Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA)

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    A study into the identification of human factors in digital transformation in a South African rail logistics company
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chikirwa, Lloyd Michael
    As world industries rapidly move towards digital transformation (DT), organisations are making concerted efforts to become more sustainable in the face of technological revolution. DT has become a compelling necessity for organisations looking for a competitive edge. However, understanding how human elements affect DT’s adoption in South Africa's freight logistics industry remains largely unexplored. The investigation aimed to close this gap by inquiring into the human elements of DT, emphasising digital leadership, digital culture, digital talent, and DT relationships. Over 180 senior management employees of Company X were surveyed. The responses were analysed, and the validity of the hypotheses was assessed utilising Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Amos version 28 structural equation modelling (SEM). The results confirmed that digital leadership significantly impacted digital culture and talent. As such, digital leadership plays a central part in ensuring favourable outcomes for DT. While digital culture positively influenced DT, the same was not established for the impact of digital talent on DT. The result contradicted previous research findings and justified further study. Overall, the outcomes emphasise the value of human elements in successful DT. Consequently, organisations commencing with DT should prioritise digital leadership, culture, and talent as strategic levers for DT's success
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    Impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation
    (2021) Mabuza, Jabulile
    The COVID-19 pandemic has been commonly referred to as a ‘black swan event’; it has changed the world as we knew it, from how we live, learn, work and socialise. It is believed that the pandemic has fast-tracked the adoption of technology in many organisations to ensure business continuity and business sustainability; broadly said, the pandemic has fast-tracked digital transformation (DT) in different organisations. This paper aims to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DT in organisations in South Africa by focusing on the changes in IT capabilities in the DT framework. The research design is qualitative; the data collection was through semi-structured interviews with information communication technology (ICT) leaders representing different organisations in South Africa. The data was analysed using the thematic-analysis process to formulate initial codes, initial themes and final themes emerging from the study. The results from the study show that, in terms of ICT in the organisation, the pandemic had a direct and positive impact on ICT strategy and ICT operations. In terms of IT capability transformation, the pandemic resulted in the optimisation and expansion of existing IT capabilities in the organisation and the building of new IT capabilities to meet emerging business needs. In terms of the focus of activities during the pandemic, there seems to be a split in organisations between the primary focus being on ‘digital IT’ or ‘traditional IT’. Overall, the findings of the study show that the pandemic had a positive and significant impact on DT in organisations. However, a definitive conclusion on this would require expanding the scope of the research to all the components of a comprehensive DT framework. This study is significant because it is one of the first studies to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on organisations, on ICT in the organisation, on IT capability transformation and, to a greater extent, DT. The findings from the study show that in response to the pandemic, there is a need for agility in organisations; for organisations to execute on their existing strategy; the future-proofing of IT capabilities; the adoption of a hybrid working model; and for organisations to take risks and embrace new ideas