1. Home
  2. FB GRADUATE COURSES
  3. 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: Introduction to New Digital Technologies

Reading 1: Lee, I., & Lee, K. (2015). The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, investments, and challenges for enterprises. Business Horizons, 58(4), 431–440.
Reading 2: Church, Z. Blockchain, explained. (2017). MIT Sloan Management Review. 
Reading 3: Tapscott, D., & Tapscott, A. (2017). How blockchain will change organizations [Editorial]. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(2), 10–13. 

Lesson 2: Business Model Innovation and Disruption

Reading 4: Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M., & McDonald, R. (2015, January 1). What is disruptive innovation? Harvard Business Review, 93(12), 44–54.
Reading 5: Fatás, A., & Weder di Mauro, B. (2018, May 7). As cryptocurrencies rise, who needs banks? Harvard Business Review Digital Articles.

Lesson 3: Creating Disruption: The Challenger's Perspective

Reading 6: Gans, J. (2020). To disrupt or not to disrupt? MIT Sloan Management Review, 61(3), 40–55.
Reading 7: Maxwell, C., & Kominers, S. D. (2021). What makes an online marketplace disruptive? Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–10.
Reading 8: CNBC. (2023, May 9). These are the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 Companies. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/09/these-are-the-2023-cnbc-disruptor-50-companies.html
Reading 9: Bohnsack, R., & Pinkse, J. (2017). Value propositions for disruptive technologies: Reconfiguration tactics in the case of electric vehicles. California Management Review, 59(4), 79–96.

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

Reading 10: Birkinshaw, J. (2022). How incumbents survive and thrive. Harvard Business Review, 100(1-2), 36–42.
Reading 11: Birkinshaw, J., Malnight, T. W., & Buche, I. (2022). Adapting to digital disruption. Harvard Business Review, 1–22.
Reading 12: Gans, J. (2016). The other disruption. Harvard Business Review, 94(3), 78–84.
Reading 13: Kane, G. C. (2018). Why companies don't respond to digital disruption. MIT Sloan Management Review. 
Reading 14: Mueller, B. (2022). How to map out your digital transformation. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–10.
Reading 15: Stalk, G., Jr., & Stewart, S. (2019). Avoiding disruption requires rapid decision making. Harvard Business Review.

Lesson 5: The Business Case for Digital Transformation

Reading 16: Bradley, C., & O’Toole, C. (2016, May). An incumbent’s guide to digital disruption. McKinsey Quarterly. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/an-incumbents-guide-to-digital-disruption
Reading 17: McKinsey & Company. (2016, May 23). Navigating digital disruption [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtWZnr3AuWY
Reading 18: Rogers, D. (2017, November 16). Create your digital transformation playbook [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRCa4ksnthY

Lesson 6: Digital Strategy

Reading 19: Kane, G., Palmer, D., Nguyen Phillips, A., & Buckley, N. (2015, July 14). Strategy, not technology, drives digital transformation: Becoming a digitally mature enterprise. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/topics/digital-transformation/digital-transformation-strategy-digitally-mature.html

Lesson 7: Driving Digital Transformation

Reading 20: Vermeulen, F. (2022). What so many strategists get wrong about digital disruption. Harvard Business School Cases, 1–1473. 
Reading 21: Harbert, T. (2021, May 18). Digital transformation has evolved. Here's what's new. MIT Management Sloan School. Ideas Made to Matter: Digital Economy.
Reading 22: 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 23: 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 24: Bonnet, D., & Westerman, G. (2021). The new elements of digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 62(2), 82–89.
Reading 25: Westerman, G. (2021, June 11). Digital transformation after the pandemic [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/lavD-FgpRVk
Reading 26: TEDx Talks.(2014, December 6). Digital ethics and the future of humans in a connected world [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZn0IfOb61U  
Reading 27: Favaro, K. (2016, March 16). Don't draft a digital strategy just because everyone else is. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles.

Lesson 9: Generative AI and Competitive Advantage

Reading 28: Barney, J. B., & Reeves, M. (2024). AI won’t give you a new sustainable advantage. Harvard Business Review, 102(5), 72–79.
Reading 29: 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 30: Stuart, T. E. (2024). Could Gen AI end incumbent firms’ competitive advantage? Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–12
Reading 31: Wilson, H. J., & Daugherty, P. R. (2024). Embracing Gen AI at Work. Harvard Business Review, 102(5), 151–155

Lesson 10: Ethical and Human-centric Perspectives on AI

Reading 32: Abernethy, J., Candelon, F., Evgeniou, T., Gupta, A., & Lostanlen, Y. (2024). Bring human values to AI. Harvard Business Review, 102(2), 60–68
Reading 33: 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 34: 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 35: Harrell, E. (2024). The promise and peril of AI at work. Harvard Business Review, 102(4), 158–159
Reading 36: Yalcin, G., & Puntoni, S. (2023). How AI affects our sense of self. Harvard Business Review, 101(5), 130–136

Video Transcripts

Transcript for introduction video
Transcript for interview with Dave Bradley, President and Co-founder of Bull Bitcoin
Transcript for interview with Dr. Stella George, Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Information Systems, Athabasca University

Supplementary Reading

International Training Centre. (n.d.). Three Horizons framework. Foresight Toolkit. https://training.itcilo.org/delta/Foresight/3-Horizons.pdf