MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

The purpose of Rapid Transformation Systems (RTS) and this programme is to enable clients to effectively transition and adapt their business operating models to meet the requirements of the new market regime. This new reality we are finding ourselves in demands a clear answer and a hand break turn on the direction of travel.

The RTS methodology has been developed to introduce strategic and rapid transformation of business operating models and business processes. By focusing on integration of technology from the baseline position and the design of the future state, RTS allows organisations to adapt to dramatically different circumstances. Many of the things that we are facing now would have been unthinkable even months ago. The world has changed again and there is no going back. As the only way is forward, RTS aims to give your digital transformation efforts a meaning and purpose that are deeply significant to the organisation. Utilising system thinking and neuroscience approch to learning, these hands-on programme gives your organisation the opportunity to truly re-define the future it desires by inventing it.

As the same time RTS has been developed based on the neuroscience research and deep understanding of human factors to activate in the client team the ability to start rapidly adapting and re-think concepts through the power of unparalleled storytelling.

With focus on integrating innovative technologies into business-as-usual, RTS aim is to support as many businesses as possible to make our world safe and secure again by re-inventing it. By creating with clients ground-breaking fit for the 21st century operating models, by tapping into organisations potential to develop products and services that are more sustainable, diverse and make a positive impact in communities where we live and work RTS aim is to inspire people in the organisation and around the globe to follow their path and to help businesses to thrive by enabling teams to work together closely and effortlessly with the aid of data, information, knowledge and wisdom.

The key objective of RTS is to facilitate organisations to make the transition to the new market regime possible. To secure safe and profitable operations and enables customers and organisations to thrive in the 21st century by becoming sustainable, managing their environmental impact, and contributing to the overall global stability.

The objective of the first workshop in this hands-on training is for the team to gain information and understanding of key components of RTS and aspects of the human factors. This knowledge is required to rapidly build capacity for transformational level of change. In practice, this means that using RTS five key steps will provide the overall Road Map to extraordinary benefits realisation. Building trust, enabling teamwork, stimulating innovation, creating new understanding of value, and managing complexity to achieve it are only few outcomes delivered by stimulating through course manuals and exercises growth of new neural networks in the brain to build capacity, not only for process change but also our own emotional transformation of believes and values.

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Objectives

01. Present and review the client Project Brief.
02. Build understanding of key concept of digital transformation.
03. Establish context and purpose for different operating models.
04. Identify factors that influence operating models over time.
05. Apply system thinking to structure operating model components.
06. Develop understanding of different change management models.
07. Map out key stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.
08. Formulate a high-level plan to communication with all stakeholders involved.
09. Develop 12-months project Road Map using RTS building blocks.
10. Obtain data and information to inform baseline assessment.

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Strategies

Introduction: Several theories have been developed about how people learn. Because the objectives of RTS is to enable adaptation of human believes and concepts to the changing context of the new market regime a cognitive and neurobiological approch have influenced the learning theory and application of strategies and methods applied in this program.

According to cognitive theory of learning, thought processes depends on the ability to create, hold, and modify internal representations of concepts that are experienced in the training environment. These internal representations form our perception of the world and the concepts that come with it. Therefore, learning through hands-on exercises, provision of clear instructions and templates throughout the whole program are designed to challenge in a meaningful way organisational current position.

A crucial aspect of this model is the emphasis on what the learner already knows and identifying individual areas of learning required. It emphasises how active the leaner must be if restructuring current thinking. This is because frequently, organisations and individuals find that their ability to handle a new experience with existing concepts definitions simply does not work, yet they resist changes to their way of thinking. For example, the learner may simply choose to ignore information or deny need for change. Only when genuine cognitive transformation takes place in the process of “re-doing” the concepts one can say learning has been regarded as having taken place. This process often requires a neurobiological recognition that relates behaviour to the electrical and chemical events taking place inside the body. It emphasises the need to understand activities within the brain and nervous system, together their effect upon behavioural and mental processes and the overall human factors of “how do we feel” about the change including channels of communication and processing of information. The fact is that human brain has an almost infinite capacity to learn, and it means that everyone can create and grow rapidly their potential. Given enough time and the right opportunities, everyone can learn anything.

• Present and review the client Project Brief

The first preliminary tasks you will do as a an individual and as a team later is to define high level project scope. The focus of the scope should be on outlining what individuals and the team wish to achieve for the benefit of the organisation. Focusing on the outcomes and thinking with the end goal in mind means that the emphasis of the documents that you are required to produce is on the output first. By drafting individual project scopes, we aim to gather the diverse understanding of the project requirements that will be discussed and consolidated as a team.

• Build understanding of key concept of digital transformation

RTS course manuals and exercises provide not only a guidance how to design and integrate digital transformation but also offer templates and instructions on how to tackle the theory and implementation of desired technology. By following the instructions provided in the course materials participant will gain knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and will have the opportunity to put theory into practice.

• Establish context and purpose for different operating models.

RTS is hands-on programme based on rapid integration of digital transformation theory and concepts through application of practical exercises aiming to help participants to try out application of theory themselves by building real-life scenarios.

• Identify factors that influence operating models over time.

The RTS cognitive approch to learning is to provide the participants with toolkits and templates that enable them to structure their project from the outset and use the practical exercises to instigate neurobiological level of change by identifying “how do we feel” about the context of our times and how can organisations move forward in a positive and constructive way.

• Apply system thinking to structure operating model components.

All modules of RTS are aligned in a sequence that address in a specific order; human factor, assessment, prototyping the Target Operating Model and delivering the programme of benefits. The system thinking theory in this context is a strategy to capture and break down complexity of the operating model in the context of the changing environment and markets. Using fish bone diagrams and problem-solving methodologies as well as black box and scenario analysis exercises, we give the team the skills to break down complexity into manageable components.

• Develop understanding of different change management models.

Decision support tools and transformation delivery templates have not been developed specifically for this program to aid the neurobiological issues of human brain inability of dealing with unknown. This phenomenon is called “experiential blindness”. A wide range of templates, process maps, step by step instructions, “TO DO” lists, and techniques have been pre-developed to get the team started and to support and weight complex decisions required to facilitate participation processes and keep everyone on the same page.

• Map out key stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.

Every project that takes place over time involves number of stakeholders and characters. The characters generate the plot through their interactions, motivation, and personalities. By creating stakeholders’ profiles and a stakeholder’s chart, the team will be able to choose most appropriate change management model for the job and understand how the stakeholders operate in daily negotiations when all these people meet at the table to negotiate by being faced by different aspects of the same problem or how they all would solve problems through building trust and collaboration. It is only in the “doing” when we truly redefine our thinking and create options and scenarios of the future we desire. This program aims to be a discovery and experimentation journey that we hope the Project team will enjoy whilst learning new skills and methodologies. That way we can track the relationships and roles changing along the journey among the team members and how the workload can be distributed. All the things you need to know about their background, character, personality and what they like for breakfast you can keep on the profile. That way everyone can keep eye and have a control of the human factors via this handy chart.

• Formulate a high-level plan to communication with all stakeholders involved.

The Rapid Transformation System is a mechanism that contextualises the whole interconnecting network of outcome driven activities to solve problems presenting themselves during the business transformation. It offers a coherent and logical base for merging process with human factors related to workforce needs for vision, storytelling, engagement, beliefs, values and above all need for safety and security. The Project team during these phases will be creating, prototyping, designing, brainstorming, analysing, and making decisions about outcomes, scope, control metrics, concept definitions and other techniques of breaking down complexity to help stakeholders re-think the “AS IS” baseline position and to address the human factors.

• Develop 12-months project Road Map using RTS building blocks.

The overall objective of the five RTS themes (assess, re-think and re-design, test & integrate, stabilize, realise benefits) that spread around the 12 modules is to ensure that the organisation goes through the whole digital transformation programme in the correct sequence driven by the cognitive and neuroscience approch to learning. There will be no need to reinvent the wheel or spend time on creating templates during the program. Utilising the pre-defined toolkits of the digital transformation management system we will focus the team purely on the design and implementation of their desired solution.

• Obtain data and information to inform baseline assessment.

A baseline assessment can take many different forms but is essentially a means of collecting information about a starting position to inform development or attainment at the point at which the organisation enters the RTS program. Assessments are carried out in a variety of different ways from informal observations to standardised questionnaires or desktop exercises. The data collected from these assessments will inform the timescales for the implementation of the desired technological solution. Like previous exercises, the strategy is to get the team started with the pre-prepared asset management industry best practice assessment that can be tailored to the specific needs of the client.

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Tasks

List at least 1 task for each strategy listed above. Your tasks should explain precisely what you will need to do in order to ensure that each strategy is implemented.

01. Complete each Course Manual exercise.
02. Complete each Project Study TO DO list.
03. Appoint Project Lead with administrative support.
04. Identify project sponsor.
05. Set up a team share drive and folder for each module.
06. Schedule regular team meeting following workshops.
07. Develop 12-month Road Map and stakeholders’ communication plan from the outset.
08. Ensure team has a minimum of the following software: Teams/zoom, Microsoft project or any other software that allows mapping of project dependencies. Word, excel, power point and Visio or any other software with visualisation and process mapping capability.
09. Focus on applying theory into practice.
10. Practice, practice, practice.

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Introduction

Digital transformation is one of the megatrends shaping the global technological landscape and although it has been a buzzword since 1990s and in the mid-2000s, it has taken prominence in reshaping global economic landscape over the last decade. The trend started over the last 30 years when organisations initiated computerized procedures and to some extent already integrated many automated processes into their day-to-day operations.

Since the 1990s it has been the expectation that hardware and software will provide insights into organisational performance, efficiency, optimise expenditure, and track compliance via global dashboards in real time. With such a significant need for information many organisations grown organically, bottom up, and added technology to current “AS IS” ways of working. This has created a further need for significant process improvement. All these activities however have not fully delivered to the market expectations. The reality and the results are slightly different, 80% digital transformations efforts still fail.

The route cause is three-fold. Digital Transformation in reality, combines three significant concepts of the corporate businesses journey.

The first, we know a lot about. It`s technology. The second is at its infancy and relates to the definition and concepts of the business operating models, in this document also referred to as “AS WAS”, “AS IS” and “TO BE” Operating Model, reflecting PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE states of the organisation. The third fundamental element of Digital Transformation is the post-covid paradigm shift and the emergence of the new market regime. This global megatrend driving the re-thinking of the fundamentals of human relationship with the planet also provides new perspectives on how we will live in the not far distant future and how the net-zero objectives will drive human behaviour and adaptation of almost 8 billion people.

This threefold structure creates a new juxtaposition for the corporate organisations to address. On one hand technology is easy to implement into a current status quo, however integrating it into a not yet designed and developed target operating model that needs to deliver net-zero, customer real time engagement and flexibility to adapt to changes in the market is a tricky business.

This creates a need for significant transformation, not only of the current processes using technology but of the whole operating model to achieve net-zero, value and growth supported by technology in the new market regime at the same time considering the environmental impact.

This is a very different concept for many organisations that require innovative methodology such as Rapid Transformation System enabling them to capture multiple strands of activities and their relationships at the same time leading towards multiple outcomes and scenarios. The importance of understanding all three conceptual components and the application of them in an operational delivery environment combined with ability to respond to the new market regime will drive far more experimental way of working, re-thinking basic concepts and prototyping multiple solutions of digital transformation.

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Technology

Relatively short history of DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION is a popular topic of discussion since the 1990s and 2000s for organisations aiming to enhance digital products and services.

For example, in the rail industry providing on-line sales of tickets were considered important digital channels with which to reach customers even though purchases were still primarily made inside brick-and-mortar train station windows, often with cash.

From 2000 to 2015, the rise of smart devices and social media platforms led to a drastic landscape change in the methods customers were able to communicate and be updated by the businesses. The customers’ expectations have focused on the areas of service that impacted them mostly like delays, cancellations, service disruption etc. This level of communication meant organisations had to provide response times and multi-channel availability and communication platforms that linked with assets and their performance.

As a result, businesses started to see that they were able to communicate digitally with their customers on an individual basis, and often in real time. Selection of digital payment options such as PayPal also contributed to more and more online commerce and web-based opportunities from selling data and information related products that use the potential of digitisation to offer customers smarter and faster services and actively shape their business operating models with digital transformation.

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Business operating models

The history of business and operating models goes back to the growth of e-business since the rise of the Internet during the late 1990’s. Early reviews of the business operating model concept emerge around the dot.com era and the rise of the e-business model. Since then, the definition of a business operating model had not moved much forward, and it is still described as “stories that explain how enterprises work”. Business operating models’ function was to show how the organisation added value and how much efforts it took operationally to generate value and profits but also answered fundamental questions such as: “who is the customer? and “what does the customer value?” or “how do we extract value in that process?”.

Precisely this aspect of value seen from the point of the customer made a big impact on the existing thinking. Further, a basic idea of the business model concept was that it should spell out the unique value proposition of the Organisation and how such a value proposition ought to be implemented by designing appropriate operating model that aligned all business processes to extract value from the services provided to the customer.

In the late 1990’s the Internet had in essence created an array of new business models where the major focal point was on the on-line interface with the customer. These e-business models were concerned with how such organizations could create value and what new formula was required to generate profits in comparison to the bricks and mortar counterparts.

One way of approaching this was four dimensions of value-creation and profitability criteria for e-businesses. It must create efficiencies in comparison to existing ways of doing business, it must facilitate complementarities, novelty or enable the lock-in of customers, it must leverage emerging technologies in existing markets. It must create win/win ecosystems and partnerships with customers, employees, and suppliers.

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New market regime

Digital transformation in the new market regime is complex. A unique juxtaposition of events has created confusion without historical precedence. Risks are high and there are no previous parallels to draw from. In the current economic climate, only few can afford to fail, yet 80% of digital transformation programmes collapse within the first 6 to 12 months. The global economic recovery continues amid a resurging pandemic that poses unique challenges and requires strong operating model design and scenario planning skills and knowledge. The brief has also changed. Climate change and the race for the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 plays into the confusion this rapid need for transition is contributing to the shock organisations and businesses are experiencing. Navigating net zero is not just a long-term story – it’s a now story. Supply shocks are here, and the tectonic shift toward sustainable investing is already playing out. These signals that we are entering a new market regime.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION has been discussed for many years and since the beginnings of the Internet it became a global megatrend that enables global business connectivity at the unprecedented rate.

However, it is still unclear what is the definition for DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION in the context of business models and new market regime and what is the actual territory of innovation. It is essential at the beginning of any transformation efforts for any organisation to find their blueprint and definitions a how they can be applied in practice. Further on other definitions and data and information dictionaries would need to be developed for the business. Defining what digitalization and digitization mean would support the business to understand the differences and therefore impact of each one when implementing technology solution. For example, this are definitions from leading companies:

BMWi (2015) “Digitisation stands for the complete networking of all sectors of the economy and society, as well as the ability to collect relevant information, and to analyse and translate that information into actions. The changes bring advantages and opportunities, but they create completely new challenges.”

Westerman et al. (2011) “DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION — the use of technology to radically improve the performance or reach of enterprises — is becoming a hot topic for companies across the globe. Executives in all industries are using digital advances such as analytics, mobility, social media, and smart embedded devices — and improving their use of traditional technologies such as ERP — to change customer relationships, internal processes, and value propositions.”

PwC (2013) “DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION describes the fundamental transformation of the entire business world through the establishment of new technologies based on the internet with a fundamental impact on society as a whole.”

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Technology

Fundamentally the main objective of DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION is to review or obtain data that can be turned into information, and information into knowledge and using this data businesses can reimagine and re-think these old processes. A more data-oriented approach allows for the opportunity to gain new knowledge and in turn reimagine business models and operations. For example, Airbnb does not own its own physical assets e.g., hotels. Therefore, the business turned its attention from processes to data to provide new and unique way of creating unique value for guests. This is an example of how old, asset-based processes in the hotel industry can be completely reimagined in a data-driven world. That way Airbnb offers the part-time landlords and landladies who own properties in highly sought locations a micro lease that enables alternative to hotels and creates not only value for customers but also win/win partnering ecosystems for employees and suppliers.

Digital technologies that enable e-business models have been around for a long time and advanced more rapidly than any innovation in our history. In only two decades they have reached out around 50% of the developing world and transformed societies. They have enhanced connectivity, financial independence, provided access to trade and public services. Technology in that sense can be a great influencer of social change and social transformation. By enabling organisations to reach out to clients directly it enhances their perception of service and quality by automating the process in the background and taking away the administration burden.

In the health sector, for instance, AI analytical technologies enabled diagnosis of diseases in early stages and therefore extend life expectancy by deploying preventative treatments straight away. By means of technology public services are also becoming far more accountable through blockchain-powered systems, that ensure every interaction is recorded for transparency purposes. Communications remain less bureaucratically burdensome because of AI analytical assistance that filters the big data to support more responsive and accurate policies and programmes. In education, virtual learning environments and distance learning have opened opportunities for students who would otherwise be excluded.

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Business operating models

The business operating model concept is gaining traction in current climate after businesses realised that to get the best out of technology it is required to firstly understand how the organisation operates in the AS IS position before attempting to re-invent it on the go. Companies that are designed for people, processes, data, and technology are in principle configured to identify and deliver innovative customer solutions against the redefined strategy and re-designed business model. That’s really where the transformative and innovative piece takes place.

How employees interpret newly acquired know-how and use it to improve decision-making capabilities is what differentiates DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION from buying technology and replacing or upgrading IT platform. All of the new data sources create newly formed information and knowledge. Instead of merely making processes more efficient or quicker, which is the aim of automation, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION requires individuals to rethink old processes and reimagine new processes and decisions.

The focus therefore should be on what digital transformation of business operating models means for the business and its customers. How that change relates to individual business model elements, the entire business operating model, supply chains, as well as the networking through technology of different stakeholders in a supply chain ecosystem are the key aspect of digital transformation. There could be various gradients and degrees of this level of change including the incremental and marginal adjustments that may not realise desired benefits as well as the disruptive fundamental change of a business operating model.

Within the current approach to DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION of business operating models, enablers (e.g., on-demand prediction) and selection of technologies for the right purpose (e.g., big data) is the key element of the planning the delivery. These enablers require skills within the team that enable data collection and exchange as well as the ability to analyse, calculate, and evaluate options, therefore affecting and repositioning key dimensions of running business: time, finance, space, and quality.

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New market regime

Global prospects remain still uncertain. New virus mutations, even as growing vaccine coverage increases still can cause major disruption on the international level. This new market regime is complex and reflects variations as the result of economic recoveries that are diverging across countries and sectors. The outlook depends not just on the outcome of the battle between the virus and vaccines—it also hinges on how effectively economic policies will be deployed to limit damage from this unprecedented crisis.

On a strategic horizon, diversification is one of the key approaches to enable the return potential, move from profit machine to enlightened progress for the greater good can appear to the younger generations of customers and employees who are focused on well-being and life experience. Thriving in a new market regime is certainly about cutting through complexity and keeping the big picture in mind.

We never had an economic restart like this. This signals that we are in a new market regime. A unique mix of events has created confusion without historical parallels where businesses, in particular those who operate on the global level are facing managing divergent recoveries created by changes in government level policies leading to wide range of outcomes. The journey for the world to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is happening now. This paradigm shift is the key to digital transformation and is part of the inflation story that will play out over decades and create further supply shocks in years to come. The emerging trends for this decade like living with inflation, cutting through confusion and complexities, and navigating net zero are here to stay. Nonetheless the question remains: how will you reinvent your business for a better future?

Digital transformation should be at the forefront of every organization’s mind as it defines how organisations use technology to adapt and transform services or businesses in the context of recovery like no other.

In the 1990s it has been the expectation that by application of Hardware and Software organisations would be able to manage performance, efficiency, optimise expenditure, and track compliance via global dashboards. This type of thinking belongs now to the past. These days digital transformation it`s about defining the business operating model and transforming it at its core toward new market objectives.

Although digital transformation has been seen as a “passing phenomenon” and response to changing times it is likely to stay as the benefits realisation has desired commercial potential and can easily support delivery of net-zero objectives. Still, many companies are announcing that they are embarking on various digital transformation projects. They are taking small actionable steps that can have bigger impact throughout the company. An effective digital transformation project unfortunately involves building a team that can work through the future state design, prototype, and create the desired technical functionalities that the organisation can transform into. Being the standalone pioneer of deploying advancing technologies is the way to go. Only by spending time ahead of the actual delivery to prepare and define the meaning of the future state for the organisation and testing of the appropriate technology can have the desired handbrake turn effect toward new market regime.

Key consulting partners predict that the world will be further driven by digital technology. Mobile apps and payments, and digital environments are already part of our daily lives. Physical, financial, and healthcare worlds are being digitized in such a way that enables customers more choices than we’ve ever had before, however, the services will be based on new market objectives and willingness of those who intend to adapt to the climate transition.

All businesses and individuals need to embrace the new paradigm shift of rapid change to secure their place in the evolving digital world. Getting there will be like a mission into space.

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Technology

As the digital aspirations of businesses expand rapidly, some organisation would need to set up technology departments to deal with the customer interfaces and quickly learn how to manage the newest platforms and understand their capabilities. This is high risk. With technology like AI and blockchain come other responsibilities and background work needs to be put in place to extract value from these applications. For example, for AI to learn and be able to analyse data patterns there needs to be a stable data set and smooth operating data model in line with organisational direction of travel. Blockchain is no different, it requires data management fundamentals and foundations to be put in place in the first instance.

There are no shortcuts in digital transformation. The temptation in moving in fast with generic or vanilla solution to cut out some steps in the multi-year journey is simply not possible. Digital transformation involves more than collapsing one process into one set of data. As an organization drives further and further into the journey of digital transformation, many aspects of the business operating model must change, as processes and data are interrelated. In these situations, organisations reach a point of no return as high value investment went to support 20th century operating model that is no longer sustainable or desired by customer and so it can`t dramatically change where the value is and how it`s delivered.

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Business operating models

This is probably the most exciting element of the digital transformation. Although businesses are trying to link all their functions and devices into networks to more efficiently leverage the immense volume of data produced daily, they are still missing the point of digital transformation. That data is still fulfilling their old purpose. In fact, investing into it is investing into the past century. The irony is that some companies rely on digital platforms to connect all network participants and having opportunities to future proof their business, however, are still using the conventional 20th century business model.

Organizations that have started using different digital approaches, hoping to make better use of data, develop more flexibility, and remain competitive in the present, will continue to view digital transformation as mainly a technology differentiator in the market. They will end up missing the power of digital transformation if they do not go on the quest for new operating model that moves an organization from a procedure and approval-defined world to a data flow and gateways-driven environment.

Historically many businesses were set up along processes and interaction of department s and business functions. There are hundreds of world-class processes like Six Sigma and other tools to help to refine and improve those procedures but that is the fundamental challenge, whilst the procedures are being altered the business operating model isn`t. In contrast, digital transformation of business operating model shrinks down these action-based day to day interactions, it automates some of the work people were doing and turns the procedure into interaction with a software. What’s left is data.

Bringing on board digital technologies will become slicker only if organisations understand that regardless of the type of technology they desire, the future state design would need to be done upfront to assess the impact of new solution on the business, culture, and people. This is a practical matter as digital technologies collapses processes and procedures into data flows. Suddenly, the data makes clear that people matter. For instance, instead of seeing customer service as a set of actions and activities that the customer organization initiates, customer feedback data forces the organization to think about the customer experience. The business impact resulting from viewing the world through a data lens instead of actions related to results is very powerful.

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New market regime

It is universally accepted that digital transformation is happening and reshaping the global response to the new environmental market regime. What remains uncertain across both political and economic spheres is the way in which it would unfold and perhaps most importantly with what effects. A myriad of different forces is shaping digital transformation. Some of them are obvious while others are still very much unknown.

Operating in a rapidly landscape and capturing it`s complexities is challenging and yet essential in formulating robust but flexible short- and long-term strategies to drive digital transformation efforts. The decisions public and private stakeholders make today will determine what kind of world we live in, in the not-so-distant future.
Many public administrations around the globe find themselves at the eye of what is quickly becoming a digital storm.

Consequently, it is essential for organisations, particularly, with fixed assets that require on-going management to look forward and determine strategic options that not only respond to technological, social political, economic, environmental, and legal developments. A method for capturing existing, emerging, and future trends and driving forces is required to break down complexity and see the clear picture for the organisational direction of travel.

The conventional strategies for the most part, are not fit for future neither are designed for it. While predicting future is impossible, scenario planning and analysis can give much deeper insights into potential future developments by cutting through complexity and capturing uncertainties. Like business operating models’ scenarios are stories of the future state that are describing alternative options that organisations might find themselves in. Analysing these scenarios can help stakeholders to frame strategies and make decisions that proactively build a positive future and avoid the potential pitfalls of pushing funding into areas of risk that will not realise benefits in the future.

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Executive Summary

Workshop One is concerned with the fundamental concepts and components of digital transformation required to be addressed when attempting extensive integration of any technology into the business or rethinking the organisational direction of travel.

It is mission critical to start the digital transformation journey with a clear understanding of not only desired objectives and goals but with a clear design of the future state and a comprehensive knowledge of the baseline position. This is because the current market position is that 80% digital transformations efforts still fail regardless of the investment value. To achieve guaranteed results and ultimately the benefits realisation, a strict step by step process needs to be followed.

Rapid Transformation System methodology and associated pre-prepared templates, toolkits and decision support tools have been developed to break down the complexity of digital transformation efforts and to structure from the outset the activities of the 12 months programme.

This robust approach has been developed to aid the challenges many organisations are experiencing when bringing technology on-board and when introducing transformational level of change to the organisational culture and people.

Therefore, Workshop One, not only introduces the project team to the concept of digital transformation; it also gives the individual and the group, the opportunity to start breaking down complexity straight away with the use of pre-prepared training templates, guidance, and materials.

Workshop One is concerned with analysing the context that fundamentally defines any programme and shines the light on the root causes of adapting new technology into the new market regime and the re-think of the business operating model. In practice, digital transformation combines these three significant concepts into a business journey.

The first aspect, we know a lot about. It`s technology. The second is at its infancy stage and relates to the definition and concepts of the business operating models that reflect PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE states of any organisation. The third fundamental element of digital transformation are the human factors and the adaptation to post-covid paradigm shift and the emergence of the new market regime.

This juxtaposition of these events created a need for significant transformation, not only of the current organisational processes but of the whole operating model to achieve net-zero but also to redefine value and growth that can be supported by technological advancements.

The purpose of Rapid Transformation Systems (RTS) methodology is to enable organisations to effectively transition and adapt their business operating models to meet the requirements of the new market regime even if it requires a hand break turn on the direction of travel.

The RTS methodology has been developed to introduce strategic and rapid transformation of business operating models and business processes. By focusing on integration of technology from the baseline position and the design of the future state, RTS allows organisations to adapt their operating model in a systematic way to the dramatic paradigm shift we are experiencing worldwide.

Many of the things that we are facing now would have been unthinkable even months ago. The world has changed again and there is no going back. As the only way is forward, RTS aims to give digital transformation efforts a meaning and purpose that are deeply significant to the organisation. Utilising system thinking and neuroscience approch to learning, these hands-on programme gives any organisation the opportunity to truly re-define the future it desires by inventing it.

Course Manuals, Exercises and Project Studies of Workshop One have therefore been developed to achieve three core objectives to get the project team on right path from the outset:

• Introduce the digital transformation and its three core concepts.
• Draft Project Scope.
• Develop 12 months programme and stakeholder management Road Map using Rapid Transformation System components.

The RTS methodology promotes the re-think and redefinition of what value could mean for the organisation is the 21st century and what is the best operating model to deliver it. RTS is focused on controlled and structured digital transformation to achieve just that without derailing the whole business and by managing transition in an agile way.

It is focused on the step-by-step five components designed to provide the necessary transition of business functions in a project at the same time controlling cost, risk, and environmental impact and delivering financial, human resources and operational benefits realisation.

RTS approch can be also used to review of new or existing products and services, to reduce costs or increase functionality or to increase monetary value. In this context it can be utilised to assess a process optimisation opportunity and to define the most cost-effective way or technology add-on for producing outputs without taking away the initial purpose. By seeking substitutes for example, one can often find to reduce costs and provided equal or better performance.

The value technology brings when well configured and integrated into the business process or operating model is a combination and proportion of two elements: function to cost. The function supported by technology to cost implies that the value of a product or service can be increased by either improving its digital functionality or decreasing its production or delivery cost where value can be related to outputs from production, design, maintenance, or replacement and balanced against the future state benefits.

The key to successful digital transformation is to ensure that the whole future state and technology solution can be integrated into baseline position as a whole model at the same time in key milestones with defined deliverables. Strict control of transition from AS IS to the TO BE state also require management of multiple scenarios at the same time. Because the emergence of new market regime will take some time to establish, it is critical not to have “all eggs in one basket”. Instead, managing transition from a baseline to multiple outcomes and scenarios gives organisations opportunities to innovate and put commitment to where the benefits can be extracted in the process of transformational change leaving competition behind.

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Curriculum

Rapid Transformation System – Workshop 1 – Digital Transformation Concepts

1. What is the AS WAS, AS IS and TO BE Business Operating Model?
2. Identifying the context for your organization and the project. What is the difference between POM, COM, and TOM?
3. OM and TOM System Components
4. Change Management and Stakeholder Engagement
5. Road Map from OM to TOM
6. Next steps: Taking the AS IS Baseline Assessment

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Rapid Transformation System corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Rapid Transformation System corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Rapid Transformation System corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Rapid Transformation System program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Rapid Transformation System corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

This how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can also help you to plan the whole year and workload based on the Rapid Transformation System milestones and to develop a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

Question your understanding

Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.

Clarifying your understanding

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.

Question your interpretation

Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.

Clarifying your interpretation

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.

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Qualification Requirements

The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Rapid Transformation System corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Rapid Transformation System Specialist (ARTSS). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.

Rapid Transformation System– Grading Contribution

Project Study – Grading Contribution are based on the 5 theme Gateways of the Rapid Transformation System method as follows:

Theme gateway 1: Module one and two – high level concepts and definitions of digital transformation, understanding current organisational position, setting up the project governance and taking the AS IS assessment.

Theme gateway 2: Module three, four, five and six – high level concepts and definitions of concept thinking and design of Target Operating Model, benefits realisation planning and the “re-think and re-design” of the current AS IS position using the AS IS assessment as a baseline.

Theme gateway 3: Modules seven, eight and nine require development of detail delivery programme in line with the project scope and stakeholders’ engagement plan as well as undertaking “test & integrate” activities.

Theme gateway 4: Modules ten and eleven – aim at introducing the “freeze” state of your desired technology solution to ensure its functionality. We will identify system monitoring parameters to stabilise the new design of the Target Operating Model.

Theme gateway 5: Module twelve is dedicated to benefits realisation and continuous improvement plan and will require final sign off from the senior stakeholders and the sponsors. Lessons learnt will consolidate overall feedback, key takeaways, and enable the organisation to develop an improvement plan post the program.

Each module still has its individual project study that require completion; however, the theme gateways give us an opportunity to summarise learning outcomes and understanding of the subject matter explored in each gateway. Each theme gateway forms a fundamental building block of the RTS method. Each theme gateway however has its weighting of 10% per module related to time it takes to complete it as follows:

Theme gateway 1: Module one and two – 20%
Theme gateway 2: Module three, four, five and six – 30%
Theme gateway 3: Modules seven, eight and nine – 30%
Theme gateway 4: Modules ten and eleven – 10%
Theme gateway 5: Module twelve – 10%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%

Qualification grades

A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.

When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:

Pass with merit

A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory

Pass with distinction

An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory

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Preliminary Analysis

Program students are advised to spend some time researching digital transformation as a subject for their project to be able to inform drafting of the project scope leading to draft of a business case in the context of this 12-month training programme. The preparation time should be dedicated to familiarisation with the executive summary, course manuals and course manuals exercises and project studies. In readiness for the workshop please ensure that the whole team is familiar with the executive summary and that every individual can identify and discuss the differences in thinking behind the digital transformation in the past, currently and in the future.

A well-prepared team should have identified upfront what they are trying to get out of a digital transformation training programme. Having a clarity of individual, team and business needs and knowing the expectations and outcomes they want to achieve is the key to success of this programme.

A well-thought-out project scope is imperative to proper corporate positioning. Creating a clear picture and project “identity” in customers’ minds involves communicating a sound value proposition. How companies will position themselves in the new market regime comes down to how they are able to present products and services to different target audiences and they current demands for sustainability. This positioning is critical to market differentiation, which in turn, directly impacts sales, profits, and business growth and reputation.

No matter the size, complexity, duration, or sector the idea is that using RTS the team will deliver a unique digital transformation solution or service. The RTS methodology offers the team a way to define and control the project in a structured manner. It also gives the project lead a method project governance. This is important because many projects fail due to inadequate stakeholder communications both inside and outside the project.

The first preliminary tasks you will do as a an individual and as a team is to define high level project scope. It is critical to the success of the project and feeds into the development if the future state solution.

The focus of the scope should be on identifying what individuals and the team wish to achieve for the benefit of the organisation. Focusing on the outcomes and thinking with the end goal in mind means that the emphasis is on the output first and then the delivery phase.

When it comes to digital transformation scope there is multitude of options hence it`s difficult to get the scope right and as a team you don’t want to aim too big or too small. You want your project to be just right: big enough to capture all your project objectives, but small enough to be an achievable goal. Defining the scope of your project will help you to hit the deliverables on time and within timeframes realising great benefits for the business without overworking the team, which should be priority of any sponsor of a digital transformation programme.

To get everyone on the same page please refer to the basic definitions of the project scope below. Further on following instructions, please develop as an individual a short project scope using the headings provided and answering the questions in each heading. Please ensure you write the individual scope yourself without consulting your colleagues. We want to ensure that everyone point of view is captured and documented.

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What is digital transformation project scope?

Project scope for a digital transformation programme is a way to set boundaries to define exactly what outcomes you are trying to achieve. By clarifying your project scope, you can ensure to get it right without delay or demotivating re-work.

Although defining the digital transformation project scope isn’t a one-person job, we want to ensure that everyone point of view, based on their background and experience has been accommodated. Moving forward through consensus the team can get on the same page to consolidate the scope and to present it to the sponsor for approval and verification. For example, if as an individual you would like to work IoT implementation and your colleague would like to work on AI, and someone else needs are to standardise data for better information management then this should be the starting point for writing of your overall team project scope.

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The benefits of defining your project scope early

Defining your project scope is a key element of project planning. Without a clear scope statement, your project could warp and grow beyond your team’s ability to complete it, causing delays or burnout impacting the business operations and customer delivery and therefore profits and reputation. Your project scope helps you to define the end goals and benefits and make sure they are achievable. Specifically, defining your project scope allows you to:

• Ensure all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the risk, cost, benefits, and trade-offs.
• There is a clear business case outlining the project boundaries.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and get buy-in.
• Reduce uncertainty and failure rate.
• Budget and resource plan appropriately.
• Establish a process for impact assessment and change management/transformational needs.
• Identify benefits realisation and products that can be developed from data, information, and knowledge.
• Provide baseline for communications considering storytelling and human factors.
• Give the business a structured bigger picture of the project outcomes.
• Identify the logical order of actions and re-think of believes and behaviours concepts related to technology.
• Recognize dependencies among stakeholders and process flows.
• Stabilising the new solution and identify any development bottlenecks.

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Steps to Scope a digital transformation Project

What is a project scope statement?

A project scope statement is simply a written document of your project scope. Depending on the technology or the problem your project will solve, your scope statement should be a stand-alone document that can then be turned into a statement of work or requirements.

Start with the problem you are trying to solve

Before you can define your project scope, you first need to outline what problem are you trying to solve. Taking time to define a problem may help make it easier to find solutions. Start by writing down what are the issues you are experiencing at work. Then, work on putting the problem into words. Ask “why” to get to the heart of the problem. Asking “why” a good way is to dive deeper into the problem. Keep asking “why” until you can’t think of anything else to say about the problem. Or you could identify what you already know about the problem. Write down as much as you know about the problem. For example: we don’t know how many assets are on the portfolio therefore we can budget properly for repairs, or we don’t know what the condition of our assets is and can’t make long term decisions how to best deal with them. Figure out what other information you need. After you list what you know or why it is happening think about what more you do not know. This is crucial for developing a comprehensive definition of the problem and for working towards a solution in following modules.

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Draft your project scope statement

Compile all your findings into one place: your project scope statement. Your project scope statement should explain what problem you are trying to solve, what you will and will not do, and why and what outcomes and objectives do you wish to achieve. Please individually write a scope statement minimum of 500 words or use the questions below to develop your draft.

Your project scope statement could be a bullet-pointed list, a long paragraph. No matter how long it is, your project scope statement should outline what your project objectives, what problem are you trying to solve and indicate what your project will and will not cover. If you need help defining scope, start by answering these questions:

• What problem am I trying to solve?
• What are the pains that I experience now and what does it mean for the business?
• Why am I working on this project? What are mine and team goals?
• What is the business current position and the starting point?
• Where do I want to be in next 5 years and how do I see technology helping me to get there?

Please write your statement individually, it should be no longer them one A4 page font 12. If you encounter issues with writing the problem you are trying to solve, then please only answer the questions above.

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Course Manuals 1-6

Course Manual 1: What is the AS WAS, AS IS and TO BE operating model?

In readiness for the workshop please ensure that the whole team is familiar with the executive summary and preliminary reading. It is very important that everyone participates at the individual and team level, and that everyone collectively can talk about the difference in thinking about digital transformation in the past, present, and future.

These three timeframes will be the key to your organizational digital transformation journey that we will build upon. Therefore, in preparation for workshop 1 it would be important that you identify from the executive summary for each time frame (past, present and in the future) the key aspects of digital transformation. Please ensure that you can talk about each timeframe for approximately 5-10 minutes at the beginning the workshop. You are most welcome to use the following format or use the template provided:

1. AS WAS (PAST)

• Previous Business Operating Model
• Market regime at the time
• Technology available at that time

2. AS IS (PRESENT)

• Current Business Operating Model
• Market regime at the time
• Technology available

3. TO BE (FUTURE)

• Proposed Business Operating Model
• Emerging market regime
• Technology developments prediction

The aim of Course Module 1.0 is to ensure that as individuals and as a team you develop understanding of how to break down the complexities of digital transformation components and concepts and to establish an operating model assessment framework for your project. The assessment itself will be carried out in the next MODULE 2.0. MODULE 1.0 is dedicated to establishing concept, logical structures, that will enable you to assess and further develop the design of the future state and the transition from current position with the understanding of the past constraints that might affect your design and decision making.

The objective is to get you thinking about your project from the perspective of PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE states of organisational business model and how it is affected by the external market forces and progress in technology. It is essential to learn how to breakdown complexity into defined and therefore manageable building blocks, parts, and components and to map, analyse, describe, define them, to ensure that you can clearly identify and specify their characteristics and requirements.

Our objective here is to also work with you to assess the changes in characteristics and requirements that take place between each of these three timeframes. Being able to quickly and effectively breakdown complexity into manageable parts and components in short term will enable you to create a 12-month Road Map with it`s distinctive milestones and approval Theme Gateways. In the long run it will enable you to effectively develop detailed delivery programme in MODULE 7.0 where you would be required to capture your own programme timeframes and snapshots and be able to identify key characteristics of each one to capture in the planning the level of change and impact on the organisation.

The goal is to have clarity on were, are, and will be the key trends and dependencies shaping your project definition, design, and delivery of the future state and how they impact your decision making that will realise the benefits you desire for your project.

To ensure everyone is on the same page, please familiarise yourselves with the definitions below. There are key questions that are valuable and useful to ask yourselves as you are evaluating the Executive Summary and proceeding with the Course Manual 1.0 Exercise. The key information you are looking for should help you to identify the characteristics of each timeframe, for example a future state description could look like this:

• In this decade business operating models will be generating revenues from selling on data. Organisations that identify their unique data sources and the needs of others to utilise it would be able to generate profits from their knowledge and internal expertise.

• The net-zero objectives set out for this and following decades will shape the new market regime and require from everyone to reduce their carbon footprint and yet predicted de-urbanisation will require more effective transport for less people.

• Transport networks will need to monitor their vehicles and fleet and their whole life emissions to ensure they use the most efficient routes to get customers from A to B with least amount of CO2. IoT sensor technology can provide data feeds form vehicles that in combination with AI can optimise transport routes and increase efficiency of moving vehicles in the most optimum time using lease CO2.

Previous operating model (POM) describes the past activities of the company a past state of being. The AS WAS past tense position, describes and explains processes and organisational structure and human relationships that tells us how enterprises used to work. Previous operating models’ function is to show how the organisation used to add value and how much efforts it used to take in the past operationally to generate value and profits but also answers fundamental questions such as: “who was the customer? and “what did they used to value?” or “how was the value extracted in that process?”

Current operating model (COM) the AS IS current position, describes and explains processes and organisational structures and human relationships that tells us how enterprises work. Business operating models’ function is to show how the organisation adds value and how much effort it takes operationally to generate value and profits but also answers fundamental questions such as: “who is the customer? and “what does the customer value?” or “how are we extracting value in that process?”

Target operating model (TOM) or the TO BE future state describes a blueprint of a organisation’s business vision for the future that defines operating capacities, organisational structure and value chain of the core business capabilities, internal and external drivers, strategic, operational and tactical levers, organizational and functional structure, technology, and information resources of a company.

A Target operating models’ function is to show how the organisation will add value in the future but also answers fundamental questions such as: “who will be the customer? and “what will they value?” or “how will we extract value in that process?”

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Course Manual 1: Exercise

Please read this case study document in readiness for the workshop. Please consider how would you map out and identify specific characteristics of the three components of digital transformation. What you should be looking for to identify are the features or qualities and characteristics of each component that enable you to identify three key points in course of the digital transformation journey: past, present, and future. Then using the characteristics identified please clearly describe qualities of each state showing differences and characteristics that change over time. Please use imagination to explore qualities of these three states to potentially enhance the description and the story telling of each timeframe. Please use the templates provided. During the workshop we will do this exercise in a group to distil all aspects and components of each concept. In principle we are aiming to develop significant level of detail that is required to identify impacts of change between AS IS and TO BE business operating model solutions. Use templates Template M1.CM1-E1 below to break down the concepts and findings.

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Case Study

The power of data in digital transformation: Inland Revenue New Zealand. Over the last seven years, Inland Revenue New Zealand has undergone a NZ$1.3bn digital transformation programme that aimed to boost compliance, save taxpayers’ money, and improve customer experience by overhauling its data, systems, processes, and operating model.

In 2014 Inland Revenue New Zealand set out on the seven years journey to become an intelligence-led organisation. The NZ$1.3bn (US$900m) digital transformation was an “all-encompassing” programme that focused on addressing technology, changes in the markets and overhaul of the operating model simultaneously. It was decided from the outset that in this digital transformation approach, organisation will not focus only on the technology but first and foremost on how to improve processes, rethink the operating model to future proof the services, make better decisions, or devise processes or elements of system more effective.

The aim, ultimately, was to make it easier for people and businesses to meet their tax obligations, making revenue available to fund government work, and to ensure citizens receive the social payments they are entitled to enabling them, in turn, to contribute more fully to the economy.

To do this, Inland Revenue’s (IR) strategy was to put customers at the centre of the agency’s work, improve collaboration with other parts of the tax ecosystem through reimagining its business operating model and adopting digital technologies that enabled smarter use of data.

The team’s first step towards achieving its goals was to consider how to shape the narrative around intelligent data use in the future state. What was needed was to decide what it meant to be an intelligence-led organisation, how IR could make that operable, and how they were going shape data and analytics in line with the impact of change it would have on the organisation.

Procuring a new platform

At the heart of the change was the implementation plan of a data intelligence platform that could be quickly established for operability of the new technology within approximately 3 months. Central to all, the work that would follow was the procurement of a new platform to support IR ambition and vision for the future rather than becoming overly invested in technical management to start with. The agency placed high expectations around the platform delivering value early and iteratively. The tools themselves made the process of managing data, information and systems and building analytical outputs and visualisations “that bit easier”. Nonetheless the challenges of swapping old to new and aligning with other platforms have presented its challenges in terms of data sets granularity with the target data model requirements, development of data dictionaries and overall data migration exercise.

Embracing change of the operating model

The platform is the beating heart of the organisation, data, and information analytics work but to optimise the insights that could be derived from it, its people who had to adapt to meet the future state requirements and work in a completely different way. It is often a mentality that an analytics function exists to service demand requests. Arguably, in a digital services organisation, data analytics become part of the fabric and business operating model. A step change was required for the organisation to adapt at its pace to the wider future state design and how the data and the new services would be consumed once some of the business processes collapse during the adaptation.

This meant encouraging people to challenge previously accepted norms, re-think these concepts and what the data and information meant in the new future state. This required for many people to step out of their comfort zone into a more challenging set of conversations, as well as tasks.

This process of re-designing the operating mode gave many thought leaders and ambitious members of staff the opportunity to excel, learn new skills and be recognised for it. On the other hand, as is the norm with large change and new faces, there was resistance as the organisation encouraged the breaking down of siloes and standing up of teamwork and integrated approaches.

Communicating the change that needed to happen meant going back to basics. It was a case of recognising what was needed to build from an AS IS current way of doing things to the new set of foundations. IR tried to make the process of change as inclusive as possible so that the team felt empowered to help shape their future.

Nevertheless, some chose to leave the organisation to further their own ambitions. For the most part it was the right decision for them and their careers. The turnover certainly has made it very challenging to build the new status quo and cohesion. Given the transformation was wholesale across the core tax system too, the impact meant the team was tasked with managing the current work items, decommissioning the old, and improving or adding the new modules whilst front of house resources shifted.

COVID the catalyst

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted greater sharing of data between New Zealand government agencies, and it was a realisation that some of the things could not be done or would take much longer and therefore IR would not be able to support people in the short time when key support was needed to adapt to the new market regime.

One example was data sharing to facilitate people receiving government support packages during the crisis within hours of applying. IR and the Ministry of Social Development worked at pace together to put in place the appropriate paperwork to view the relevant IR transactional data and verify the customer’s application. In turn the analytics team utilised the opportunity to build improvements in fraud detection as part of the new scheme.

A key success factor was IR’s transition to the modern technology to support delivery of services and analytical insights in a fast and responsive manner. Had the IR not been through that transition and got some of core tax products onto that new system, literally months before COVID hit, they wouldn’t have been able to do half of what was required during the pandemic. A robust data, information and systems management strategy was developed as part of the future state design to focus on how data is collected, held, shared, and distribute in a much more structured and systematic way.

Inland Revenue’s NZ data and analytics team has come a long way since it set out on the journey to reimagine how it will operate as part of the agency’s wider digital transformation. This work upfront to re-think the future state and identify need for the future laid the foundations of what it set out to do: enabled improvements in decision-making to improve compliance; contributed to improvements in the customer experience; and changed people’s perceptions of what the analytics and insights team do and how it can be utilised to meet business goals in the new operating model.

Benefits realisation

The team’s work is already paying dividends. IR has an annual cycle of interventions in place. This phased approach starts from activities promoting general awareness, followed by more targeted compliance activities including audit activity.

The cycle of interventions is designed to shift compliance by ensuring customers have the information needed as early as possible to ensure they can get it right from the start. With the power of the data intelligence platform, IR can bring together the data, tools, and analytics to better identify specific attributes and risks and apply the right intervention type to the customer’s circumstances at the right time and above that to make decisions that can be made that support a future focus state.

Through a combination of the platform capability with advanced analytics dashboards, which system architecture has been designed from the outset underpinned a strategic blueprint about customer behaviours and allowed to explore causations, correlations, and predictions of customer participation in the tax and social policy system.

Accelerating cross-government data sharing

Inland Revenue NZ has also made strides towards hitting one of the key goals of the overarching digital transformation investment – that of enabling other agencies to benefit from IR’s investments.

The organisation continues to explore opportunities that support other government organisations that could be as simple as sharing some of technical expertise and learning, to provisioning access to certain parts of the IR platform for alternate use. These are an ongoing part of cross-agency conversations to ensure the benefits realisation can be achieved.

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Course Manual 2: Identifying the context for your organization and the project. What is the difference between POM, COM, and TOM?

The objective of this Course Manual 2.0 is not only to prepare you for your organisational assessment but also to give you head space and time, to inspire the team in the design of the future state and technology solution. We will start developing it in MODULE 3.0. It is also to contextualise and place your thinking about the future state design in the context of the times we live in and future requirements. Understanding the differences in market demands, customers’ needs and how they affect operational delivery, technology selection, and how the business operating model would shape the outcomes of your future state solution.

Nowadays, there is a focus on technology that can create value for customers leveraging the personalised and customised customer data that can be collected via mobile technologies and therefore can generate revenue on a massive scale. Businesses are taking advantage of this data and information at scale to better tailor their operational delivery, products, communications, and interactions to fit market specific needs and expectations.

A business operating model that is technology driven, as a concept is the fundamental logic of a company that describes what benefits are provided to customers and partners and how the company extracts value in return for providing these services. A business operating model answers therefore the key questions of how the benefits provided to the customer flow back into the company in the form of revenue often by using technology. The created added value enables a differentiator from competitors, the consolidation of customer relationships, and the achievement of a competitive advantage. A business operating model often has different dimensions that fit together like a Rubik’s cube. These building blocks are connected by different data and information flows from different IT platforms that are like blood veins of any organisation. These dimensions often are driven by the markets regimes and customers’ needs and make it possible to achieve growth and imitation by competitors difficult. These external factors and understanding of the market need often are the direct shaper of the business operating model and technology application for a particular delivery solution.

Some of these external dimensions could be:

1. The external markets dimension and the new regime often are driven by legislation and government level strategy that in return shapes the customer needs.

2. The customer dimension contains the customer needs therefore creates customer segments, customer channels or customer relationships.

3. The customer benefit dimension includes products, services, and unique value proposition that distinguishes the organisation from the competition.

4. The revenue dimension includes the resources, skills, and processes and how efficiently are they delivered internally and with the partners supply chain and partner relationships.

5. The financial dimension includes the ROI and enables balancing the revenues and expenses that when well aligned in the business model mutually reinforce each other.

6. The technological dimension is the key driver to increased efficiency of business processes and improve the financial and revenue dimension. The implementation of technology however brings the change to organisation and can have a detrimental impact on the business if not designed into the future state and the Target Operating Model.

7. The people dimension is probably the most important aspect of any transformational level of change that responds to the new market regime. In that sense, aiming to reach new horizons to see how far the organisation can get with transforming business processes using new technology to adapt to the paradigm shift is a good indication of the journey ahead of you. Anything can happen, there can be unexpected things that might stop you from following a certain path, there will be bends and curves in the road that can present themselves at any time. On this journey as individuals and as a team you would need to make a commitment that makes everyone feel that they are growing and heading towards the objectives. Putting one foot on the front of the other is the most important part of any digital transformation journey. This dimension is not only dedicated to working as a team, but it also refers to other people you will interact with in this process, your key internal and external stakeholders, the supply chain and ultimately the customer. The key to this dimension is understanding human factors, storytelling, and clear communication.

8. The time dimension consists of activities and programme and a plan that are put in place to ensure all previous dimensions come together to deliver the ultimate future state solution that moves the organisation or an aspect of it forward.

9. The environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimension is also a key shaper of the organisational business model as it drives organisational investment into the portfolio, affects all phases of asset lifecycle, risk management and strategic decision making that impacts individual assets condition on operational and tactical levels.

The objective of this course manual is therefore to combine both storytelling and fact finding to describe the context of your organisation. We will therefore in the following exercise use PESTEL analysis to define the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE context for your organisation and therefore the project. With this context in mind, you will be able to start shaping your technology solution to the market needs in the context of PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE needs analysis. For example:

Past: Attitudes and expectations of people in the past would have been simpler since they did not have the same level of complex economic, social, or political problems. In the past the conditions of living were not as comfortable as they are today, people had to focus on making sure they were safe and secure as a priority. There were no bathrooms and running water in many houses, besides that many people could not afford household appliances like fridge, internet, TV, or vacuum cleaner because they were seen as luxury goods or were not even available. Past-oriented customers are therefore concerned with traditional values and face to face interactions and are used to more personal ways of doing things. They did not have the same beliefs systems and did not value the same things as we do today.

Present: A lot of people in the present have access to the internet and therefore have almost unlimited access to education, they are therefore more open, and free to express their opinions. They are more focused on what happens in the present time, are concerned with long term plans. Their life today is easier and more convenient than in the past, so they focus more on life experience than on keeping safe and secure. The use of mobile devices and technology generated a new type of human interactions. At present, people have access to many resources in real-time. They can achieve more much quicker, so the present-oriented person focuses on concrete factors in the immediate, sensory present (physical salience, sensory qualities, current social pressures) while ignoring or minimizing the decisions that exist only in an anticipated future context or a remembered past context.

Future: It is difficult to predict the future or to attempt to design it. Yet, companies like Siemens are one of these key players who do exactly that. Through their research and design initiatives the business identifies what possible scenarios and social changes are ahead of us. Using prototyping, modelling and demand analysis techniques they develop future scenarios and products and services on a small scale that are then tested in the market. Highly recommend reading by Ulrich Eberl, “Life in 2050, How do we invent the future today” would inspire you to imagine the future state of your project in the context of your organisation. Here is one of the possibilities:

It won’t be the same way as it is in science fiction films. In the year 2050 cars won’t be flying through the steel grey urban gigantic mega cities and nobody will be beaming astronauts to distant planets. Human brains won’t be connected to the other brains via radio or telepathy. Nonetheless 30 years from now the world will be completely different from the one we know today. The era of large-scale power plants fuelled by coal and nuclear energy will come to an end. Instead, there will be hundreds of thousands of small installations based on solar or wind energy or geothermal biomass or wave power plants providing both electricity and heat from renewable resources. Robots will replace humans in the most dangerous or low paid jobs such as miners, window cleaners, gardeners and support senior citizens. Thanks to microchips, blind people we learn to see again, and tiny sensors will check blood vessels in the body and search for cancer cells so that the doctors of 2050 can intervene promptly if there’s a risk of sickness. Many one hundred year old people will then be as fit as the seven years old of today.

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Course Manual Exercise 2.1 and 2.2: Identifying the context for your organisation and the project. What is the difference between OM and TOM?

We are at the beginning of a new era and in the new market regime. Our planet is at risk due to human extensive activities. The natural non-renewable resources are becoming scarce and they need to be shared among the growing human population. The transition to the renewable energy will take some time and requires significant investment. The global population in 2030 is expected to reach 7.6 billion, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new United Nations report.

With those constraints and opposing factors in mind Organisations need to solve problems of the future today and come up now with solutions for tomorrow. One of the best ways to predict the future is therefore to invent it based on the need of the next generations.

It is said, the past is the mother of the present and the grandmother of the future. The present is the child of the past and the mother of the future. The future is child of the present and a granddaughter of the past. These are the key three human factors and perspectives that you are going to evaluate in this Course Manual Exercise. The primary objective of this exercise is to map out using PESTEL analysis the context for your organisation from the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE perspective using format of the Template M1.CM2-E2.1.