Creating Value and Sustainable Business Through Digital Transformation (DIGTRANS)

The course provide insight to digital transformation and value creation. Digital change is the new normal, and the ability to transform the existing status quo will increase. This require continuous identification and creation of new value for project owners. The project manager of the future must have good knowledge about the digital and ability to execute digital transformation projects in a good way. During this process there are increasing requirements that todays project managers are able to assess sustainability aspects. The focus of the course includes intangible projects that do not result in physical products such as various forms of services, R&D projects and IT projects.

The learning activities in the course ensure students build skills needed both for working life in practice after their master’s studies and for later master’s thesis writing processes. Students work with real cases, use qualitative research methods to collect data and learn to convey the result through presentations and a report in simplified master thesis format.

The student should

• Have knowledge about different forms for digital transformation as strategic transformation, core transformation, and dual transformation, including basic knowledge of IT infrastructure.
• Have a basic understanding of sustainability in general and in projects
• Understand the consequences of digital transformation for project managers
• Understand central elements of digital transformation such as how to secure sustainable business, satisfied customers, changing operational processes, create new business models, communicate changes internally and externally
• Having a basic understanding of stages in small-group developments, being able to express own opinions in small and larger groups, and able to present in front of an audience (within the course)
• Be able to write a report of relevance to practice in a simplified master thesis format and develop basic knowledge on how to collect information through qualitative research methods such as case studies, interviews and literature reviews, and reflect on ethical considerations related to data collection
• Be able to identify how key sustainability challenges are drivers for digital transformation, as well as what opportunities digital transformation creates in relation to sustainability improvements
• Be able to assess digital maturity of organisations and projects, and to identify new value opportunities for project owners
• Be able to lead digital transformation processes

Lectures, seminars and obligatory activities incl. preparatory work / parts of report. In order to submit final exam, students must have submitted, and got the obligatory work and the preparatory work / part of report approved. The course is taught in English. The student's answers, orally and in writing, can be in Norwegian or English. Students will write a report on a topic that is relevant to the course, based on the course literature and additional literature that the students are expected to find themselves. Students should expect to be in contact with the industry while working on their report.