Digital Doesn’t Have to Be Disruptive

在一間可以俯瞰平靜的日內瓦湖的餐廳，我們和一家全球巨頭公司的高級副總裁共進午餐，午餐持續(xù)時間很長，臨近結束時這位高級副總裁向我們坦言，“我們公司有十多個數(shù)字化轉型委員會，也有很多數(shù)字化轉型的舉措，可以說是在全力以赴地進行數(shù)字化轉型......但是沒人能給我解釋清楚，數(shù)字化轉型到底意味著什么?！?/p>

Near the end of a?long lunch?overlooking tranquil Lake Geneva, a senior vice president at a leading global company confessed to us: “We have a dozen committees on digital transformation; we have digital transformation initiatives; we are going full steam on digital transformation…but no one can explain to me what it actually means.”

對于這個問題，最基本答案是:數(shù)字化轉型被大家說得太多了，簡單來講，它意味著調整機構戰(zhàn)略和構架，抓住數(shù)字技術帶來的機會。這個挑戰(zhàn)并不新鮮，畢竟計算機和軟件已經存在了數(shù)十年，改變了產品、服務和人類生產及交付產品的方式。但這位高級副總裁想說的是，對企業(yè)來說，弄懂數(shù)字化轉型的本質，轉化為可踐行的計劃，變得越來越難了。如今，人們可以將計算機裝進兜里，戴在手腕上，過去由人類完成的任務(例如管理支出)，越來越多地通過軟件應用，由機器自動完成，硬件虛擬化程度有所增強，產品和服務的定制化程度達到史上最精準。

At a very basic level, the answer is simple: The much-used term simply means adapting an organization’s strategy and structure to capture opportunities enabled by digital technology. This is not a new challenge—after all, computers and software have been around for decades and have brought changes both to products and services and to how we make and deliver them. But the point the SVP was making is that it has become increasingly difficult for a company to translate that answer into an action plan. Computers today can fit in your pocket or on your wrist, and the software applications that run on them increasingly enable the automation of tasks traditionally done by humans (such as managing expenses), the virtualization of hardware, and ever more targeted product and service customization.

更重要的是，無論你身處何地，都能接觸到這些應用: 嵌入各種設備和交互接口的傳感器可以實時傳輸數(shù)據(jù)，提供更多決策所需信息，讓基于算法的推薦更精準。簡言之，數(shù)字技術不囿于IT領域，其應用幾乎涉及企業(yè)價值鏈的各個部分。因此，對管理者來說，弄懂數(shù)字化轉型的意義，知道要抓住哪些機會，優(yōu)先采取什么舉措，并非易事。

What’s more, these apps can reach people everywhere: Sensors embedded in devices and interfaces permit the real-time feed of data, allowing even more informed decision making and machine-driven recommendations. In short, digital technology is no longer in the cordoned-off domain of IT; it is being applied to almost every part of a company’s value chain. Thus it’s entirely understandable that managers struggle to grasp what digital transformation actually means for them in terms of which opportunities to pursue and which initiatives to prioritize.

面對這一現(xiàn)實，很多管理者難免會認為，數(shù)字化轉型意味著徹底的顛覆，追加技術投資，完全從實體轉向線上，收購科技初創(chuàng)公司。在某些案例中，的確涉及這類思維范式的轉換，但我們的研究和工作表明，對多數(shù)公司來說，數(shù)字化轉型絕非徹底顛覆和破舊立新。改變必然存在，企業(yè)有時必須徹底更新制造流程、分銷渠道或商業(yè)模式;但數(shù)字化轉型更多意味著通過漸進式的措施，更好地實現(xiàn)企業(yè)的核心價值主張。

Faced with this reality, it’s not surprising that many managers expect digital transformation to involve a radical disruption of the business, huge new investments in technology, a complete switch from physical to virtual channels, and the acquisition of tech start-ups. To be sure, in some cases such a paradigm shift?is?involved. But our research and work suggest that for most companies, digital transformation means something very different from outright disruption, in which the old is swept away by the new. Change is involved, and sometimes radical replacements for manufacturing processes, distribution channels, or business models are necessary; but more often than not, transformation means incremental steps to better deliver the core value proposition.

我們采訪了通過授課認識的60多家公司的數(shù)百名高管，將在下文分享我們從中獲得的研究洞見，解開數(shù)字化轉型的幾個關鍵迷思，幫助高管更好地理解公司應對當前趨勢的方法。

In the following pages we draw on the insights we have gathered—from interviews with more than 60 companies and from the hundreds of senior leaders with whom we have interacted while teaching—to dispel some critical myths about digital transformation and to offer executives a better understanding of how businesses need to respond to the current trends.

一些管理者認為，想要實現(xiàn)數(shù)字化轉型，公司必須徹底改變價值主張或冒險經歷顛覆浪潮。

Some managers believe that to achieve a digital transformation, they must dramatically alter their company’s value proposition or risk suffering a tidal wave of disruption.

結果，很多企業(yè)在數(shù)字化轉型初期，希望像蘋果公司一樣，打造一款能夠滿足顧客全新需求的高科技核心產品或平臺。雖然這種情況也有成功者，但我們認為，多數(shù)公司服務的顧客需求并不會改變。挑戰(zhàn)在于，如何找到一種最佳方式，通過數(shù)字化工具滿足這些需求。正如法國高端時尚零售公司老佛爺百貨(GaleriesLafayette)的一位高管告訴我們的“，這是又一次現(xiàn)代化的過程。我們公司已經走過百年歷程，目睹了歷史上其他各種變革，包括大型綜合超市、購物中心、專業(yè)連鎖店、快消時尚，之后經歷了品牌零售商化，最后是電子商務?！?/p>

As a result, at the start of many digital transformations, companies aspire to be like Apple and try to find a new high-tech core product or platform that will serve brand-new customer needs. Although some might succeed, we believe that the customer needs most companies serve will look much the same as before. The challenge is to find the best way to serve those needs using digital tools. As the senior executive of Galeries Lafayette, a high-end French fashion retailer, told us, “This is another modernization. We have been around for more than 100 years, and we have had to undergo other changes in our history, such as the arrival of hypermarkets, shopping malls, specialty chains, fast fashion, brands becoming retailers, and finally e-commerce.”

集裝箱公司馬士基(Maersk)的例子可以很好地解釋這一點，全球貿易壁壘和國內供應鏈的低效，影響了貨運成本。該行業(yè)還缺乏透明度。這些挑戰(zhàn)都存在已久。

The shipping container company Maersk provides a good example of what this executive meant. The costs of shipping are affected by global trade barriers and inefficiency in international supply chains. The industry also suffers from a lack of transparency. These are familiar challenges.

馬士基通過數(shù)字化找到了解決這些挑戰(zhàn)的新方法。公司和IBM及政府合作，部署了區(qū)塊鏈技術，從單一源頭快速安全獲得端到端供應鏈信息。這一技術還能接收來自傳感器的實時數(shù)據(jù)，確?？鐧C構工作流程的可靠性，降低了行政支出，獲得更優(yōu)化的全球貨運風險評估。通過轉變，馬士基得以更好地服務核心顧客，但是它并沒有轉型為谷歌。它的價值主張仍然是做一家貨運公司，為顧客提供快捷、可靠、價格合理的服務，只不過有了數(shù)字化技術的輔助，它有潛力成為流程最優(yōu)化、最透明的公司。

What digital did for Maersk was provide a new way of overcoming them. The company partnered with IBM and government authorities to deploy blockchain technology for fast and secure access to end-to-end supply chain information from a single source. The technology, coupled with an ability to receive real-time sensor data, allows trustworthy cross-organization workflows, lower administrative expenses, and better?risk assessments in global shipments.?This shift allows Maersk to serve its core customers better. But Maersk has not been transformed into Google. It remains a company whose value proposition is providing a fast, reliable, cost-efficient shipping service—one with the potential to be more streamlined and transparent, thanks to a smart leveraging of digital technology.

俄羅斯航空公司Aeroflot也是一例。該公司從全球最差航空公司轉變?yōu)樽顑?yōu)秀的公司之一。根據(jù)公司提供的數(shù)據(jù)，用戶凈推薦值從2010年的44%變?yōu)?016年的72%，載客量從2009年的64.5%增長到2016年的81.3%。那么，Aeroflot是怎么做到的?公司利用數(shù)字技術，極大地提升了運營、匯報、乘客預訂、航班安排和乘客服務等核心任務。特別值得一提的是，公司創(chuàng)建了一個可以讓管理層即刻了解超過450個關鍵績效指標(KPI)的儀表盤。

Another good example is the Russian airline Aeroflot, which has transformed itself from one of the world’s worst airlines into one of the best, with a Net Promoter Score that rose from 44% in 2010 to 72% in 2016 and a passenger load that grew from 64.5% in 2009 to 81.3% in 2016, according to company data. How? The airline used digital technology to significantly improve core activities: operations, reporting, passenger booking, scheduling, and customer care. Specifically, it created dashboards that provide management with an instant overview of more than 450 key performance indicators.

公司還通過安裝在飛機上的傳感器收集信息，觀察飛機的各項數(shù)據(jù)及定期檢修情況，從而降低運營成本。由于員工現(xiàn)在可以在儀表盤上找到公司數(shù)據(jù)，回復記者問詢的工作容易了很多，公關部因此減少了人員數(shù)量。此外，Aeroflot還重新設計了網絡架構，在運營主要航線的同時，兼營一個廉價航空——幾乎沒有其他航空公司成功做到這一點。同樣，公司的價值定位并未改變，它仍然是一家為乘客提供服務的航空公司，出售飛往各個目的地的機上座位，只不過通過數(shù)字工具讓自己變得更高效，對顧客更友好。

The company also aggregates information from sensors installed on the planes, allowing visibility into aircraft performance and preventive maintenance and thereby reducing operating costs. The PR department was even able to lower its headcount, because responding to journalists’ inquiries about company data now requires less effort: It’s all available on the dashboard. In addition, Aeroflot repurposed the digital architecture created to run the main airline to simultaneously run a low-cost carrier—something few other airlines have succeeded in doing. Once again, nothing has altered the company’s raison d’être: It remains a passenger airline, selling seats on planes to many different destinations. It’s just a more efficient and user-friendly one through the use of digital tools.

盡管如此，不要誤以為這代表顛覆不會發(fā)生，事態(tài)發(fā)展速度極快，原地踏步的企業(yè)會被那些成功完成數(shù)字化轉型的公司顛覆，至少會被超越。但是，即使在數(shù)字化顛覆最嚴重的經典行業(yè)，如果你深入觀察，也會看到更復雜的真相。是否會被顛覆，取決于你為顧客提供的服務。如果和新進入的顛覆者相比，在位企業(yè)可以使用數(shù)字化工具，更好地滿足顧客需求，仍然會繁榮發(fā)展。

This is not to say that disruption doesn’t occur. Make no mistake: Things are changing quickly, and companies that do nothing will be either disrupted or at a minimum outcompeted by those that transform using digital tools. But even in the classic industries where disruption strikes hardest, the story is always a little more complicated when you look below the surface. Whether you are disrupted or not always depends on the job you do for customers. If an incumbent can use digital tools to meet customers’ needs better than a disruptive new entrant can, it will still prosper.

以出租車行業(yè)為例。談到數(shù)字化顛覆的例子，最常被提及的是優(yōu)步給出租車行業(yè)帶來的影響。優(yōu)步出現(xiàn)時，出租司機認為生計受到威脅，在全球范圍內發(fā)起罷工，特別是在作者的家鄉(xiāng)巴黎。對此，公眾仍然記憶猶新。但直到今天，巴黎的出租汽車公司依然發(fā)展良好。G7是一家成立于1905年的傳統(tǒng)出租車公司。和巴黎很多出租車公司一樣，這家公司的司機服務也是出了名的粗魯無禮?，F(xiàn)在呢?和優(yōu)步一樣，G7也開發(fā)了一個可以讓乘客通過手機預約車輛的app。這個app提供的服務有:拼車、普通出租車、環(huán)保車(混合動力或者電動車)，小貨車和VIP服務。你可以通過app從路邊打車，或者直接搭乘等客出租，通過司機的4位編碼付款。

Take the taxi business. Uber’s impact on taxis is one of the most frequently cited examples of digital disruption. The public remembers taxi drivers’ striking around the world—notably including in Paris, our hometown—in the face of what seemed to be an existential threat to their livelihoods. But today taxi companies in Paris are thriving. G7 is a traditional taxi company founded in 1905. It once had a reputation in Paris, as did many other taxi companies, for its drivers’ rudeness. Fast-forward to the present: Like Uber, G7 has developed an app that allows customers to book a taxi. The app offers various service levels: sharing, regular cab, green (hybrid or electric), van, and VIP. You can use the app to hail a car from the curb, or you can jump into one standing at the corner, and you can pay the driver with the app using his or her four-digit code.

不過，G7和優(yōu)步有幾個重要區(qū)別:G7的司機駕駛技術更專業(yè)，車輛更整潔，你可以根據(jù)自己的時間表叫車，不必像優(yōu)步那樣受15分鐘局限。最重要的是，盡管平均而言，G7可能比優(yōu)步貴一些，但在乘客最需要車輛的時候，它的價格便宜很多:優(yōu)步會強制收取兩倍、三倍甚至高達八倍的高峰叫車費，而G7的收費一致。很明顯，優(yōu)步的出現(xiàn)迫使傳統(tǒng)出租車公司改進了自身服務:G7司機現(xiàn)在需要學習禮儀課程。但你不能說數(shù)字化的出現(xiàn)徹底轉變了G7的價值定位。

But G7 differs from Uber in some important ways: Its drivers are better trained, the cars are cleaner, and you can prebook a ride for exactly the time you want it, instead of in a 15-minute window. More important, although a G7 might be slightly more expensive on average than an Uber, it is vastly less expensive when you most need it: Uber imposes surge pricing, multiplying your fare twofold, threefold, or even eightfold, while G7’s prices?remain constant.?It’s clear that Uber’s arrival forced traditional taxi companies to improve their service: G7 drivers now take etiquette lessons. But it’s hard to argue that the advent of digital necessitated a wholesale reinvention of G7’s value proposition.

同樣，酒店業(yè)也是遭受數(shù)字化沖擊最嚴重的行業(yè)之一。首先出現(xiàn)了Expedia這樣的線上代理，接著是Airbnb這樣的平臺，現(xiàn)在谷歌等搜索引擎的提供商也加入競爭行列。我們采訪了萬豪集團的CEO蘇安勵(Arne Sorenson)，談及數(shù)字技術的影響，他并未對威脅輕描淡寫:“數(shù)字力量肯定是革命性的，而且很強大，有時會令人生畏，”他說，“在爭奪顧客方面，我們絕對是在正面交戰(zhàn)?！?/p>

Likewise, the hotel business has been among the industries most threatened by the rise of digital technologies, first from OTA (over-the-air) players like Expedia, next from platforms like Airbnb, and now from search providers like Google. When we interviewed Marriott’s CEO, Arne Sorenson, about the impact of digital technologies, he didn’t downplay the threat. “The digital forces are clearly very revolutionary and powerful and can be frightening at times,” he said. “We are in an absolute war for who owns the customer.”

蘇安勵強調，技術將是贏得這場戰(zhàn)爭的主要因素:“我們要確保使用技術讓運營和服務更高效，創(chuàng)造出黏性很高的數(shù)字平臺，同時確保平臺足夠大，為客戶提供價值，讓他們直接在官網訂房。我們并非要戰(zhàn)勝谷歌，而是希望確保顧客感到賓至如歸。這一切必須通過數(shù)字平臺來實現(xiàn)，但這個平臺的目的是和顧客互動?！边@也是萬豪一直在做的。盡管公司推出了和Airbnb競爭的平臺，導流顧客到萬豪官網，但它也在專注自己最大的優(yōu)勢——打造一流酒店，為顧客提供出色的服務。那些曾在萬豪或姐妹酒店喜達屋下榻過的顧客都知道，在一般的Airbnb民宿，他們不太可能享受到前者提供的奢華床墊和床品。

Sorenson emphasized that technology would be a major factor in winning the war: “We have to make sure we are using technology to be more efficient in our operations, deliver service, and create a great loyalty digital platform, but also make sure we have a platform that is big enough and delivers value to our customers so that they book directly with us. We are not going to out-Google Google, but we want to make sure we have a community of folks who can relate to us. It must be through a digital platform. But that platform is about engaging our customers.” And that is something Marriott has always done. Although it has launched platforms to compete with Airbnb and drive customers directly to its own site, it’s also focusing on what it does best—delivering a great hotel and customer experience. Those who have stayed with Marriott or its sister company Starwood know they’re unlikely to get the luxurious mattress and bedding these hotels are famous for at a typical Airbnb.

數(shù)字平臺不會改變公司的立身之本，理解了這點，可以幫助你找到公司應該關注的技術。那些認為數(shù)字化顛覆需要徹底重塑公司核心業(yè)務的管理者，最終會迷失方向。但是，如果企業(yè)將重點放在如何更好地解決顧客需要，會更關注對顧客影響最大的技術(例如客戶體驗或關系協(xié)同)或者核心能力(例如成本協(xié)同效應)。你的公司和馬士基、Aeroflot以及G7一樣，很可能在數(shù)字時代繼續(xù)服務同樣的核心客戶，這些客戶的需求不會改變，但企業(yè)肯定可以通過數(shù)字化，更好地為顧客提供服務。

Understanding that digital transformation does not change the reason your business exists will help you identify the technologies you should focus on. Managers who believe that digital disruption requires wholesale reinvention of the core business end up running in a thousand directions. But if the challenge is simply to better address their customers’ jobs to be done, they will most likely focus on the technologies that have the greatest effect on their customers (such as customer experience or relationship synergies) or their core capabilities (such as cost synergies). Your company, just like Maersk, Aeroflot, and G7, can probably continue to serve the same core customers even in the digital era. And the needs of those customers won’t change—although digital will certainly provide a better way of catering to them.

數(shù)字化通常會淘汰低效的中介和造價昂貴的實體基礎設施，但并不意味著實體會完全消失。事實上，很多零售商正在尋找線上線下的結合方式，以便發(fā)揮出兩者優(yōu)勢，關于這方面的報道很多。不僅零售商，很多其他2C的公司也有相同趨勢。

There is no doubt that digital often enables the elimination of inefficient intermediaries and costly physical infrastructure. But that doesn’t mean the physical goes away entirely. In fact, as has been well documented, many retailers are finding ways to create a hybrid of physical and digital that taps into the advantages of each. And it’s not just retailers—the same trend can be seen in many other consumer-facing businesses.

老佛爺百貨是零售業(yè)的經典案例。盡管來自線上店鋪的競爭激烈，老佛爺百貨深知，只有一磚一瓦搭建的實體店鋪，才能為顧客提供真實的購物感受，這點很重要。兩種模式各有優(yōu)勢:實體店可以和顧客建立情感聯(lián)結，線上(特別是AI)店鋪可以幫助企業(yè)更好地了解顧客需要。過去企業(yè)過度關注產品，對顧客關注不夠，混合模式可以讓顧客成為業(yè)務中心。

In retail, Galeries Lafayette provides a classic example. Despite intense competition from online stores, GL recognizes the importance of physical proximity to the customer, which only a brick-and-mortar store can offer. Both models have advantages: Physical helps build an emotional relationship with customers, while digital (especially AI) helps better understand customers’ needs. Whereas in the past companies focused too much on the product and not enough on the customer, hybrid models can put the customer at the center of the business.

老佛爺百貨希望進一步了解顧客，同時與其建立情感聯(lián)結。公司在香榭麗舍大街的新店鋪，無縫融合了線上線下。商場出售的奢侈品經過精心挑選和陳列，店鋪銷售人員擅長和顧客互動，精通時尚搭配和社交媒體。這些員工作為私人購物顧問或造型師，會和顧客建立情感聯(lián)結，讓實體店鋪成為最先吸引顧客的場所和接觸點。購物者之后可以在交易中使用數(shù)字化輔助工具。新技術還能幫助銷售人員“記住”顧客的信息和偏好，找出吸引他們的營銷方式。

To ensure that it builds both an understanding of and an emotional connection with customers, the company is seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds in its new store on the Champs-élysées. The store will carry a curated selection of luxury items, and it will be staffed by salespeople hired for their ability to interact with visitors to the store, their expertise in fashion and style, and their facility with social media. These staffers, known as personal shoppers or personal stylists, will establish emotional relationships with their customers, making the physical store an initial customer attraction and touch point. Shoppers can then embark on digitally enabled transactions. The new technology will also help salespeople “remember” customers and their preferences and identify individualized perks that will appeal to them.

老佛爺百貨在豪斯曼大街的旗艦店也在一定程度上開始這種結合，公司給員工配備了平板電腦。通過網絡搜索，顧客在進店前對某些產品的了解，已經超過了銷售人員。員工可以通過平板電腦搜索線上產品目錄，獲得和顧客同樣多的信息。

GL has already gone partway down this road at its flagship Boulevard Haussmann store, where employees are equipped with tablets. Customers come to the store having obtained—through online searches—a lot more information about some products than the salespeople have. The tablets allow employees to quickly browse the online catalogue and become equally well informed.

購物者看重實體店，因為這里的產品看得見摸得著。他們可以在網上預留產品，到店鋪試穿，不必承擔購買壓力。他們也可以網購，然后到店取貨。無論哪種情況，銷售人員必須知道如何成為顧客的私人購物顧問，產品和顧客數(shù)據(jù)會幫助他們實現(xiàn)。

Shoppers value a physical store visit because they can see and feel actual products. They can reserve items online and try them out in the store without obligation. Alternatively, they can buy products online and simply pick them up in the store. In either case, salespeople must understand how to act like personal shoppers, and the product and customer data they have enables them to do so.

很多純數(shù)字化品牌也殊途同歸。例如從創(chuàng)立之初就在線上零售的Bonobos，現(xiàn)在也開設了實體店鋪，讓顧客試穿產品。美國眼鏡電商WarbyParker是另一家線上零售店。顧客購物后，公司會從中控庫存直接發(fā)貨?，F(xiàn)在該公司也開始嘗試實體店鋪，為顧客打造舒適的購物體驗。和老佛爺百貨一樣，這些零售商在解決數(shù)字化難以完全滿足的顧客需求——建立情感聯(lián)結，解決試穿或試戴的難題。同時，他們也在通過技術更好地利用數(shù)據(jù)，實現(xiàn)成本效率。在能源領域，我們也看到類似案例。

Many digital-first brands are converging on the same path. Bonobos, for example, which was born pure digital, now uses physical stores to let customers try on clothes. After a purchase the clothes are mailed directly from a centrally managed inventory. Warby Parker, another digital native, also now uses physical stores to create welcoming customer experiences. Like GL, these retailers are serving needs that digital meets poorly—creating emotional connections and dealing with the challenges of fitting clothing or eyewear—while using technology to leverage data and achieve cost efficiencies.

一些歐洲電氣設施公司的智能互聯(lián)家居系統(tǒng)，包含了恒溫控制器、各類傳感器及探測器，通過這種方式，公司有效利用了實體和數(shù)字化的雙重優(yōu)勢。谷歌和亞馬遜也進入了智能家居設備市場，但電氣設施公司的優(yōu)勢在于它們擁有工程師(或者可信賴的承包商)，客戶在安裝、維修方面信任這些專業(yè)人士，公司因此擁有了智能恒溫控制器的價值定位。一些公司還能提供定期維修:如果傳感器監(jiān)測到供暖系統(tǒng)可能會出故障，會通過恒溫控制器提醒客戶，客戶可以預約工程師上門提前維修。

We’re seeing something similar in the energy sector. Several electric utility companies in Europe have effectively combined the advantages of physical and digital in their connected home systems, which contain smart thermostats and a variety of sensors and detectors. Google and Amazon have entered the market for smart home devices, but utilities have the advantage of engineers (or selected contractors) who back the smart thermostats’ value proposition—and customers trust those people to do installation, maintenance, and repair. Some of these companies enable preventive maintenance: If a sensor indicates that a heating system is about to break, the customer is alerted through the thermostat and can schedule an engineer’s visit in advance.

這樣的操作也會幫助工程師在上門服務前，了解問題所在，準備好合適的工具。線上線下的無縫整合，減少了上門次數(shù)和零部件損耗，同時還能讓顧客安心。

The same alert helps the engineer understand the problem before the visit and arrive with the right equipment to fix it. This seamless integration of physical and digital can significantly reduce visits and parts used while granting the customer peace of mind.

TUIUK是一家旅行社，也是線上線下結合的代表。起初，旅游業(yè)在很大程度上被顛覆了，公司在市場上四面楚歌。但在開始數(shù)字化轉型后，TUI發(fā)現(xiàn)雖然很多顧客想在網上定制旅行計劃，但也希望能和門店員工交流，進一步了解復雜的旅游線路，從而安心出行。企業(yè)往往會通過并購創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，獲得新技術或新創(chuàng)意。

TUI UK, a travel agency, has also turned to a hybrid of physical and digital. Initially it occupied a very precarious place—its industry is broadly viewed as being disrupted. But as it embarked on a digital transformation, the company discovered that although many customers wanted to make their travel plans digitally, they also wanted to interact with people in retail locations, asking questions and becoming comfortable with complex itineraries. Often companies try to access new technologies or ideas by acquiring start-ups and then integrating them.

這種方式的風險在于，可能會扼殺創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的文化，在過程中流失人才。明智的企業(yè)更希望能與創(chuàng)業(yè)公司建立強度適中的混合關系:可以向對方學習并找到協(xié)同效應，但又不至于摧毀創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的文化。因此，即便它們收購了創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，也會允許它們以半獨立的方式運營。

This approach risks killing the start-up’s culture and chasing away the talent acquired during its creation. Smart companies prefer to build hybrid relationships with start-ups—strong enough to learn and find synergies but weak enough to avoid destroying the culture. So even though they may own the start-ups, they allow them to operate as semi-independent businesses.

在這方面，安富利(Avnet)就是一個很好的例子。這是一家市值190億美元的全球技術解決方案提供商。這家公司完成了兩項很重要的數(shù)字化收購:第一家是Hackster.io，來自全球的制造者在其平臺上發(fā)布自己的新產品創(chuàng)意(例如監(jiān)測城市噪聲和污染水平的傳感器、AR耳機、嬰兒氧氣監(jiān)護儀等);另一家公司是Dragon Innovation，幫助企業(yè)彌合原型產品和產業(yè)規(guī)?；娮赢a品的鴻溝。這些公司以半獨立實體的方式運營，安富利委派新興業(yè)務副總裁戴娜·巴洪(Dayna Badhorn)和它們聯(lián)絡。她的任務是，防止收購公司受到母公司運營效率的負面影響，例如過度規(guī)劃和過度緩慢的產品研發(fā)周期，同時幫助安富利學習這些公司敏捷和快速實驗的重要性。Hackster和DragonInnovation稱戴娜為“守護天使”。

Avnet, a $19 billion global technology solutions provider, is a good example. The company made two important digital acquisitions: Hackster.io, a platform that allows makers from around the world to post their ideas for new products (such as sensors to monitor city noise and pollution levels, augmented reality headsets, and baby oxygen monitors), and Dragon Innovation, a start-up that helps companies bridge the gap between made-for-prototype and industrial-scale electronic products. These companies operate as semi-independent entities and interact with Avnet through Dayna Badhorn, its vice president for emerging businesses. Her role is to protect the acquired companies from the inefficiencies—such as excessive planning and slow product development cycles—of the parent organization while helping Avnet learn agility and the importance of doing quick experiments. Hackster and Dragon Innovation call her their guardian angel.

老佛爺百貨的經驗再次印證了守護天使的重要性，該公司和包括歷峰集團(Richemont)、家樂福(Carrefour)、拉加代爾旅行公司(Lagardère Travel)和Kiabi等在內的很多傳統(tǒng)大型零售商合作，建立了初創(chuàng)企業(yè)加速器Lafayette PlugandPlay。盡管老佛爺?shù)母吖芑舜罅繒r間和加速器里的公司互動，但因為沒有項目領導者跟進，公司最初很難將這些互動轉化為老佛爺內部實際的項目。后來老佛爺百貨任命了一位管理者解決這個問題，情況得到改善。老佛爺并沒有收購加速器中的任何初創(chuàng)公司(不希望扼殺這些公司的創(chuàng)新文化)，而是通過指派一位管理者，長期和加速器中的企業(yè)聯(lián)絡溝通，維護親密關系，執(zhí)行合作項目。

The importance of a guardian angel is underlined by Galeries Lafayette’s experience with its start-up accelerator, Lafayette Plug and Play, in which several big traditional retailers, including Richemont, Carrefour, Lagardère Travel, and Kiabi, are partners. Although GL executives spend a lot of time interacting with start-ups in the accelerator, the company struggled at first to translate such interactions into tangible projects inside GL, because no project leader was assigned to follow through. The situation has improved since GL appointed a manager to fill that role. GL does not buy start-ups from the accelerator (to avoid killing their innovative culture), so having someone to permanently liaise with them helps it maintain close relationships with accelerator members and implement the resulting initiatives.

其他成員企業(yè)也效仿這種方式，從合作中獲得更多收益。在各案例中，守護天使都致力于更好地利用雙方機構的優(yōu)勢:努力維護初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的使命(從而激勵多數(shù)人才留在公司)，保護初創(chuàng)企業(yè)不受大公司官僚體系和匯報機制的損害，降低效率。在這一前提下，將大公司的使命融入其中，幫助大公司充分利用初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的創(chuàng)意、流程、文化和技術。

The other corporate members have followed suit, and their uptake of collaborations has improved as well. In each case a guardian angel fights to take advantage of the best of both organizations, not only helping the start-up hold fast to its mission (which is what motivates much of the talent to stay) but also linking it to the mission of the larger organization while protecting the start-up team from all the bureaucracy and reporting that traditionally eat up company time. Meanwhile, the big company can take full advantage of the start-up’s ideas, processes, culture, and technology.

管理者往往認為，數(shù)字化轉型主要涉及技術變革。技術變革當然會包含其中，但明智的企業(yè)懂得，變革最終是為了更好地服務顧客需求，無論是通過更高效的運營、大規(guī)模定制還是新產品和服務。為了實現(xiàn)這個目的，數(shù)字化會將此前孤立的活動聯(lián)系起來，甚至必須聯(lián)系起來，所以公司往往要重新組織人力和技術。在實踐中，這也許會改變公司架構。例如，有時公司需要更敏捷的架構，必須組建內部小分隊，既具備項目所需能力，也有決策權，全程跟進項目。盡管小分隊是一個團隊，但和多數(shù)大公司團隊不同，它們就像創(chuàng)業(yè)者一樣，有條件快速解決關鍵問題。

Managers often think that digital transformation is primarily about technology change. Of course technology change is involved—but smart companies realize that transformation is ultimately about better serving customer needs, whether through more-effective operations, mass customization, or new offers. Because digital enables—even demands—the connection of formerly siloed activities for this purpose, the company must often reorganize both people and technology. In practice this may mean changing structure—for example, in situations where a more agile structure is merited, creating internal squads with the capabilities and authority necessary to follow projects from beginning to end. Although a squad is a team, it differs from most big-company teams in being empowered to solve key problems quickly, as an entrepreneur would.

信用卡巨頭萬事達(Mastercard)通過系統(tǒng)化流程，組建此類小分隊，并由萬事達實驗室監(jiān)管。來自不同部門的員工可以提交創(chuàng)意，滿足條件者獲得獎勵，創(chuàng)意分三個階段:橙盒、紅盒和綠盒。在橙盒階段員工有機會探索并推銷自己的創(chuàng)意，擁有1000美元的預付卡，并獲得指導，向公司介紹他們將如何解決某個特殊的客戶問題。在紅盒階段，員工將創(chuàng)意變?yōu)楦拍?團隊會收到用于測試、開發(fā)原型和研究所需的2.5萬美元，并獲得90天的指導，找出優(yōu)化這一概念所需的步驟。綠盒階段則是在實驗室的官方孵化項目中，打造一個商業(yè)化產品。在這個階段，團隊要停下手頭的工作，在這一項目上工作六個月的時間。

The credit card giant Mastercard has a systematic process for building such squads, overseen by Mastercard Labs. Employees from various functional areas can submit ideas to qualify for three stage awards: Orange Box, Red Box, and Green Box. The Orange Box gives employees a chance to explore their ideas and pitch them. Recipients of this award receive a $1,000 prepaid card and coaching to develop a presentation about solving a specific customer problem. At the Red Box stage people turn an idea into a concept: The team receives $25,000 for testing, prototype development, and research and a 90-day guide outlining the steps needed to refine the concept. The Green Box was designed to create a commercialized product from an official incubation project inside the labs. At this stage team members leave their jobs for six months to work on the project.

一家大型國際銀行ING向我們展示了如何讓這樣的小分隊，在更傳統(tǒng)的組織架構內工作。銀行意識到，如果想讓合適的員工參與跨部門項目，避免他們在前途暗淡的項目上耗時太久，公司需要幫助這些內部創(chuàng)業(yè)人員完成角色轉換。銀行開發(fā)了名為PIE的系列內部流程:P是保護(protect)，意味著停下手頭工作，參與到小分隊項目的員工，一旦項目失敗，可以重返工作崗位;I代表獨立(independence)，小分隊成員有自己的資源，可自行決策;E是鼓勵(encouragement)，如果小分隊成功了，公司會在內部廣為慶祝其成果。當然，公司必須允許小分隊失敗。即使是項目后期的失敗，也不該危及個人職業(yè)生涯。ING的CEO拉爾夫·哈默爾(RalphHamers)說，“我們要誠實地面對失敗。同時也要誠實地面對過程中學到的教訓，并承認我們只用了競爭對手所用的一部分時間，以不同的方式，學到了這些教訓。”

One major global bank, ING, teaches an important lesson about getting such squads to work in more-traditional organizational structures. It recognized that to assign the right employees to cross-company initiatives, and to keep them from staying too long on an initiative that should be cut, it needed to support these intrapreneurs in transitioning between roles. It has developed a set of internal processes called PIE: P for?protect,?meaning that employees who leave their jobs to work on a squad project can return to those jobs if the initiative fails; I for?independence,?meaning that squad members have their own resources and can make their own decisions; and E for?encouragement,?meaning that if the squad is successful, its work will be widely celebrated in the company.?Of course, it must also be OK for these squads to fail. Failures, even relatively late ones, should not jeopardize a career. As ING CEO Ralph Hamers explains, “We have to be honest about failures. We also have to be honest about all that we learned in the process and that by using a different approach, we learned these lessons in a fraction of the time it takes competitors.”

企業(yè)還要考慮框架因素。挪威電信巨頭Telenor(南森曾擔任該公司咨詢顧問)在數(shù)字化轉型中，嘗試重新定義工作內容。員工不再是監(jiān)管各項職能和公司損益的“產品擁有者”，而是項目經理，負責設計顧客旅程。這一轉變鼓勵員工像簡化版CEO一樣工作，對外關注顧客問題，對內跨部門運作，給出解決方案。

There’s a framing aspect as well. As the Norwegian telecom giant Telenor (for which Nathan has done consulting) makes its digital transformation, it has experimented with job definitions. Instead of designating individuals as product owners—people who oversee functions and P&L—it now calls them project?managers,?responsible for designing the customer journey. This shift encourages them to operate like mini-CEOs, externally focused on the customer problem and able to work quickly across internal boundaries to deliver a solution.

最后很重要的一點是，企業(yè)要明白轉型為小分隊的過程可能會很痛苦。ING重組是一個極端案例，公司全面撤銷了各部門和分部，采用敏捷組織架構，通過小分隊完成優(yōu)化顧客旅程的任務。重組時，僅用一周，所有員工都被解雇，然后以如何解決客戶問題為標準，重新申請工作。ING在這類項目的幫助下，5年間將荷蘭和比利時的員工數(shù)減少了30%-40%。并非所有轉型都如此震蕩，但在多數(shù)案例中，當工作被重新定義，摩擦在所難免。

Finally, it’s important to recognize that transitioning to squads can be a painful process. In a radical example of such reorganization, ING eliminated divisions and functions and instead embraced an agile organizational structure with squads tasked to deliver improved customer journeys. When it reorganized, over a weekend, all the employees were fired and had to reapply for their jobs, through the lens of the customer need they solved. With the help of these and similar initiatives, ING plans to reduce its head count in the Netherlands and Belgium by 30%–40% over a five-year period. Not all transitions will be so dramatic, but in most cases some friction is inevitable when jobs are redefined.

數(shù)字化轉型最終也許要徹底變革后端遺留系統(tǒng)，但從一開始選擇徹底變革IT部門會帶來極大風險。明智企業(yè)會選擇模塊化的方式和敏捷形態(tài)，逐步緩慢變革遺留系統(tǒng)，同時快速開發(fā)前端應用。為此，公司可以構建中間交互界面，將前后端連接起來，或者當IT在改變后端的同時繼續(xù)運作時，允許業(yè)務部門采取應對現(xiàn)狀的必要解決方案。一段時間后，遺留系統(tǒng)可以逐漸退役，但不會耽誤公司滿足顧客需要的過程。

Digital transformation may ultimately require radically altering back-end legacy systems, but starting with a sweeping IT overhaul comes with great risks. Smart companies find a way to quickly develop front-end applications while slowly replacing their legacy systems in a modular, agile fashion. This can be achieved by building a middleware interface to connect the front and back ends, or by allowing business units to adopt needed solutions today while IT transforms the back end in an ambidextrous manner. Over time the pieces of the legacy system can be decommissioned, but progress in meeting customer needs doesn’t have to wait until then.

例如，TUI在開始數(shù)字化轉型時，面臨艱難挑戰(zhàn):公司在門店、電話和網絡平臺的業(yè)務互不相關，運營地區(qū)也不同。在英國的后端遺留系統(tǒng)已經運行35年了。當時對公司來說，技術至關重要:Expedia和其他在線旅游代理商全面威脅著旅行社的業(yè)務。在這種背景下，TUI徹底變革IT，開展數(shù)字化旅程，是很誘人的選擇。

For example, when TUI embarked on its digital transformation, it faced a difficult challenge: Its business operations in retail, telephone, and online were geographically and operationally separate, and back-end reservations systems in the UK were 35 years old. Technology was critical for the company at the time: The rise of Expedia and other OTA channels was threatening to totally disrupt the travel agency business. In this context it was very tempting for TUI to start its digital journey with a sweeping IT overhaul.

但經驗告訴我們，一次性取代多個復雜、關鍵任務系統(tǒng)往往會帶來災難。正如公司領導團隊的成員之一杰克·西蒙斯(Jacky Simmonds)所說，“重點是勾畫出理想化的客戶旅程，看看如何通過數(shù)字化的方式盤活公司業(yè)務?！?/p>

But experience suggests that attempts to replace multiple complex, mission-critical systems all at once nearly always end in disaster. Instead, in the words of Jacky Simmonds, who was part of the leadership team, “the key was to envision the ideal customer journey and then see how it could make business sense through a digital lens.”

TUI沒有進行全面“檢修”，而是開始了更新技術的“三年計劃”，先通過量身打造的解決方案，專注于為顧客提供更好的體驗。

Rather than embark on a complete overhaul, TUI developed a three-year plan to replace its technology, initially working with bespoke solutions to focus on a better customer experience.

公司利用這段時間，了解客戶在數(shù)字時代的需求，然后通過中間接口將前端應用和后端遺留系統(tǒng)聯(lián)系起來。接著，公司將后端分解為模塊化的子系統(tǒng)，緩慢淘汰，并隨之增加前端功能。每次公司升級后端或前端的一個組件，首先要在單一市場測試，然后不斷完善迭代原型，之后再和其他業(yè)務部門合作。

The company used this time to learn from customers what they wanted in a digital world. It then connected the front-end application to the legacy back end with a middleware interface. Next it divided the back end into modular subsystems and slowly replaced them, adding front-end functionality with each step. Every time the company upgraded a component of the back end or the front end, it first tested it in one market and then iterated the prototype to improve it before working with other business units.

由于市場的多樣化，TUI決定不擴展遺留系統(tǒng)，但通過一以貫之的數(shù)字化戰(zhàn)略，不同市場得以共同發(fā)展，技術投資的收益得到最大化。通過針對客戶旅程的數(shù)字化轉型，該公司十多年來穩(wěn)步增長。

Although TUI decided not to roll its reservations system out more broadly, given the diversity of its markets, a coherent digital strategy allowed the markets to work together, maximizing the investment in technology. The company has enjoyed a decade of steady growth throughout its digitization of the customer journey.

中間界面的橋梁角色在金融服務領域尤為明顯。2015年，歐洲議會采用了新的付款服務指令(PSD2)。立法目標之一，是讓第三方開發(fā)商可以圍繞一家金融機構構建應用和服務。如果個人客戶對銀行轉賬費用不滿，根據(jù)PSD2，可以更簡單地更換第三方提供的服務。德意志銀行和位于匈牙利的OTP等銀行沒有坐等機構通過改變遺留系統(tǒng)，來解決PSD2帶來的挑戰(zhàn)，而是專注于構建應用程序接口(APIs)，借此將他們的遺留基礎設施和外部服務提供商(例如TransferWise和AI賦能的理財顧問Wealthify)聯(lián)系起來。

The bridging role of middleware interfaces is particularly apparent in the financial services sector. In 2015 the European Parliament adopted a new Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). One of the objectives of the legislation was to enable third-party developers to build applications and services around a financial institution. If an individual is unhappy with the bank’s money-transfer fees, PSD2 makes it easier for that person to use alternative services provided by a third party. Instead of waiting to change the legacy infrastructure to address the challenges of PSD2, institutions such as Deutsche Bank and the Hungary-based OTP have focused on building APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow them to connect external providers, such as TransferWise and the AI-enabled wealth adviser Wealthify, to their legacy infrastructure.

我們并非建議大型企業(yè)永遠不去更新遺留系統(tǒng)。但是，不斷推遲數(shù)字化轉型，希望等到技術成熟，一次性解決問題，這樣做很危險。如果你將問題分解成幾個模塊，創(chuàng)造中間界面，企業(yè)就能在維持核心運營穩(wěn)定的情況下，不斷嘗試滿足客戶需求。

We aren’t suggesting that large companies can ignore the need to update legacy systems forever. However, postponing your digital transformation until you can update them fully or all at once is dangerous. If you break the problem into modules and create a middle-layer interface, you can maintain operational stability for the core of the organization while experimenting with satisfying customer needs.

對多數(shù)公司來說，即便真的面臨顛覆威脅，數(shù)字化轉型也不意味著要徹底重塑價值定位或商業(yè)模式。更好的做法是，一邊使用數(shù)字化工具變革核心，一邊開發(fā)并抓住數(shù)字化帶來的新機遇。上文提到的公司，都在商業(yè)模式中融入了不同的數(shù)字化元素，其中一些并沒有顛覆性或侵入性。成功關鍵在于關注客戶需求，保持機構靈活，尊重漸進式變革，并且懂得企業(yè)不僅要通過收購創(chuàng)業(yè)公司獲取新技術和新技能，還要保護這些公司——在這些方面，很多最優(yōu)秀的傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)一直表現(xiàn)出色。

For most companies, even those truly threatened by disruption, digital transformation is not usually about a root-and-branch reimagining of the value proposition or the business model. Rather, it is about both transforming the core using digital tools?and?discovering and capturing new opportunities enabled by digital. Each company we have described has incorporated different digital elements in its business model, and not all the changes were disruptive or intrusive. The keys to success have been a focus on customer needs, organizational flexibility, respect for incremental change, and awareness that new skills and technology must be not only acquired but also protected—something the best traditional companies have always been good at.

南森·弗爾（Nathan Furr） 安德魯·希皮洛夫（Andrew Shipilov）｜文

南森·弗爾是歐洲工商管理學院戰(zhàn)略學助理教授。安德魯·希皮洛夫是歐洲工商管理學院國際管理學JohnH.Loudon教席教授