Barriers to Digital Transformation The Case of Moroccan Companies
Main Article Content
Keywords
Digital transformation, Barriers, Digital investment, Morocco
Abstract
Digital transformation, combining advanced technologies and innovative processes, represents a major revolution in the managerial landscape of companies, likely to stimulate growth and efficiency. However, the obstacles to this transformation are numerous and interrelated. The objective of this article is to shed light on the nature of these obstacles in the Moroccan context. Based on a survey of 312 Moroccan companies and 74 interviews, this study made it possible to determine the major obstacles to digital transformation. The major barriers to digital transformation are essentially the lack of internal resources and skills, resistance to change and lack of leadership, insufficient return on investment, the strategic and procedural complexity of the project, security problems, and the inconsistency of the transformation project to be carried out. These results confirm those obtained by other studies under other skies, thus making it possible to conclude that the nature of the obstacles to digital transformation remains practically the same in the different countries covered by similar research, but only the degree of their prevalence changes. Having an idea of the significant barriers will help managers increase their digital and organizational performance.
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References
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Francis, B. B., Hasan, I., Küllü, A. M., & Zhou, M. (2018). Should banks diversify or focus? Know thyself: The role of abilities. Economic Systems, 42(1), 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2017.12.001
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Keyes, C. L. M. (2000). Subjective Change and Its Consequences for Emotional Well-Being. Motivation and Emotion, 24(2), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005659114155
Kohnke, O. (2017). It’s Not Just About Technology: The People Side of Digitization. In G. Oswald & M. Kleinemeier (Eds.), Shaping the Digital Enterprise (pp. 69–91). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40967-2_3
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Mahboub, H., & Sadok, H. (2023). Implementing enterprise digital transformation: A contribution to conceptual framework design. Nankai Business Review International, 14(1), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1108/NBRI-06-2022-0067
Nwankpa, J. K., & Merhout, J. W. (2020). Exploring the Effect of Digital Investment on IT Innovation. Sustainability, 12(18), 7374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187374
Post, J. E., & Altma, B. W. (1994). Managing the Environmental Change Process: Barriers and Opportunities. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(4), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534819410061388
Quazi, H. A. (1999). Implementation of an environmental management system: The experience of companies operating in Singapore. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 99(7), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635579910262526
Richardson, G. R. A., & Lynes, J. K. (2007). Institutional motivations and barriers to the construction of green buildings on campus: A case study of the University of Waterloo, Ontario. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(3), 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676370710817183
Sadok, H. (2021). How can inclusive growth be enabled from financial technology. International Journal of Business Performance Management, 22(2/3), 159. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBPM.2021.116410
Sadok, H. (2023). Fight Against Corruption Through Technology: The Case of Morocco. In A. Rafay (Ed.), Advances in Finance, Accounting, and Economics (pp. 302–316). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5007-9.ch013
Shairullizan KamalulAriffin, N., Nabiha Abdul Khalid, S., & Abdul Wahid, N. (2013). The barriers to the adoption of environmental management practices in the hotel industry: A study of Malaysian hotels. Business Strategy Series, 14(4), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1108/BSS-06-2012-0028
Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513
Vachon, S., & Klassen, R. D. (2006). Extending green practices across the supply chain: The impact of upstream and downstream integration. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 26(7), 795–821. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570610672248
Van der Bel, M. (2018). Digital culture – your competitive edge. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-culture-your-competitive-edge-michel-van-der-be
WEF. (2017). Digital Transformation—Reports—World Economic Forum. https://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/unlocking-digital-value-to-society-building-a-digital-future-to-serve-us-all/
Weill, P., & Woerner, S. L. (2018). Is Your Company Ready for a Digital Future? MIT Sloan Management Review, 59(2), 21–26.
Williams, N. S. G., Rayner, J. P., & Raynor, K. J. (2010). Green roofs for a wide brown land: Opportunities and barriers for rooftop greening in Australia. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 9(3), 245–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2010.01.005
WIPRO Digital. (2017). New Survey Highlights Leadership Crisis in Digital Transformation. https://wiprodigital.com/news/new-survey-highlights-leadership-crisis-digital-transformation/
Zhang, X., Platten, A., & Shen, L. (2011). Green property development practice in China: Costs and barriers. Building and Environment, 46(11), 2153–2160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.04.031
Adarov, A., Klenert, D., Marschinski, R., & Stehrer, R. (2022). Productivity drivers: Empirical evidence on the role of digital and intangible capital, FDI and integration. Applied Economics, 54(48), 5515–5531. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2022.2047598
Benkhayat, A., Manouar, A. E., & Sadok, H. (2015). Firm business strategy and IT strategy alignment: A proposal of a new model. 2015 Xth International Scientific and Technical Conference ‘Computer Sciences and Information Technologies’ (CSIT), 172–178. https://doi.org/10.1109/STC-CSIT.2015.7325460
Berman, R. (2019). Business Apocalypse: Fifty-two Percent of Fortune 500 Companies from the Year 2000 Are Extinct. Available at https://ryanberman.com/glossary/business-apocalypse/#
Bozkus, K. (2023). Organizational Culture Change and Technology: Navigating the Digital Transformation. In Sarfraz, M., & Shah, W. U. H. (Eds), Organizational Culture – Cultural Change and Technology, Chapter 1. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112903
Chan, E. S. W. (2008). Barriers to EMS in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(2), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2007.07.011
Chan, E. S. W., Okumus, F., & Chan, W. (2018). Barriers to Environmental Technology Adoption in Hotels. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 42(5), 829–852. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348015614959
Christensen, C. M. (1997). The innovator’s dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business School Press.
Coghlan, D. (1993). A Person‐centred Approach to Dealing with Resistance to Change. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 14(4), 10–14. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437739310039433
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Sixth edition). SAGE.
De Smet, A., & Gagnon, C. (2018). Organizing for the age of urgency. McKinsey.
De Vaus, D. A. (2014). Surveys in social research (Sixth edition). Routledge.
Diener, F., & Špaček, M. (2021). Digital Transformation in Banking: A Managerial Perspective on Barriers to Change. Sustainability, 13(4), 2032. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042032
Ebert, C., & Duarte, C. H. C. (2018). Digital Transformation. IEEE Software, 35(4), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2018.2801537
El Alami, A., Sadok, H., & Elhaoud, N. (2015). Cloud computing & the organizational performance different approach of assessment. 2015 International Conference on Cloud Technologies and Applications (CloudTech), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/CloudTech.2015.7337007
European Investment Bank. (2022). Digitalisation in Europe 2021-2022: Evidence from the EIB Investment Survey. EIB.
Foerster-Metz, U. S., Marquardt, K., Golowko, N., Kompalla, A., & Hell, C. (2018). Digital Transformation and its Implications on Organizational Behavior. Journal of EU Research in Business, 2018, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.5171/2018.340873
Fowler, F. J. (2014). Survey Research Methods. SAGE Publications.
Francis, B. B., Hasan, I., Küllü, A. M., & Zhou, M. (2018). Should banks diversify or focus? Know thyself: The role of abilities. Economic Systems, 42(1), 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2017.12.001
Greiner, M. A., & Franza, R. M. (2003). Barriers and Bridges for Successful Environmental Technology Transfer. Journal Of Technology Transfer, 28(2), 167–177.
Gupta, S. (2018). Organizational barriers to digital transformation. Available at https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1218220/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Hillary, R. (2004). Environmental management systems and the smaller enterprise. Journal of Cleaner Production, 12(6), 561–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2003.08.006
Hon, W. K., & Millard, C. (2018). Banking in the cloud: Part 1 – banks’ use of cloud services. Computer Law & Security Review, 34(1), 4–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2017.11.005
Hughes, J. (2017). What a digital organisation looks like. Doteveryone. https://medium.com/doteveryone/what-a-digital-organisation-looks-like-82426a210ab8
Kane, G. C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., Kiron, D., & Buckley, N. (2015). Strategy, Not Technology, Drives Digital Transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review Deloitte University Press, 27, 1–29. Available at https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/strategy-not-technology-drives-digital-transformation.html
Kemp, R., Schot, J., & Hoogma, R. (1998). Regime shifts to sustainability through processes of niche formation: The approach of strategic niche management. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 10(2), 175–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537329808524310
Keyes, C. L. M. (2000). Subjective Change and Its Consequences for Emotional Well-Being. Motivation and Emotion, 24(2), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005659114155
Kohnke, O. (2017). It’s Not Just About Technology: The People Side of Digitization. In G. Oswald & M. Kleinemeier (Eds.), Shaping the Digital Enterprise (pp. 69–91). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40967-2_3
Mahboub, H., & Sadok, H. (2022). Towards a Better Digital Transformation: Learning from the Experience of a Digital Transformation Project. In Digital Economy. Emerging Technologies and Business Innovation (Vol. 461, pp. 203–214). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17037-9_15
Mahboub, H., & Sadok, H. (2023). Implementing enterprise digital transformation: A contribution to conceptual framework design. Nankai Business Review International, 14(1), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1108/NBRI-06-2022-0067
Nwankpa, J. K., & Merhout, J. W. (2020). Exploring the Effect of Digital Investment on IT Innovation. Sustainability, 12(18), 7374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187374
Post, J. E., & Altma, B. W. (1994). Managing the Environmental Change Process: Barriers and Opportunities. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(4), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534819410061388
Quazi, H. A. (1999). Implementation of an environmental management system: The experience of companies operating in Singapore. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 99(7), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635579910262526
Richardson, G. R. A., & Lynes, J. K. (2007). Institutional motivations and barriers to the construction of green buildings on campus: A case study of the University of Waterloo, Ontario. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(3), 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676370710817183
Sadok, H. (2021). How can inclusive growth be enabled from financial technology. International Journal of Business Performance Management, 22(2/3), 159. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBPM.2021.116410
Sadok, H. (2023). Fight Against Corruption Through Technology: The Case of Morocco. In A. Rafay (Ed.), Advances in Finance, Accounting, and Economics (pp. 302–316). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5007-9.ch013
Shairullizan KamalulAriffin, N., Nabiha Abdul Khalid, S., & Abdul Wahid, N. (2013). The barriers to the adoption of environmental management practices in the hotel industry: A study of Malaysian hotels. Business Strategy Series, 14(4), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1108/BSS-06-2012-0028
Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513
Vachon, S., & Klassen, R. D. (2006). Extending green practices across the supply chain: The impact of upstream and downstream integration. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 26(7), 795–821. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570610672248
Van der Bel, M. (2018). Digital culture – your competitive edge. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-culture-your-competitive-edge-michel-van-der-be
WEF. (2017). Digital Transformation—Reports—World Economic Forum. https://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/unlocking-digital-value-to-society-building-a-digital-future-to-serve-us-all/
Weill, P., & Woerner, S. L. (2018). Is Your Company Ready for a Digital Future? MIT Sloan Management Review, 59(2), 21–26.
Williams, N. S. G., Rayner, J. P., & Raynor, K. J. (2010). Green roofs for a wide brown land: Opportunities and barriers for rooftop greening in Australia. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 9(3), 245–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2010.01.005
WIPRO Digital. (2017). New Survey Highlights Leadership Crisis in Digital Transformation. https://wiprodigital.com/news/new-survey-highlights-leadership-crisis-digital-transformation/
Zhang, X., Platten, A., & Shen, L. (2011). Green property development practice in China: Costs and barriers. Building and Environment, 46(11), 2153–2160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.04.031
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Published
Mar 27, 2024
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Mahboub, H., & Sadok, H. (2024). Barriers to Digital Transformation: The Case of Moroccan Companies. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 12(1), 261–277. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v12n1.814
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Special Issue: Emerging Technologies and Innovation for Digital Economy and Transformation
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