Page - 140 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

changingorganisation’s keybusiness operations into adigital form,while affecting products and processes, but also organisational structures and management concepts. Digitalisation was made possible by rapid technological progress and devices with increased computing power performingmore demanding tasks and enabling digital servicesofhigherquality (Mollick2006)haveaccelerated its speed.Besides the higher quality and computingpower of devices, the prices of smartphoneswith complex technological attributes have decreased 50 times from 2007 to 2014 (Ismail 2014). Furthermore, the declining cost of storing, processing, replicating anddistributingdigits has given theorganisations ability to shift their products and services to digital format (Grover andKohli 2013) and ultimately implement new business strategies that can utilise the opportunities created by digitalisation. The Internet already plays an indispensable role in the everyday life of billions (Bocket al. 2015).Beingconnectedon thewebhasbecameasocietal phenomenon and about 3 billion connected consumers and businesses (as well as governments and other organisations) search, shop, socialise, transact, and interact every day using personal computers and, increasingly, a broadening range ofmobile devices. The digital economy is growing at 10 per cent a year, significantly faster than the global economy as a whole (ibid). Due to the rapidly increasing number of smartphones and tablets, billionsof individuals andorganisationshavebeenable to fully take advantage of this digital revolution. Either purchasing music, books, newspapers, or any other item online, making banking transactions, being a com- municator, whether through personal email, texting, watching published videos or providing digital services by themselves. The impact of digitalisation is seen everywhere around theworld. Digital tech- nologies have changed operations in organisations and enabled far-reaching social andpoliticalchanges.Todaythedigitaleconomyisanincreasingly importantsource of jobs, however also the reason of job losses for millions globally. Rapid and continuous technology developments are transforming the skills required formost existing jobs and creating completely new types of roles, and changing current job functions.Alreadymorethan47%ofpeople,eveninremoteareas,areonlineandthe developmentofblockchain, advanced robotics, and the Internet of thingspresents a profound shift for the future (DMCC 2019). According to Snabe (2015), digitali- sationprovidesauniqueopportunity forglobal leaders to shapeour future,however at thesametime,alsoplacesamomentousresponsibilityontheir shoulders toensure these transformationswill have a positive impact on business and society. Acknowledging the increased competitiveness of the businessworld,Day-Yang et al. (2011) state that digital transformation has become increasingly essential for organisations that seek to survive and attain competitive advantage. Furthermore, according to Mok and Leung (2012), digitalisation enhances peoples’ economic, political and social lives and thus it is fundamental for organisations to focuson the new trends it brings. While studying the strategies related to digital technology Fitzgerald et al. (2014) found most managers to believe in technology bringing transformative change to businesses and concluded that accomplishing digital transformation is critical for companies wishing to survive. The Role of an Entrepreneurial Mindset… 145