The research program covered the what, why and how non-executive boards can take up their accountability in governing the digital assets.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article (“Boards Can’t Wait for CEOs to Prioritize Digital Change”, HBR, September 2017), Ram Charan complements the findings of our research with some interesting proposed actions boards can take to help the CEO in the digital transformation challenge. We are happy to share these tips with you.
The board should free up time in the board’s agenda to address, with the CEO, the potential benefits and risks of digital transformation for their organization or sector. Such a shared session can create a sense of urgency. If required, external experts can be brought it in.
Following on the previous point, the necessity to have the right CEO becomes very clear. Make sure your CEO sees digital transformation as a challenge that brings chances and not only problems.
It could be that the CEO struggles with imagining the exponential growth a digital platform can create. He or she needs to reimagine how the company could be rebuilt around a digital platform. That imagination can be spiked by adding some new people to the mix.
Digital expertise is expensive. Companies can expect to see operating expenses rise. Therefore, it is important for the CEO to convince stakeholders that the change will be profitable in the long run. Boards should help their CEOs with stating this and think of incentives to reach the required KPI’s.
Some employees and board members will support a certain plan until the actual due date comes close. At that moment they will start to have doubts about taking the leap. The board should take up these concerns and regularly evaluate them.
The CEO can make or break a successful digitization. But a CEO who stands alone can’t realize anything. He or she must be supported by his board and experts in the field of digitization.
