve-customers-covid-19

Similar Articles

<< < 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.