The Primary Influencers of Digital Transformation

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Product Management - Product Launch assignment 2
Findings and discussion
In this research, the research aim was to examine the efficiency of decision making and
big data as the primary influencers of digital transformation. Accordingly, the two primary
research questions framed to address the above research aim were-
How are organisations making use of artificial intelligence and big data so that through
digital transformation the same can have an impact on strategic decision making process?
How artificial intelligence and big data can be leveraged so that operational and financial
performance of the organization can be leveraged?
In order to address the research objective and the subsequent research questions, the
study made use of literature review along with a mixed research methodology. The common
theme that arises from the qualitative research is that
According to the majority of people, big data and artificial intelligence can improve the
financial and operational performance of the organisation and has a major impact on decision
making and strategic planning. There is also a common belief that big data and artificial
intelligence would help in driving data and information in a proper way. These technologies are
also expected to make an organisation more competitive.
The belief that artificial intelligence along with big data helps in the process of strategic
planning and decision making, finds support in the literature. The researchers have stated that
various organisations are making use of big data analysis to assist in the process of strategic
planning and decision making (Gandomi and Haider, 2015). Researchers opine that artificial
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Product Management - Product Launch assignment 3
intelligence coupled with big data have helped in making the sources that assist decision making
process more credible (Nilsson, 2014). Similarly, Provost and Fawcett (2013) have talked about
the way in which big data is helping the organisation to work around data and other financial
information. Similarly, researchers have also demonstrated that big data along with artificial
intelligence is being used by the organisation to assist in the decision making process. Big data
helps in the optimisation of hours and mix on the floor and map employee capabilities to the
right work type (Wamba, et al., 2015).
The quantitative analysis using the correlation and regression analysis points to a similar
conclusion. The result of the regression analysis in particular point towards the conclusion that
through proper utilisation of Artificial intelligence and big data the impact on decision making is
increased. Big data and artificial intelligence substantially increases efficiency and productivity.
Big data and artificial intelligence also strengthens operational and financial performance of the
company.
The belief that by leveraging big data and artificial intelligence organisations can gain
efficiency or improvement in operational and financial performance is substantiated by past
researches in this direction. Researchers have pointed towards the existence of a direct
relationship between artificial intelligence and making of profitable business related decisions
(Imran, et al., 2014). The past researches have also pointed to the use of artificial intelligence in
managing the business data and the operations for analytical structure and long term perspective
of the business. Artificial intelligence has the potential to help the manufacturing organisation in
increasing the accuracy of the cash flow (Picciano, 2012). Ghahramani (2015) similarly argued
that there is nowadays a transformation of the job from the one that is conventional and based on
detailing to one that is explanatory to help in the execution. Big data analysis can therefore help
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to examine the processes and anticipate patterns there by suggesting ways to improve the
process.
However, although people understand the benefits that big data and artificial intelligence
can provide to the organisation, they also point to the high costs and the requirement of skill
manpower as major hindrances towards the adoption of artificial intelligence and big data.
People also hold the perception that it is the IT department which finds the maximum use of big
data and artificial intelligence.
Most people hold the belief that information related to internal management to be most
fundamental for the implementation of big data analytics. Additionally, there is also a belief that
external methods and sources are used by organisations for the consolidation of big data and
analysis.
Talking about the challenges in the adoption of big data analytics and artificial
intelligence, the researchers have pointed out to several factors. Some of the challenges
highlighted in the past researches include financial (Helman. 2013), lack of coordination with
respect to data sharing (Chen and Zhang, 2014), lack of qualified people (Lin, Yao and Zadeh,
2013). Researchers have also pointed to other factors like conventional structure of the
organisation (Göranzon & Josefson, 2012) which acts as a hindrance in the adoption of big data
analytics and artificial intelligence.
However, contrary to the popular belief the positive effects of big data and artificial
intelligence is restricted mainly to the IT department, we find enough evidence throughout the
literature that big data analytics and artificial intelligence can help in improving the operational
and financial performance across different sectors. Past researches have also pointed to the fact
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