At a recent ASNET Board (1) seminar on digitalization, Tete Mensa-Annan Director Microsoft Technology Center gave a great presentation on the four dimensions of digital transformation as they apply to most companies.

Digital transformation is according to Tete a continuous iterative process working on four dimensions: Empower your employees, Engage your customers, Optimize your operations and Transform your products.

If we think outside-in and start with “Engage your customers”, Tete said that “Real engagement is about understanding the behavior of your customers. Customers are exposed to a host of opportunities. This requires you to continuously stay relevant and drive customer value.”

How could an SMExO (Small Medium sized Exponetial Organization) apply ExO-Tools to engage customers?

Perhaps Exo-tools like MTP, Engagement, Algorithms and Interfaces may be applied when you want to engage your customers?

Massive Transformative Purpose 

An MTP is not a mission statement but rather an aspirational statement of what an organization hopes to accomplish. An effective MTP can attract customers and employees and help create a community around a company. It can also shift the focus of teams from a company’s internal politics to its external impact.

Why is an MTP important?

  • It enables coherent growth
  • Binds collective aspirations
  • Attracts top talents
  • Supports a cooperative culture
  • Enables agility and learning

Key questions to ask yourself:

  • Why does the organization exist?
  • What is the purpose of the organization?
  • What is the target of the organization?
  • Do kids and grandmas understand it?

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 Engagement is an externally oriented ExO-Tool which facilitates engagement from Community & Crowd. 

Networks, games competitions and positive feedback loops are all ways of engaging people. Engagement helps inject your company with new ideas, paving the way for innovation

Why is Engagement important?

  • Increases customer loyalty
  • Amplifies ideation
  • Converts crowd to community
  • Leverages marketing
  • Enables play and learning

Key questions you should ask yourself:

  • What contests/promotions can be created to increase customer acquisition?
  • How can we leverage gamification to improve our offerings?
  • How can we make people use our offering every day

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Algorithms are externally oriented ExO-Tools that shift your data analysis from being descriptive to being prescriptive. 

Algorithms allow companies to process and make sense out of vast amounts of data.  Algorithms are already being used but the impending explosion of data from billions of sensors that will soon be deployed in physical products makes algorithms a critical future component of every business

Why are Algorithms important?

  • Allows fully scalable products & services
  • Leverages connected devices and sensors
  • Lower error rate and stabilizes growth
  • Easily updated

Key questions to ask yourself:

  • Why are we developing algorithms?
  • Which labor/activity/task can we automate?
  • Which algorithm/systems/platforms are we going to use to process/leverage the information we have?

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Interfaces are Exo-Tools that facilitate core-edge integration of your Community & Crowd with your SME-organization.

Interfaces are filtering and matching processes the enable ExOs to bridge from SCALE externalities to IDEAS control frameworks.  They may begin as manual processes by eventually become self-provisioning platforms that enable ExOs to scale.

Why are Interfaces important?

  • Filter external abundance into internal value
  • Bridge between external growth drivers and internal stabilizing factors
  • Automation allows scalability

Key questions you should ask yourself:

  • Can we build an Application Programme Interface (API) that connect our systems with the community?
  • Can we create a marketplace to drive growth?
  • What can we do to provide our offerings in a self-service mode?

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(1) ASNET Board is supporting Danish SMEs in establishing an external board of directors and in this way strengthen the companies management. ASNET Board is a network organisation consisting of experienced managers working professional in company boards