Digital Transformation and the Role of the Business Analyst
Name
Alo Joosepson
Abstract
Digitalization and digital transformation are change processes which have been taking place in companies for the last 20 years at an accelerating pace. They can cause many and complex changes in the business process and business model. Therefore, this change needs systematic preparation and close management to turn out beneficial for the company. The systematic change management practice for companies is called “business analysis”. The current thesis set out to explore what the actual practice of digitalization looks like in Estonian medium sized manufacturing companies. Specifically, it was investigated what initiates the digitalization, how the decisions in the change process are made, what business analysis activities are performed during the change and who performs the business analysis activities. 4 companies were interviewed using the case study method. The main results are that those 4 companies in 2021 are in the business process improved digitalization phase and are not yet digitally transforming their business models and organizational innovation culture. The companies have 4 common initiating factors that drive their digitalization. The digitalization decision process has 2 versions — formal/predictive and informal/adaptive. In general, the selection of business analysis activities undertaken within the 4 companies digitalization projects follow the best practice of the business analysis discipline, but the set of used activities is minimal. Companies felt that the engagement of employees in the long change process was not always sufficient and the adoption of the created digital solutions into real work activities may sometimes take a long time. These 2 problems are good candidates for further research.
Graduation Thesis language
English
Graduation Thesis type
Master - Conversion Master in IT
Supervisor(s)
Fredrik Payman Milani
Defence year
2021