Leading with a Digital Strategy

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Leading with a Digital Strategy

Name: Leading with a Digital Strategy
Rating: 4.693251533742331 (163 reviews)

This course is part of Advanced Digital Transformation Specialization

Instructor: Pankaj Setia

22,590 already enrolled

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5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

163 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

163 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

What you'll learn

Digital Transformation Fundamentals: Learn the core concepts driving successful digital transformations across modern organizations
Purpose-Driven Change: Discover how a clear instrumental purpose catalyzes successful digital initiatives
Strategic Application: Learn to use advanced digital technologies strategically for innovation and competitive advantage
Advanced Business Strategy: How to systematically harness the power of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence?

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

13 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Advanced Digital Transformation Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 5 modules in this course

To lead and strategize for the future now requires understanding digital technologies. Digital technologies are shaping businesses, operations, and families, changing how we organize. However, the paradox is that many people are struggling to lead in the changing times. How do organizations wade through the challenges and harness the opportunities presented by the ongoing digital age? The advent of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence may make these challenges and opportunities even larger. This course developed by Professor Pankaj Setia at the Indian Institute of Management (IIMA) delves into the fundamental principles required to create digital strategies. The course is apt for students, professionals, and other enthusiasts intending to learn about creating digital strategies. When applied properly, digital strategy may revolutionize firm performance across industries like education, healthcare, commerce, and operations.

In this module, you will learn about a transformative paradox. The lectures of the week discuss the potential of digital transformation, outlining how it is leading to the transformation of individual lives and societies. Students may gain insights into the fundamentals describing how digital technologies are transforming education, healthcare, commerce, and operations. Finally, the week’s lectures indicate that while digital transformation has ushered in an era of prosperity, it has raised many challenges as well.

What's included

9 videos7 readings3 assignments

9 videos Total 51 minutes

Course Introduction 3 minutes
Meet Your Instructor 1 minute
Week's Introduction 2 minutes
Digital Transformation: An Introduction 7 minutes
The Context of Digital Transformation 8 minutes
Mastering Digital Transformation 8 minutes
Challenges Underlying Digital Transformation 8 minutes
The Transformative Paradox 7 minutes
The Organizational Approach 6 minutes

7 readings Total 70 minutes

Course Overview 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Digitization, Digitalization, And Digital Transformation- Confuse Them At Your Peril 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Digitization of Just About Everything 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Google's Eric Schmidt: We need Critical Thinking now more than Ever 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Leveraging AI in Business: 3 Real-World Examples 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: How Technology Is Destroying Jobs? 10 minutes
Essential Reading: How To Digitize India? 10 minutes

3 assignments Total 70 minutes

Week 1 (Graded) 40 minutes
Basic Concepts of Digital Transformation 15 minutes
The Need to Master Digital Transformation 15 minutes

In this module, you will learn about the ways (lenses) to conceptualize digital transformation in any organization as well as the key concepts associated with these ways (lenses) of digital transformation. Additionally, you will also become familiar with the notion of hypotheses and how these may be used to master digital transformation. You will be introduced to the broader drive that makes digital transformations succeed–Purpose. Further, you will learn about three types of purpose–instrumental, operational, and existential–that help answer crucial questions regarding digital transformation. These three types of purposes form the topic for this and the other two courses in this digital transformation series.

What's included

9 videos5 readings3 assignments

9 videos Total 51 minutes

Week's Introduction 2 minutes
Mastering Digital Transformation: A Scientific Approach 6 minutes
The Scientific Approach: Lenses 6 minutes
Lenses for Digital Transformation 9 minutes
The Scientific Approach: Concepts 4 minutes
Concepts Underlying Digital Transformation 6 minutes
Relationship between Concepts: Hypotheses 4 minutes
The Scientific Approach: Hypotheses 8 minutes
Purpose of Digital Transformation: Instrumental, Operational, and Existential 7 minutes

5 readings Total 50 minutes

Essential Reading: Why Silicon Valley is so excited about awkward drawings done by artificial intelligence? 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: Adaptive structuration theory 10 minutes
Essential Reading: A Harvard Business School Professor on how Companies like Google and Amazon use Experimentation to Innovate, Grow, and Improve 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Facebook Experiment Used Silicon Valley Trickery 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert A. Simon 10 minutes

3 assignments Total 70 minutes

Week 2 (Graded) 40 minutes
The Scientific Approach 15 minutes
Digital Transformation, Scientific Approach, and Purpose 15 minutes

In this module, you will learn about models of organizational performance. After comparing the economics and strategic models of organizational performance, the module will underline a capabilities-based approach to mastering the instrumental purpose of digital transformation. You will learn how to think about this instrumental purpose of digital transformation. The lectures will discuss the views on digital capabilities and how these are transforming organizations.

What's included

8 videos6 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

8 videos Total 48 minutes

Week's Introduction 2 minutes
Digital Transformation: The Instrumental Purpose 7 minutes
Organizational Performance and Technology 7 minutes
Positioning-based and Efficiency (or Resource)-based Theories 8 minutes
The Capabilities Model of Organization 8 minutes
Digital Transformation as Capability-building 6 minutes
Exemplar: Capabilities of Digital India 4 minutes
Digital India Capabilities (Digital Public Infrastructure) Pt2: Discussion 6 minutes

6 readings Total 60 minutes

Essential Reading: Dr. Pankaj Setia on the Challenges that will Re-Define CIOs’ Careers 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: IT Doesn’t Matter 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: A Global Study on Digital Capabilities 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Payments 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Stacking Up Financial Inclusion Gains in India 10 minutes

3 assignments Total 70 minutes

Week 3 (Graded) 40 minutes
Organizational Transformation 15 minutes
Instrumental Purpose: The Capabilities Perspective 15 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 15 minutes

Digital Capabilities and their Impact 15 minutes

In this module, you will learn how leveraging digital technologies has impacted the overall performance of organizations. For instance, you will understand how the different capabilities enhance an organization’s performance. The week will also explain the capability performance hypotheses that managers should think about when creating the instrumental purpose for digital transformation. The lectures will discuss various related notions, such as the hierarchy of capabilities and the role of context. These represent the key aspects of the capability performance hypotheses. The lectures will also formalize the notions of the Digital Capability Conversion Factor and Organizational Capability Performance Factor. These will help an individual learn about the key elements necessary for successful digital transformation in any organization.

What's included

7 videos10 readings4 assignments

7 videos Total 43 minutes

Week's Introduction 2 minutes
The Capability Performance Hypotheses 6 minutes
High-Performance Digital Capabilities 7 minutes
Hierarchy of Capabilities 8 minutes
Digital Capability Conversion Factor 8 minutes
Capability Performance Hypotheses: The Role of Context 7 minutes
Organizational Capability Performance Factor 6 minutes

10 readings Total 100 minutes

Essential Reading: 10 Must-Have CRM Features Small Businesses Should Use 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: What is Industry 4.0? Here's A Super Easy Explanation For Anyone 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Pankaj Setia. Leveraging Digital Technologies: How Information Quality leads to Localized Capabilities and Customer Service Performance 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Enabling Productivity and Scale through Improved Enterprise Knowledge Management 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Digital Revolution in the Indian Banking Sector 10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Digital transformations: The five talent factors that matter most 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Big Data-Tesco Probes the Frontiers of Privacy 10 minutes
Essential Reading: Microsoft Reorganizes to Fuel Cloud and A.I. Businesses 10 minutes
Essential Reading: 7 IT Restructuring Mistakes to avoid 10 minutes
Essential Reading: GE’s Digital Transformation Journey 10 minutes

4 assignments Total 61 minutes

Week 4 (Graded) 40 minutes
Instrumental Purpose 6 minutes
Capability Hierarchy 9 minutes
Context and Organizational Capabilities 6 minutes

This Peer-Review Assignment aims to help you reflect upon the core concepts covered in the Advanced Advanced Digital Transformation (Part 1) course

What's included

1 peer review

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(57 ratings)

Pankaj Setia

IIMA - IIM Ahmedabad

3 Courses 76,035 learners

Offered by

IIMA - IIM Ahmedabad

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Reviewed on Jan 16, 2024

I am very excited about thet new learn technolgy and related concepts.

Reviewed on Aug 5, 2025

Very informative course and pace was good to learn

Reviewed on Jun 30, 2025

Very insightful with enough research and scientific examples. Worth the time.

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Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.