Factors Influencing Digital Transformation Success: A Study on a Sri Lankan Commercial Bank

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the most influencing factors to the success of Digital Transformation (DT) journey of a commercial bank in meeting the digital savvy, dynamic customer demand in the banking business. The study has focused on the predominant stages of DT, various theoretical models related to DT, the influence of the DT over banking industry, benefits, challenges, and barriers of DT along with various internal factors influencing success of DT. The expansion of the DT phenomenon at national level over the years with the regulatory influence has urged Commercial Banks to digitally transform to be in the competition. The low success rate reported consistently for a considerable period in the selected commercial bank was identified as the research problem for the study. The respondents have been selected from the population of managerial level employees and the scaling down of DT success had been concentrated on the empirically used “Digital Maturity Model”. The conceptual framework consists of four independent variables contributing to DT success most cautiously selected by researcher from the previous literature on the higher frequency in simultaneous research. The Author recommends the strategies and measures to increase the low success rate reported in the DT initiatives of the Banks such as (1) Recognizing change and urgent response (2) Strategic alignment (3) Reinvigoration of culture (4) Training and upskilling workforce (5) Business perspective technology disruption (6) Significance on data culture and (7) Digital product development. The research significantly covers the theoretical gap in the DT discipline in local context and by assessing the internal factors subject to inside-out approach anticipating making a reference to support sustainable future growth in the digital business in the banking industry despite the limitations of individuals researching on a typical discipline like DT.