With the digital age approaching quickly your company will definitely be in the need of a digital transformation, which will be inevitable with the users need to change their consumer experience.

1. The Digital
Age Brings
With It the
Need to
Restructure
By Suzzanne Uhland
Image courtesy of mike mozart at Flickr.com

2. Companies will need to stay up to date with the
digital era, but they will first need to determine if
there is a need for an update. There are clear signs
when your company should consider updating
their organization like when the industry is
changing, the effectiveness is reducing, constant
mistakes are more common, which usually goes
hand in hand with high turnover and low morale,
and finally this will all take its toll on the profit
margins. You can read more about these different
signs to recognize if it’s time to restructure on the
Suzzane Uhland’s SlideShare page. With the digital
age approaching quickly your company will
definitely be in the need of a digital transformation,
which will be inevitable with the users need to
change their consumer experience.

3. Changing your organization to adjust itself to the digital era
will take more than simply changing the user interface and
experience, it will need a modification in the company’s
CEO team so that the digital trend can be evident in their
experience and knowhow, especially since more and
more there is a merge between marketing and
communication. The gap between marketing and
communication is closing as social media becomes the
best way to communicate with stakeholders and clients. As
roles merge then you’ll see the need to begin by
restructuring your management team and creating roles
that truly represent the changes that occur in your
company. Additionally, products or services may have to
be modified as well as the digital age replaces traditional
business models. Let’s take a closer look at how your
company can recognize if it needs to restructure and how
to do so if it is necessary.

4. Recognize if it’s time to change
By recognizing if it’s time for your company to transition
into the digital era just at the right time, you’ll save
yourself from many of the triggers that could lead to a
loss in profit. Some were mentioned before, but at the
end of the day anything that affects your profit will be
something to consider when transitioning. One of the
first symptoms is going to be witnessed through your
employees’ actions and commitment to the company.
Their roles will need to be evaluated, as well as their
responsibilities and tasks so that they can be aligned to
the changes the organization needs to make in order to
transition. The digital era is coming to many different
segments of business and you have to learn to
recognize when your business should make the shift
because the traditional way of doing business is simply
not cutting it.

5. Some companies that found the need to restructure
Macy’s is one of the most traditional department
stores in the United States, and when they started to
notice that their business was declining due to a
change in culture they knew they had to do
something fast. They decided to close nearly 90 stores
of their 880 nationwide as a start to their new strategy
to doing business. Now, this is not without
consequences, this means that it has let go of
approximately 10.000 employees, to dedicate more
to their expansion in the digital business. In 2016, their
online sales have increased in double-digits on both
their sites macys.com and bloomingdales.com and
due to this they will continue to inject more and more
capital into mobile commerce, analytics, marketing
data and in-store pickup.

6. Their traffic in their stores has continued to reduce, so
this retailer, the same as many others, has chosen to
continue delving into the digital market for the sole
purpose of trying to compensate for their losses in
brick-and-mortar stores. Time Inc. is another example
of companies that are looking to find ways to
promote the use of digital tools that can help bring
new revenue to the organization.
What to consider when making the change
First of all, you need to consider all of the different
elements that will be part of the transition to the
digital age. You will need to start to acknowledge
how your relationships will change with regards to
your suppliers, intermediaries and customers.

7. Once you know that you are ready to begin making
changes in your organization be sure to consider the effect
that this will have on your procedures, communication and
relationship with all of the stakeholders in your organization.
One size does not fit all in this case, so you'll need to
analyze carefully what is the best way to bring technology
into your organization and how it will bring value to your
organization and its products and/or services. When
including technology you will most surely see many of the
benefits behind it like an improvement in communication,
enhancement of customer service, improvement of
knowledge-sharing, and a reduction of costs. At the same
time, you will be able to enter new markets and support
the natural globalization process in your industry. Your
organization could even create new products and services
that rely on technology and foster innovation, which will all
increase revenues because they cater to the modern
client.