Why Do Firms Still Fail at Global Digital Transformation?

If your organization is in the process of implementing a digital transformation initiative – whether limited to the global customer journey or expanded to reboot your entire business model – you know that it’s difficult and even overwhelming at times. CSA Research conducted C-level executive interviews at buy-side organizations and ran a survey earlier this year to pinpoint the specific reasons why companies still struggle with global digital transformation. We share three of them below.

• Change management stumbles on corporate culture. Digital transformation is no different than any other type of corporate makeover as it touches on all aspects of business enterprise-wide. It requires support at the top, behavioral change at all levels, and ongoing attention. Interviewees and survey respondents say roadblocks created by corporate culture slow down success if they’re not addressed appropriately. For example, the inability to adapt fast enough as the organization implements Agile marketing techniques or employees dragging their feet in using new data analysis tools even though they have received training hampers success.


• Business functions aren’t always clear on what requires renovation. Interviewees agree that enhancing digital experiences for their clients is often just the tip of the iceberg. Creating new user interface (UI) or customer apps must be accompanied by updating – or even radically transforming – underlying processes and organizational structures. Too few C-level executives are savvy enough be able to visualize how artificial intelligence (AI) can help them achieve their goals – even for their home market. As a result, chief information and chief digital officers (CIOs and CDOs) often neglect to exploit AI to mine the words, images, and audio-visual material in local languages that would allow their firms to reap the total value of the content they create.


• Digital transformation teams don’t always fully grasp the multilingual content journey.Global customer experience (CX) involves so much more than translation – it’s about tightly integrating the appropriate multilingual content streams from across all silos. Firms must analyze each step of a prospect’s or customer’s engagement with the various teams within their organization. Then they have to determine what content is appropriate for local audiences and then produce, deliver, market, and maintain it. This must all happen as AI and machine learning put new burdens on content and application developers at the same time that these newer technologies enable smarter and more accessible content.

The executives whom we interviewed believe strongly that supporting international markets is essential for achieving major growth targets over the next few years. However, without globalized business processes in place across the enterprise – not just for actions involving the localization team – it will be difficult to hit these local market revenue targets on time, if at all. That means that localization teams must fight for their rightful place in digital transformation planning and design forums to ensure that strategies and programs embrace international and multicultural audiences. Watch this space for action plans for localization teams and their LSP partners to enable them to be successful at global digital transformation.