The 2nd International Conference on Digitalization and Management Innovation (DMI 2023)
—Build a New Ecology of Lifelong Education

Abstract: While the interest in digital transformation grows its definition and measurement remains a work in progress. Existing digital transformation measurements either lack a robust measurement approach or take a ‘reflective’ measurement approach: as if digital transformation is a hidden entity within firms waiting to be measured. From a measurement perspective a more viable approach is to take digital transformation as a ‘formative’ construct: something that can be defined from its underpinnings but has no existence itself. Upon that premise this invited talk presents the results of a formative digital transformation index developed for firms. Its comparison against existing measurement scales commonly used in the field reveals that while some dimensions of digital transformation remain the same there are several emergent dimensions. These emergent definitions appear to be part of the contemporary digital transformation definition and have consequences for management of digital transformation in firms.

Biography: I’m a researcher and consultant in the fields innovation, business analytics, and social network analysis. Currently I’m a prof at the Business Administration department of the Izmir University of Economics. My core interest is the workings of the collective intelligence in business organizations and how it supports problem solving and creativity.
I have completed my BSc at Bilkent Üniversity, Electrical and Electronics Engineering major with a minor in Physics Engineering (1990). I have completed my masters at the Tampere Institute of Technology (1990-1991) and Eastern Mediterranean University (1992-1994). Later I have worked as a software developer and architect in Turkey and US (1994-2001). After returning to academia at 2002 at İstanbul Bilgi University Computer Science Department, I have started my PhD in the organization-studies program of the same university and completed in 2009. Since 2016, I work as a lecturer at the Izmir University of Economics, as director of university's Creative Entrepreneurship Research and Application Center, and coordinator of the executive MBA program.