Digital Transformation Payday

CHAPTER 8Outcomes: Digital Transformation KPIs Are Worth the Pain and Resistance

Finally, we have arrived at the key framework element that is closest to the digital transformation value impact we are looking for—namely, outcomes. As the metaphorical products of our digital transformation reaction process, these outcomes are structured in two different categories with very distinct characteristics: (1) subjective digital maturity status, and (2) objective digital impact information.

The first category, subjective digital maturity status, includes all digital transformation products, which are usually not observable by external shareholders and stakeholders without any insider knowledge. This category forms the basis of most digital transformation research, and it mostly builds on the already extensively explained—and criticized—maturity models from Part I of this book. Unfortunately, this category is of little further value for any useful empirical findings because, practically, under the assumption of efficient capital markets (Fama 1970), external observers of digital transformation processes do not have access to or cannot rely on this information. Still, many firms and advisors will happily choose to take the simple path of subjective measurement in many different flavors, mostly to get at least some grasp of where they stand in relation to a predefined internal maturity goal and build a “burning platform” to provoke some reaction on an abstract, functional, or aggregate ...