The barriers to digital transformation in the Wits School of Oral Sciences
Date
2023
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Publisher
University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Owing to changes in technology industries are going through digital transformation but in some instances, the digital transformation endeavours fail. This study focused on Wits School of Oral Health Sciences (WSOHS) with a view to understanding the barriers to digital transformation and proposing strategies for circumventing the barriers. The study used a combination of stakeholder theory and the status quo bias theory as the lens. Using quantitative research methods, stratified random sampling was used to select participants who included employees which added up to 245 and 218 student population. A total of 168 participants eventually took part in the research by completing a questionnaire. The responses where then analysed using SPSS, Various statistics which includes frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion as well as unadjusted ordinal logistic regression were calculated, and the study found out that lack of connection to strategy and execution and lack of collaboration across departments where the two major reasons why digital transformation was failing. The possible strategies that can be employed to make digital transformation a success include aligning on the why of digital transformation as well as preparing and dealing with culture change. Results of the unadjusted ordinal logistic regression analysis on factors associated with enabling digital transformation were that students, impact of digital transformation, extent of barriers, and intentions impact were significantly associated with digital transformation at the 5% significance level. The conclusion drawn from the study is that there is a multiplicity of factors that impeded digital transformation and that multipronged strategies need to be used to make sure that digital transformation initiatives succeed.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Digital Business
Keywords
Digital transformation, Stakeholders, Technology, Resistance to change, Strategy, UCTD