Change Management and Digital Transformation : Analyzing Important Factors and Strategies for Successful Implementation of Digital Projects

Abstract: Change and adaptation to change has always been a part of human life. Some are more used to changes in their daily life and some are more resistant towards it. In big organizations all types of people are working together to create a better future. In manufacturing companies, change and implementation of digital transformation are more frequently occurring and in faster paces. This thesis aids to study how Change Management can be adapted in a manufacturing company regarding digital transformation by minimizing the resistance. This thesis is an inductive qualitative case study where both theoretical framework and data collections are provided. The theories brought up in this thesis are Change Management, psychological, social and organizational aspects of Change Management and how to adapt Change Management and Operator 4.0. To be able to compare theory with practice, a total of 10 interviews were held with 7 team leaders and 3 production leaders and 4 observations were held. The collected data and theory were analyzed and compared to each other and later on, gaps between theory and practice were identified. The results show that there is a lack of communication within the organization and a deficient communication chain. The results show that there is involvement of employees but mainly from the same type of department. There is an uneven distribution of implementation within the production where one part of the production is almost fully digitalized while the other has nothing digital at all. Depending on the shifts, there is a lack of support from the production engineers and top management. As a conclusion, adapting change management seems to be easy when reading about its theory but is in fact difficult when adapting it in practice, especially when the organization is big. To deal with the problem, the developers and managers should include employees from the very beginning of the formulation process and divide project teams in smaller groups in order to provide support to all departments and shifts. The developers and managers should also use Lewin´s three-step model for minor changes and consider using Kotter´s strategic eight-step model for changes made at a bigger scale.