{"id":11266,"date":"2020-10-07T16:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T16:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expertextend.de\/?p=11266"},"modified":"2023-09-28T12:26:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T12:26:54","slug":"covid19-digitalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expertextend.de\/en\/covid19-digitalization\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID19 digitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\nThe COVID-19 pandemic is keeping the world in suspense.\u00a0The novel virus, which began in Wuhan, China, has been spreading rapidly in recent weeks and new infections are at an alarmingly high level.\u00a0However, the current status quo and life with limitations is not expected to change until a vaccine and drugs become widely available or immunity has been achieved [1].\u00a0Despite the increasing number of cases and the global consequences of the crisis, there is reason to be optimistic in another area: digitization.\u00a092% of the experts say in a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the M\u00fcnchner Kreis and the TUM Heilbronn campus that the crisis will accelerate the digital transformation [2].\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Zingel<\/strong>, Member of the Management Board at Siemens Healthineers, sums it up as follows.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u201cThe pandemic, terrible as it is, has proven to be a digitization accelerator\u201d<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[3]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAnd indeed: Covid-19 is a turning point for the digital transformation and should be viewed by companies as a radical change for strategic structural changes.\u00a0Companies that have already invested in digital transformation before the current crisis benefit from this investment and can cushion losses.\u00a0The strategic measures include the continuous digitization of supply chains, end-to-end solutions, digital business models with data-based services and platform concepts, autonomous decisions and forecasts from intelligent AI systems instead of empirical knowledge and process documentation, as well as more agile control models [4].\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nIt is already becoming apparent that digitally more mature companies can react more flexibly to the crisis than digital followers.\u00a0Many traditional companies that do not massively change their business model and are not clear about the urgency of digitization are facing the end.\u00a0Actors with an advanced degree of digital maturity, on the other hand, are more adaptable, more capable of acting and more economically viable [4].\u00a0A clear systematic digital strategy and the development of digital resilience not only ensure sustainable competitive advantages, but also arm companies in the event of unforeseen crises.\u00a0Delivery bottlenecks, failure of suppliers, delays, fluctuations in customer demand and disruptions along the value chain can thus be better managed.\u00a0This illustrates:Future competitiveness depends largely on the company\u2019s degree of digital maturity<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nEffects of Corona on everyday professional life and digitization\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGovernments around the world have ordered exit restrictions, school closings and social distancing to combat the spread of the virus.\u00a0These measures have led to a drastic change in the everyday working life of many people.\u00a0Digitization has received new impulses and has been accelerated in recent months.\u00a0An indication of this is that the use of digital media, e-learning, working in the home office and teleworking have increased significantly.\u00a0For comparison, the following diagram highlights the prevalence and popularity of home offices in Europe in 2018 [5].\r\n\r\n \r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nFigure 1: Chart showing the prevalence of home office in Europe in 2018 [5]<\/em>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nIn 2018, only 5% of all employees in Germany worked in the home office.\u00a0In Finland, 13.3% of all employees between the ages of 15 and 64 use the opportunity to work from home.\u00a0In 2020 the situation will be different: According to a Mannheim corona study [6], between 20.03.\u00a0and 31.03.\u00a0in Germany 21.2% of employees work from home.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nOn the one hand, the increased spread of home offices is a result of government measures.\u00a0On the other hand, there are several advantages associated with the home office, which result both for the employees and for the company:\r\n\r\n \r\n

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  1. Time savings<\/strong>\u00a0(e.g. by eliminating the need to travel to work)<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Focus<\/strong>\u00a0and minimize potential distraction factors<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Spatial and temporal\u00a0flexibility<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Sustainability<\/strong>\u00a0and environmental protection (e.g. due to virtual video conferences and meetings instead of business trips)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n \r\n\r\nThanks to this flexibility and the multitude of digital collaboration tools, the current situation is manageable for many employees and family and work can be better reconciled.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nIt is to be expected that even after the crisis in the post Covid-19\u00a0New Normal,<\/em>\u00a0many of these achievements and digitization modules will be retained in everyday professional life.\u00a0Hybrid working models<\/strong>\u00a0are a realistic scenario against this background.\u00a0Such models combine presence times in the office as well as mobile working.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nRole of data analytics during the pandemic\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nData analytics also plays a decisive role in the current crisis.\u00a0Analytics approaches can be differentiated on the basis of the complexity, the degree of maturity and the information value generated [7].\u00a0The following is an introduction to the most important forms and characteristics of data analytics:\r\n\r\n \r\n
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    1. Business Intelligence (BI) \/ Descriptive Analytics<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0: The focus is on the investigation and visualization of past results [8].\u00a0The aim is therefore to analyze previous events and to increase the understanding of key influencing factors.\u00a0A characteristic of this data analytics approach is the use of key performance indicators (KPI), scorecards and target \/ actual comparisons.\u00a0Descriptive means that only the past should be described.\u00a0It will be checked what has happened.\u00a0For example, monthly sales figures achieved by a discounter serve as a basis for discussion for future decisions of the branch manager [7].\u00a0Tools in this category include\u00a0B. relational databases and spreadsheets.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n \r\n