Digital Reading Room 2.0 -- ETDW 603: Business Transformation in a Digital World

ETDW 603: Business Transformation in a Digital World Report a Broken Link

This course will introduce students to a range of disruptive technological developments, including industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, the cloud, the Internet of Things, big data, open innovation, and blockchain technologies. Students will learn about the business and commercial impacts of these developments and how the formation of appropriate strategies can help businesses transform and respond to the opportunities and challenges associated with the digital economy.

Required Readings

Lesson 1: AI & Competitive Advantage

Reading 1: Barney, J. B., & Reeves, M. (2024). AI won’t give you a new sustainable advantage. Harvard Business Review, 102(5), 72–79.

Reading 2: Cook, S., Hagiu, A., & Wright, J. (2024). Turn generative AI from an existential threat into a competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, 102(1), 118–125

Reading 3: Stuart, T. E. (2024). Could Gen AI end incumbent firms’ competitive advantage? Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–12

Reading 4: Wilson, H. J., & Daugherty, P. R. (2024). Embracing Gen AI at Work. Harvard Business Review, 102(5), 151–155

Reading 5: McKinsey & Company. (2009). Enduring ideas: The three horizons of growth. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-three-horizons-of-growth

Lesson 2: Business Model Innovation

Reading 6: Maxwell, C., & Kominers, S. D. (2021). What makes an online marketplace disruptive? Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–10.

Lesson 3: Data Strategy

Reading 7: Hagiu, A., & Wright, J. (2020). When data creates competitive advantage… and when it doesn’t. Harvard Business Review, 98(1), 94–101. https://hbr.org/2020/01/when-data-creates-competitive-advantage

Lesson 4: Responding to Disruption: The Incumbent's Perspective

Reading 8: Birkinshaw, J. (2022). How incumbents survive and thrive. Harvard Business Review, 100(1-2), 36–42.

Reading 9: Gans, J. (2016). The other disruption. Harvard Business Review, 94(3), 78–84.

Reading 10: Stalk, G., Jr., & Stewart, S. (2019). Avoiding disruption requires rapid decision making. Harvard Business Review.

Lesson 5: The Business Case for Digital Transformation

There are no readings this week.

Lesson 6: Digital Strategy

Reading 11: Rost, M. (2026, January 8). Getting AI right for businesses means doing these 3 things. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/getting-ai-right-for-businesses-in-3-steps/

Reading 12: Volberda, H. W., Khanagha, S., Baden-Fuller, C., Mihalache, O. R., & Birkinshaw, J. (2021). Strategizing in a digital world: Overcoming cognitive barriers, reconfiguring routines and introducing new organizational forms. Long Range Planning, 54(5). https://0-doi-org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102110

Reading 13: Mueller, B. (2022). How to map out your digital transformation. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–10.

Lesson 7: Driving Digital Transformation

Reading 14: Vermeulen, F. (2022). What so many strategists get wrong about digital disruption. Harvard Business School Cases, 1–1473.

Reading 15: Fountaine, T., McCarthy, B., & Saleh, T. (2019). Building the AI‑powered organization. Harvard Business Review, 97(4), 62–73. https://hbr.org/2019/07/building-the-ai-powered-organization

Reading 16: Khanagha, S., Ramezan Zadeh, M. T., Mihalache, O. R., & Volberda, H. W. (2018). Embracing bewilderment: Responding to technological disruption in heterogeneous market environments. Journal of Management Studies, 55(7), 1079–1121.

Reading 17: Sia, S. K., Weill, P., & Zhang, N. (2021). Designing a future-ready enterprise: The digital transformation of DBS Bank. California Management Review, 63(3), 35–57.

Lesson 8: Privacy, Security, and Ethics

Reading 18: TEDx Talks. (2024). AI needs clinical trials: Harvard’s findings on democratization | Karim R. Lakhani | TEDxBoston [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb9b8j0-RIQ

Reading 19: Fisher Phillips. (2025, July 22). AI hallucinations could cause nightmares for your business: 10 steps you can take to safeguard your GenAI use. https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/ai-hallucinations-could-cause-nightmares-for-your-business.html

Reading 20: Babic, B., Cohen, I. G., Evgeniou, T., & Gerke, S. (2021, January 1). When machine learning goes off the rails. Harvard Business Review, 99(1), 76–85

Reading 21: Rosani, G., Farri, E., & Renecle, M. (2024, November 20). To Mitigate Gen AI's Risks, Draw on Your Team's Collective Judgment. Harvard Business Publishing.

Lesson 9: Culture

Reading 22: Singla, A., Tavakoli, A., Harreis, H., Rowshankish, K., Hjartar, K., Fouilland, G., & Fournier, O. (2026). A data leader’s operating guide to scaling gen AI. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com.br/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/a-data-leaders-operating-guide-to-scaling-gen-ai

Reading 23: Tamayo, J., Doumi, L., Goel, S., Kovács‑Ondrejkovic, O., & Sadun, R. (2023). Reskilling in the age of AI. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/09/reskilling-in-the-age-of-ai

Reading 24: Gutmann, M. (2025). The New Leadership Playbook For The Age of AI. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/martingutmann/2025/07/17/the-new-leadership-playbook-for-the-age-of-ai/

Lesson 10: Human-centric Perspectives on AI

Reading 25: Abernethy, J., Candelon, F., Evgeniou, T., Gupta, A., & Lostanlen, Y. (2024). Bring human values to AI. Harvard Business Review, 102(2), 60–68

Reading 26: Eapen, T. T., Finkenstadt, D. J., Folk, J., & Venkataswamy, L. (2023). How generative AI can augment human creativity. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 101(4), 56–64

Reading 27: Harrell, E. (2024). The promise and peril of AI at work. Harvard Business Review, 102(4), 158–159

Reading 28: Yalcin, G., & Puntoni, S. (2023). How AI affects our sense of self. Harvard Business Review, 101(5), 130–136

Supplementary Reading

Week 1: Chui, M., Hazan, E., Roberts, R., Singla, A., Smaje, K., Sukharevsky, A., Yee, L., & Zemmel, R. (2023). The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier

Week 2: Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M., & McDonald, R. (2015, January 1). What is disruptive innovation? Harvard Business Review, 93(12), 44–54.