Why Digital Transformation is More Than a Leap of Faith: A Case Study

You know that digital transformation builds corporate success when a prominent children’s toy manufacturer renowned for hands-on play invests heavily in a digital future. At first glance, going digital seems the opposite of the company’s draw. But that’s exactly what the LEGO Group did. While their digital transformation strategies have taken a few years to take off, the rebranded success they have enjoyed since launching their initiative has been monumental.

An MIT case study of LEGO’s transformation noted this was more of an evolution than a revolution. The company had gone through an earlier transformation, but as recently as 2016, it had not yet evolved into a digital-first enterprise. While undergoing the complete transformation, they added digital products and developed multichannel relationships with consumers.  

Other companies can continue their legacy products and services too, but they will benefit from a digitally enabled brand that provides new ways to design, promote, and sell products – while improving customer experience. Digital transformation also increases employee engagement and productivity, improves employer flexibility, and enhances operational management.

Digital transformation benefits companies with these positives through optimizing the business’s operating model from the ground up. Many aspects of an organization improve as communication, collaboration, and tools evolve. For example, when management can track inventory efficiently and control orders reliably, the company builds its competitive advantage.

Workplace flexibility brought by digital transformation includes online collaboration allows many businesses to experience greater resiliency in the face of global socioeconomic challenges like the pandemic.  

After digital transformation, companies most often see the upgrades as a wise investment. For instance, pre-transformation, companies often spend too much to maintain outdated systems. After integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, they can organize routine operations to new levels of efficiency. Aligning accounting, procurement, project management, risk management, and supply chain operations in a modern system builds efficiency that has improved or even saved businesses.

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