The new market demands promote the adoption of some skills in the leaders of the organizations, the implementation of the technology constitutes a fundamental part in the business model that they must guide. Regardless of its size, the sector to which it belongs or the public to which its offer is directed, any company finds in its implementation a fundamental resource to carry out activities and improve its operation.
Digital transformation is not only about innovations, but about how technology is adopted and used by the organization’s leadership for the benefit of companies. The resulting changes must be accompanied by adjustments in work flow, operability, support, communication and the vision of the business model.
In this context, the skills that a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) must have in an organization are precisely those that allow promoting business transformations that are reflected in improvements in functions, processes, activities, assets and models that are interconnected. The transformation is part of the great challenge in managing the change that they lead and their ability to carry it out internally, as it did outside, is essential.
The impact is not only on industry structures and strategic positioning, but affects all levels of the organization. Business leaders must guarantee the actions that lead to implement productivity improvements and thus obtain a significant competitive advantage in terms of customer service,
The technological skills that a CEO requires to make his management effective in an organization are those that stimulate change, transformation and optimization of processes and that are reflected in an improvement in the quality of the product or service, and in a higher margin between expenses, costs and profits.
Elements such as facing internal and external challenges; ability to respond to changes, multitasking, continuous learning, mentoring and the development of human talent, are areas where that corporate leadership can be projected in a clear benefit for the result of the company if the use of the technology.
The pandemic without exception left a clear legacy for companies and their leaders, it is not a choice to be part of the digital transformation, but its implementation is part of the strategic business plan. Thinking about making timid decisions or simply reactive to the needs of connection, use of machinery, equipment, storage and protection of information is to give up a leading place in the sector.
Latin America and its technological debt in organizations
The report Data and Facts on Digital Transformation, presented by ECLAC, highlighted that as a consequence of the mobility restrictions resulting from the pandemic, many companies increased their online presence to continue providing services and offering products. The Internet became an indispensable tool to mitigate the effects of the crisis. During this period, there was a significant increase in the number of business websites in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, compared to the previous year.
However, the largest gaps in the adoption of digital technologies in companies in the region are in activities directly linked to the production process. One of its greatest challenges is related to the incorporation of technologies for the operation.
The challenges that organizations must be committed to overcoming from the head are not few, so that companies and especially in ventures bet on technology as a decisive tool for their development. In Latin America, according to ECLAC, less than 40% of the population has basic computer skills, such as copying a file or sending an email with a file.
For intermediate activities such as the use of basic arithmetic formula in a spreadsheet; creating electronic presentations with presentation software; and the transfer of files between computers and / or devices, these proportions are less than 30%. In terms of more advanced computer skills such as connecting and installing new devices and finding, downloading and installing software, less than 25% of the population has this knowledge.
From the management of a company, the knowledge and application of technological skills are a transversal resource that must be applied to the entire operation. According to the activity and the sector to which they belong, their expertise should be greater; However, more than a scholar in the field, what you need is to promote the use of new resources for the benefit of the organization, as we saw with companies that were ahead of their time: Ford, Nestle, Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon or Netflix, among other examples.