デジタルトランスフォーメーションの潮流と経営戦略

抄録

This study examines digital transformation (DX) from the perspective of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in the printing industry. Although DX is promoted as a national policy and addressed by the industry, its definition, essence, methods, and effects are not widely understood. For SMEs, it is important to understand and deal with DX strategically. Therefore, this study conducted analyses of: (1) policies on DX, (2) DX efforts by -Japanese companies, and (3) digitalization efforts by small- and medium-sized printing companies to explore the essence of DX and consider management strategies that should be adopted. Owing to the advancement in digital disruption, the DX policy specifically expects companies to build business models with a competitive advantage by leveraging digital technology and essentially calls for a transformation to the organizational culture leading to innovation. Although the percentage of Japanese companies engaged in DX is estimated to be between 8%-16%, these companies are introducing IT tools and improving their business performance through business model building combined with human resource utilization and data analysis. We found that the digitalization of the printing companies is progressing in the following order: (1) management-related, (2) process-related, (3) product-related, and (4) interaction-related. Management-related and process-related digitization has produced good results, but product-related digitization has difficulty in monetizing, and interaction related digitalization which results in creating new value through two-way communication between inside and outside of the company is at the initial phase. It is estimated that only a few percent of printing companies have achieved DX. One of the reasons for this is that, like many Japanese companies, too much emphasis has been placed on rationalization investments from a profit-and-loss statement perspective. As a whole management strategy, it is desirable to have a business evaluation criteria including a non-financial capital perspective, and shift to the stanceaiming for building new business models, which leads to create innovation in the future.