Interrelation of Digitalization and Digital Transformation in a Maritime Company

Abstract

Many organizations must undergo digitalization and digital transformation (DT) simultaneously; in itself, either is daunting. For 15 months, we followed the ongoing digitalization and DT activities at a maritime company with over 3700 employees through a qualitative analysis of 20 interviews, a workshop, and several documents. We see how digitalization and DT are inherently interrelated; DT and digitalization have common enablers through technology such as AI, and common processes in continuous software development. They also share many challenges, including lack of resources and internal resistance against change. Through acquiring data in the digitalization of core services, companies can undergo DT by utilizing data in new and profound ways to build services with new value propositions. In conclusion, digitalization and DT are necessary for incumbent companies and require careful balancing of resources, competence, and technology.