Champ Genesis

12/02/2021

Resilience, may the force be with you!

19/06/2020

Admittedly there is so much hype about Blockchain technology. Yet I doubt if people really know what’s it about. Personally, I quite like this short video which can explain the concept behind Blockchain in an easy-to-understand way. A good understanding is key to realising its full potential, while addressing the challenges involved.

What is a blockchain and how do they work? I'll explain why blockchains are so special in simple and plain English! 💰 Want to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum? Buy fo...

18/06/2020

受疫情影響下，原本為期兩個月的World Association of Business Coaches企業教練課程(最後一屆），足足花了半年時間才完成。還好昨天終於獲頒發證書，成為Business Coach行列的一份子。以後除了提供專業的顧問服務之外，更可運用所學到的corporate coaching skills來協助企業C-level管理層進行數碼轉型。十分期待！

27/05/2020

Is the World Ready For Digital Currency?

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been around for over a decade now and so no longer a novelty anymore. So far, much of the hype was driven by media stories about individuals reaping enormous returns from speculative investments.

As a matter of fact, digital currency can be both good and bad. Despite all the potential benefits to the economy (such as lower transaction cost, easier payment at any time, improvement in financial inclusion for the world’s under-privileged, or the like), its wild volatility in value could have financial stability implications that hinder it to become legal tender and widely accepted a stable currency for ordinary transactions of goods or services. Besides, there have been concerns over the potential risks associated with digital currency which is susceptible to illegal activities such as tax evasion, cyber-attack, terrorist financing and money laundering (criminals can engage in illegal cross-border activities by transferring money digitally and anonymously).

Despite all the challenges and barriers, it seems that things are moving in the right direction. There is a growing global demand for a decentralized means of payment backed by a better regulatory framework for mitigating the risks (as well as setting the standards and protecting privacy) and a stronger push from government authorities all over the world in piloting their central bank digital currencies. According to an article from scmp.com, China is going to launch her own version of sovereign digital currency later this year.

Personally, I strongly believe that the future of digital currency will be bright, so long as a critical mass of user base can be reached. To be a medium of exchange, a wide acceptance from both the consumers and merchants is key to accelerating the diffusion of digital currency. Over the years, consumers got used to doing transactions with financial intermediaries and so might not be ready for adopting digital currency in the short term. To them, the concept sounds to be a bit technical and difficult to understand. Probably they need more time to get to know the nuts and bolts of digital currency and its advantages over fiat money and the prevailing means of online payment platforms. Exciting times ahead!

29/02/2020

Both hard powers and soft powers define companies & future workforce. May the powers be with you!

19/12/2019

NDX Series #4: Who Should be the One to Lead Digital Transformation?

As I’ve mentioned in my last post (NDX series #3), leadership is most critical in times of change and demonstrating the right mindset starts at the top. Yet, who should be the one to ‘lead’ digital transformation of a company? Seemingly there is no straight-forward answer to such a million-dollar question.

So far, digital transformation leadership role vacillates between CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) and CIOs (Chief Information Officers) as different companies try to figure out what it means for them. In recent years, CIOs are rapidly moving into the spotlight owing to an across-the-board focus on IT investment driven by adoption of new technologies, particularly cloud computing, cybersecurity, or the like. With the rise of digital media, AI and big data & analytics, some companies have created a new position, namely CDO (Chief Digital Officer), to take on this challenge. All these are sensible moves but one can look at it from a different perspective.

In my opinion, digital transformation should start at the very top of an organization and has to be led by CEO. Why? Following the acceleration of globalization amidst worsening economy, corporations from around the world are taking steps to disrupt or transform their legacy business models, in an attempt to look for new and more sustainable growth opportunities through developing new markets, products, services and business models. Given such a critical business priority, CEOs need to be visionary and bold enough to take the driver’s seat in setting the tone for the top-down effort that digital transformation requires. When acting as the orchestrator of digital transformation, he or she should form a C-suite Executive Team (“Network of Excellence”) soliciting the active involvement of and multi-disciplinary enablement from other C-level leaders, including CIO, COO, CDO, CMO, CTO and even CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer). This helps ensure a clear yet aligned digital vision, focused leadership attention on workforce & culture, sufficient funding, and a strong corporate governance that tracks the progress of all change initiatives. Moreover, a CEO should put his/her ego aside and turn to consultant(s) for help and advice if needed, be it related to digital transformation strategy, talent & cultural transformation, or even data transformation. The new business ecosystem thrives on cross-silo collaboration. Being CEO is not a lonely job anymore!

12/12/2019

NDX Series #3: Why Many Digital Transformations Fail? What’re the Reasons & Key Learnings?

As in any venture, there are winners and losers when it comes to digital transformation. Its transformative effects bring with it a gold rush of lucrative opportunity but also great uncertainty, challenge and risk. According to Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO survey 2017, as low as 18% of organizations self-rated “very effective” with their digital transformation. Despite plenty of money flowing into technology investment and digital initiatives, many companies were unable to achieve their goals, only to hit a detour or roadblock in their digital transformation endeavors. What went wrong?

Basically, there are a total of seven common impediments being identified as the “root cause” leading to most digital transformation failures, which include:

1. Workforce’s Resistance to Change
Reason: i) fear of change/uncertainty; ii) reluctance to step out of the comfort zone; iii) lack of a collaborative culture owing to departmental silos

2. Talent Shortages:
Reason: i) indecisive “build or buy” dilemma for skilled talent (whether to go outside the organization or develop from within); ii) failing to attract and retain the right talent with the right skillset and mindset

3. Lack of Prioritization
Reason: unclear vision of the digital strategy, leading to inefficient spread of energy and resources

4. Attempting a “One and Done” Transformation
Reason: i) prevailing “plug and play mentality” among C-suite leaders who see digital transformation goals as an end point, disregarding the need for continuous evolution; ii) not taking an iterative process that builds resilience/agility through ongoing experimentation (fail smart, learn fast)

5. Lack of Focused Leadership Attention
Reason: lack of alignment among C-suite/senior leaders

6. Insufficient Funding
Reason: Lack of C-suite leaders’ solidified commitment and blessing

7. Lack of Clear Accountability & Ownership for Initiatives
Reason: lack of alignment between corporate’s digital vision and staff’s values/aspirations

Setting aside the first impediment related to the workforce and culture, a fundamental issue across these roadblocks is a lack of “digital mindset” among C-suite leaders who are in the driver seat of digital transformation. So, in order to be successful, leadership is most critical in the course of navigating digital transformation and demonstrating the right mindset starts at the top.

10/12/2019

NDX Series #2 (Continued):

Digitization Vs. Digitalization Vs. Digital Transformation: Is Your Company on the Right Track?

Further to my last post for clarifying the difference between digitization and digitalization, I’d like to drive home what ‘Digital Transformation’ is about as in the following:

‘Digital Transformation’ is the profound and accelerating transformation of business activities, processes, competencies and business models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies. It goes beyond digitalization and leads to the creation of entirely new markets and businesses. Holistically speaking, it’s a digital-first approach to an enterprise-wide transformation encompassing all aspects of business, including digital-ready workforce, cultural changes, new ways of thinking and collaboration, and innovation of new products, services and business models etc., making change a core competency as a corporation is striving to become more customer-centric in value proposition.

Put it simply, digitization and digitalization are essentially about technology, whereas digital transformation is more to do with a shift in focus to customer experience/value driving sustainable business growth. Though these three terms are quite distinct, they are closely related. Their relationship can be best manifested by an evolutionary path whereby ‘Digital Transformation’ (of business) requires ‘Digitalization’ (of processes) which in turn requires ‘Digitization’ (of data).

With more and more corporations being at the cross-roads of digital transformation, the time has come for them to look beyond sheer technology and figure out where they are up to in their transformation journey, define clearly their digital vision, and come up with an actionable strategic plan. After all, without a clear vision at the outset, a company doesn’t know where it is going and will probably end up somewhere else.

More posts to come soon. Stay tuned!

09/12/2019

NDX Series #2:

Digitization Vs. Digitalization Vs. Digital Transformation: Is Your Company on the Right Track?

Despite the fact that digital transformation is becoming a business reality, when talking with C-suite leaders from across various industries, I have come to realize that the much-hyped buzzword ‘Digital Transformation’ actually means different things to different people. Majority have confused ‘Digital Transformation’ with ‘Digitization’ and ‘Digitalization’, and simply used these three terms interchangeably. It seems that the current situation warrants a more precise demarcation. Being a consultant in the digital transformation field, I feel obliged to contribute my two cents here to debunk the confusion and misconceptions that surround these three terms.

Being a big fan of simplicity, I have done pretty rigorous research online to arrive at the following definitions which I believe can clarify the differences between each of these terms in a more easy-to-understand way.

Digitization is the enabler to create business value, which needs data. It’s about “digitization of data” i.e. the process of converting from analog to digital form, so that computers can store, process and transmit such data. However, it is important to note that it’s the data being digitized, not the processes – that’s where digitalization comes in.

Digitalization is the process of using digital technologies, and the impact it has on business operations. It’s about “digitalization of process(es)”. In other words, it refers to enabling, improving, or transforming business process by leveraging digital technologies and digitized data, meaning that digitalization presumes digitization. For instance, workflow automation helps increase process efficiency and improve productivity.

Hope you can now tell the difference between digitization and digitalization. Then what about digital transformation? Hang on… I will come to this in the coming post. Stay tuned!

09/12/2019

NDX Series #1:
Digital Transformation: From Hype To Reality

Digital transformation is no easy feat, but an important move for corporations to survive and thrive in the fast-changing environment. This is the first post in our NDX series which serve as a ‘Lighthouse’ to help you navigate your digital transformation journey. Hope you enjoy the reading and find it useful.

Digital transformation is not a hype or buzzword anymore, it’s a reality! The proliferation of new digital technologies has disrupted the whole world economy, posing immense challenges and opportunities to established players across various industries - retail, FMCG, telecommunication, automotive, hospitality, finance, to name a few. It’s a matter of survival (reactive) and sustainable growth (proactive) in the digital era.

According to IDC, 47% companies have not yet started with digital transformation, whereas 85% of enterprise decision-makers said that they would fall behind their competitors and suffer financially if not making significant inroads into digital transformation. Obviously, there’s still a huge gap between “knowing” and “doing”. This can somehow reflect a general lack of vision, strategy, boldness and commitment on the corporate front. The time has come to stop taking a wait-and-see attitude and step out of the comfort zone to kick off actual digital transformation. Adventure awaits!