Welcome to the MIT CISR Research Briefing series. We publish monthly research briefings to share findings from our research.

MIT CISR provides academic research insights for business technology leaders. Our global research team studies high performing, complex companies, investigating topics related to digital transformation. More than seventy-five firms sponsor our work and participate in our consortium. 

To learn more and access more free research, visit our website at https://cisr.mit.edu.

MIT CISR Research Briefing Series—Audio Edition

Ina Sebastian reads MIT CISR's March 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0301_ValueinDigitalBusiness_SebastianWeillWoerner.

Abstract: Companies can create new types of value in the digital era. In our research, we identified three types of value from digital business: value from operations, value from customers, and value from ecosystems. All three types of value were significant predictors of company performance, although their relative impacts varied. In this briefing, we describe the three types of value and show how they are captured in company performance. We then illustrate how two companies, Kaiser Permanente and Maersk, designed digital initiatives to create value from ecosystems—a new type of value for many large, traditional companies.

Three Types of Value Drive Performance in Digital Business

Barb Wixom reads MIT CISR's April 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Leslie Owens and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0401_DataHeartsMinds_WixomOwensBeath.

Abstract: Companies today are starting to walk the talk when it comes to treating data like a strategic firm asset—they are hiring chief data officers, and rolling out data literacy programs. This briefing describes what else is required for employees to believe that data can create value in new ways, that it can do so over and over and over again, and that everyone in the company can play a role. MIT CISR research indicates that leaders should build capabilities, optimize data monetization initiatives, and motivate pervasive data use, all of which can and should be measured.

Data Is Everybody’s Business

Barb Wixom reads MIT CISR's May 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Gabriele Piccoli. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0501_DataLiquidity_WixomPiccoli.

This briefing introduces the concept of data liquidity, defined as the ease of data asset reuse and recombination. While data is inherently reusable and recombinable, an organization must activate these characteristics by creating strategic data assets and building out its data monetization capabilities. As the company’s strategic data assets become more highly liquid and their number grows, data is made increasingly available for conversion to value, and the company’s data monetization accelerates. Fidelity is an excellent example of a company that is actively creating highly liquid strategic data assets for use enterprise wide.

Build Data Liquidity to Accelerate Data Monetization

Dorothy Leidner reads MIT CISR's June 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Olgerta Tona, Barb Wixom, and Ida Someh. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0601_DignityDataUse_TonaLeidnerWixomSomeh.

Make Dignity Core to Employee Data Use

Nick van der Meulen reads MIT CISR's July 2021 research briefing, which he co-authored with Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0701_DecisionRightsAcceleration_MeulenBeath

Decision Rights for Organizational Acceleration

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's August 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Leslie Owens and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0901_FourPrinciples_FonstadSalonen.

Build Eight Dynamic Capabilities for Digital Business Model Change

Nils Fonstad reads MIT CISR's September 2021 research briefing, which he co-authored with Jukka Salonen. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0801_DynamicCapabilities_WoernerOwensBeath.

Four Principles for Realizing Strategy with Innovation

Ina Sebastian reads MIT CISR's October 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Nils Fonstad. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_1001_ModularProducerValue_SebastianFonstad.

Unlocking Value as a Modular Producer: Three Key Mechanisms

Joaquin Rodriguez reads MIT CISR's November 2021 research briefing, which he co-authored with Gabriele Piccoli and Barbara Wixom. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_1101_DigitalDataAssets_RodriguezPiccoliWixom.

Abstract: Data liquidity, the ease of data asset reuse and recombination accelerates the pursuit of new data monetization opportunities. This briefing introduces the concept of digital data asset, or DDA, as a pathway to building high data liquidity. A DDA is defined as a digital resource with three structural elements: value, modularity, and a programmatic interface. The unique structure of DDAs enables reuse and recombination of an organization’s data assets at an unprecedented scale. Open Banking efforts at Santander UK provide an excellent example of how data assets can be configured as DDAs and exposed to third parties at scale.

Increase Data Liquidity by Building Digital Data Assets

Barb Wixom reads MIT CISR's December 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Ida Someh and Robert Gregory. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_1201_ScalingAI_WixomSomehGregory.

Abstract: Since 2019, MIT CISR has investigated fifty-two AI solutions to learn about AI scaling: growing the value created by both a core trained model and recontextualized adaptations of the model. This research has identified that scaling up happens when an AI solution moves from core model development to pilot to production, with increasing value creation. Further, scaling out happens when an AI model is trained using new data and new expertise, which are required for a new related application. This briefing describes both AI scaling dimensions within the context of an AI project journey at Pegasystems.

Scaling AI to Generate Better and Different Outcomes

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's January 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Weill. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0101_Dashboarding_WeillWoerner.

Abstract: In a digital business transformation, knowing where you are is as important as knowing where you want to go. To know where you are requires two important types of measures: those that indicate transformation success, such as progress and value creation; and those that track effectiveness at building capabilities future-ready companies must have to thrive in the digital era. The best tool we have seen companies use to know where they are is real-time dashboarding. In this briefing we share MIT CISR research on dashboarding, illustrating our findings using a case study from Schneider Electric.

Dashboarding Pays Off

Nick van der Meulen reads MIT CISR's February 2022 research briefing, which he co-authored with John Mooney and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0201_Multicapping_VanderMeulenMooneyBeath.

Abstract: Creating a distinct digital unit or organization can help a company to recruit talent with specialized digital skills. Free from corporate legacy and with the decision rights to operate as a startup, such digital entities can disrupt the status quo and develop digital offerings. But to successfully scale these offerings, the digital entity and the parent company need to be strategically, operationally, and technologically aligned. This briefing describes how Toyota Motor North America uses a management practice called multi-capping to digitally disrupt itself while maintaining organizational alignment.

Digital Disruption Without Organizational Upheaval

Nils Fonstad reads MIT CISR's March 2022 research briefing, which he co-authored with Martin Mocker. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0301_ThreeLearningImperatives_FonstadMocker.

Abstract: To generate greater value faster from digital innovation, many companies are increasing how much they learn from their own innovation efforts. However, in many companies, these changes are limited to one stakeholder group: innovation teams. Two other stakeholder groups, senior executives and experts from corporate functions, also need to learn from digital innovation initiatives. We have defined three learning imperatives that address a company’s needs to learn continually about building (1) a successful innovation, (2) a portfolio of initiatives that realizes strategic objectives faster, and (3) shared resources that propel multiple initiatives. All three imperatives involve collecting data regularly from digital innovation initiatives. In this research briefing we outline the three learning imperatives and provide examples of how companies are pursuing them to achieve strategic objectives more effectively and efficiently.

Three Imperatives to Learn from Your Digital Innovation Initiatives

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's April 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Weill and Andrea Patricia Diaz Baquero. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0401_MultiplePathways_WoernerWeillDiazBaquero.

Abstract: In our research, executives we talked with at many large companies noted that a pathway well-suited to one business unit may not work as well for another. In such cases, it makes sense for a company to progress on multiple pathways. There’s a big caveat, though: a company pursuing multiple pathways must coordinate across them or risk increasing complexity and fragmentation, with progress slowing down measurably. In this briefing, we share our research on companies pursuing multiple pathways, and describe the experiences of commercial bank Bancolombia as it progresses on and coordinates across multiple pathways.

Coordinating Multiple Pathways for Transformation Progress

Ina Sebastian reads MIT CISR's May 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Jody Hoffer Gittell. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0501_RelationalEcosystems_SebastianGittell.

Abstract: Increasingly, companies partner across industries and sectors in new ways to solve complex challenges with innovative digital solutions. But the leaders of such ecosystem collaborations face two coordination challenges: uncertainty and interdependence. In this research briefing, we describe three managerial levers that can help ecosystem leaders coordinate ecosystem collaborations effectively by strengthening relationships and communication. We then describe the industry collaboration to create the New Payments Platform (NPP) in Australia and illustrate each lever using examples from the case.

Build Relational Ecosystems to Coordinate Amidst Uncertainty

Barb Wixom reads MIT CISR's June 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Ida Someh and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0601_AdvancedAICapabilities_WixomSomehBeath.

Abstract: MIT CISR research identified that advanced levels of five data monetization capabilities –data science, data management, data platform, customer understanding, and acceptable data use—enable organizations to become AI-powered. In this briefing, we use a case study about AI at Microsoft to illustrate that organizations build advanced data monetization capabilities via the adoption of increasingly advanced practices. Further, we encourage leaders to take an enterprise capability perspective when capability building so that, over time, their AI projects become faster and cheaper to execute.

Building Advanced Data Monetization Capabilities for the AI-Powered Organization

Ida Someh reads MIT CISR's July 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Barb Wixom and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0701_AIX_SomehWixomBeath.

Abstract: Four characteristics of AI—unproven value, model opacity, model drift, and mindless application—make it challenging to get stakeholders to trust AI solutions. As a result, organizations that strive to become AI-powered adopt practices to produce AI solutions that are trustworthy. Over time, these practices build AI Explanation (AIX) capability: an emerging enterprise capability that arises from practices AI teams use to build stakeholder confidence in AI solutions. In this briefing, we first describe AIX capability and four sets of practices used to build it. We then draw on a case study about the AI journey of Microsoft to illustrate examples of the practices that company has leveraged.

Building AI Explanation Capability for the AI-Powered Organization

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's August 2022 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Reynolds, Michael Harte, and Peter Weill. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2022_0801_ExplainingReplatforming_WoernerReynoldsHarteWeill.

Abstract: Enterprises today often replatform as part of their efforts to become Future Ready because the state of their existing systems, data, and processes hinders the organization’s ability to compete in the digital economy. In replatforming, an enterprise transitions legacy applications to cloud platforms and digitizes key components and capabilities. It’s critical that the enterprise’s board and top management team embrace replatforming for the effort to be successful; therefore, effectively explaining replatforming to these stakeholders is a skill that technology leaders, and eventually all leaders, must develop. This briefing describes the opportunities and risks of replatforming approaches and illustrates each approach graphically with a platform map.

Replatforming: Securing Board and Top Management Team Buy-In

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's January 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Weill and Andrea Patricia Diaz Baquero. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0101_HelloDomains_WeillWoernerDiaz.

Abstract: For decades, companies have thought of themselves as operating in industries such as banking, retail, and energy. In contrast, most customers seek to fulfill specific needs—business customers might aim to manage their energy consumption, and consumers might navigate getting an education. We call these different customer problems and opportunities domains. Digital technologies, and new business models such as ecosystems, provide an opportunity to rethink how to solve your customers’ needs in each of their important domains. In this briefing, we share our first efforts at identifying the key domains, scope the size of the opportunity, and provide examples.

Hello Domains, Goodbye Industries

Stephanie Woerner reads MIT CISR's February 2021 research briefing, which she co-authored with Peter Weill. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2021_0201_PathwaysUpdate_WoernerWeill.

Abstract: In 2017 we first observed how almost every big old company was on a digital transformation journey, many without a playbook. We described the goal of business transformation—to become Future Ready—and four pathways we identified in our research that companies can follow to outperform their industry. In understanding how companies successfully get to Future Ready, we pinpointed four significant, disruptive changes common to all of the pathways, which we call “explosions.” In this briefing we update the research and highlight what we have learned over the last four years.

Update on the Four Pathways to Future Ready

A research center at the MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT CISR helps executives meet the challenge of leading dynamic, global, and information-intensive organizations.