33% of companies say they have competitors that are severely affected by digitalization
Most companies in Romania (33%) believe that their competitors are largely affected by digitalization, 14% think that they have very badly affected competitors and 9% have competitors that are badly affected by digitization. Only 2% believe that those who are competitors were not affected by the digital transformation at all.
In 2018, 71% vs. 67% a year ago from the companies highly influenced by digitalization believe they competitors have affected and very affected by this process. The percentage drops to 33% in 2018 vs. 37% in 2017 in the case of the companies moderately influenced by digitalization and to 17% vs. 15% in case of the least influenced by digitalization.
On the other hand, 60% of respondents say they have capitalized on digitalization to have a competitive edge. The percentage increases to 78% in the case of companies which have been strongly influenced by digitalization, decreases to 52% in the case of the moderately influenced ones and to 22% in the case of the least affected by this transformational process.
Obstacles in digitalization
The main obstacle that companies see in the way of the digital transformation is their perception that they do not have digital consumers (40% in 2018 vs. 55% in 2017). This indicates the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of digital interaction with consumers, considering that on average 60% of the purchasing process takes place online. In the second place, 40% of companies say that the main obstacle is the high costs involved by this transformation, and 38% of companies even recognize their own resistance to change as an obstacle to digitalization.
In 2018, resilience to change is viewed as an obstacle by 17% of companies that have been strongly influenced by digitalization, but only for 15% and 14% respectively of the medium and less influenced by this transformational process. The lack of digital competences in the management has percentages ranging from 10% in the strongly influenced companies, to 12% in the medium-influenced ones and then to 14% for those least affected by digitalization.
Benefits of digitalization
The most important cumulative benefits of integrating the digitalization process over the next 5 years are: process simplification (58% in 2018 vs. 46% in 2017), cost savings (48% vs. 46%), increased operational efficiency (48% 35%), revenue growth (31% vs. 21%) and better performance measurement of the company (28% vs. 34%). On the last place is the benefit related to the fact that it facilitates the recruitment and retention of employees (3%).
In 2018, 15% of companies that are strongly influenced by digitalization, 18% of the medium-influenced ones and 16% of the least-influenced consider that digitalization will contribute to the company’s operational efficiency. Companies that have been moderately influenced are the ones who most believe that digitalization improves their decision-making with data analytics (10%). Companies that have been less influenced by digitalization are those who believe they will benefit from the simplification of processes (13%), competitive advantage (13%) and innovative products (13%).
„The Barometer of Digitalization is the only comparative study that shows the evolution of digital transformation among Romanian companies. Compared to 2017, this year’s edition shows a concern to increase the level of digitalization. The aggregate analysis and interpretation of collected data is also supplemented by the analysis of data relevant to 13 industries. In the over 80 pages of the report, the most important aspects of digitalization are scanned for any company leader who wants to find the level of digitalization of his industry and draw conclusions with a diagnostic value related to the digitalization of the company he is leading”, says Elena Badea, Managing Director Valoria, co-author of the study.
Read also What do the Romanian executives think about digitalization
This survey released by Valoria gauges the perceptions of managers and top executives about the impact of digitalization on Romanian companies. The questionnaire, which received 369 responses, was applied between 15 March and 30 April 2018.
