Dijital dönüşümün proje yöneticilerinin yetkinlikleri üzerindeki etkisinin incelenmesi

Abstract

Küreselleşme ile birlikte sayısı giderek artan sorunlarla karşı karşıya kalan ve sahip olduğu yaşlı nüfusun sebep olduğu dezavantajla mücadele etmek zorunda olan gelişmiş ülkeler, geleneksel üretim sistemlerinin yetersizliğinin farkına varmış ve üretim sektöründe teknolojik gelişmelere yapılan yatırımı artırmıştır. Art arda yaşanan teknolojik gelişmelerle birlikte üretim sektöründe rekabet artmış, işletmeler büyük değişimler geçirmek zorunda kalmıştır. Bu değişimlerle birlikte dinamik pazar koşullarına ve müşteri taleplerine hızlı yanıt verebilmek amaçlanmıştır. İlk olarak Almanya'da Endüstri 4.0 adıyla ortaya konan projeyi, diğer ülkelerin projeleri hızlı bir şekilde takip etmiştir. Temelinde nesnelerin interneti, siber fiziksel sistemler, dikey-yatay entegrasyon, büyük veri analizi, bulut bilişim, robotlar, simülasyon, eklemeli üretim ve artırılmış gerçeklik teknolojilerini barındıran Endüstri 4.0, farklı ülkelerde farklı isimlendirmeler ile sunulmuştur. Endüstri 4.0, işletmeleri hem teknik hem de sosyal açıdan etkilemektedir. Çalışanlar, dijitalleşen üretim sistemlerine uyum sağlamak, teknolojik gelişmelere yetişmek durumunda kalmaktadır. İşletmeler ve disiplinler arası çalışmaların ve işbirliklerinin arttığı, işlerin proje bazlı gerçekleştirildiği küresel dünyada özellikle proje yöneticileri dönüşüme hızlı bir şekilde adapte olmak zorundadır. Bu çalışmada, dijitalleşmenin proje yöneticilerinin yetkinlikleri üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Bu doğrultuda ilk olarak iki temel konu ele alınmıştır: Proje yönetimi ve Endüstri 4.0. Proje yönetimi başlığı altında proje tanımı, proje yönetiminin içeriği ve proje yöneticilerinin yetkinlikleri araştırılmıştır. Endüstri 4.0 başlığı altında konsept ve tanımlar, temel teknolojiler, etkiler, uygulama zorlukları ve önerileri araştırılmıştır. Proje yönetimi ve Endüstri 4.0 literatürleri analiz edilerek dijital dönüşümün proje yöneticilerinin yetkinlikleri üzerindeki etkisi ortaya konmuştur. Yapılan değerlendirmeler sonucunda çok kültürlü yaklaşım, değişim yönetimi, durumsallık/esneklik, gelişim yönetimi, girişimci yaklaşım, müşteri odaklılık ve yenilikçi yaklaşım dijital dönüşümle birlikte önemi artan yetkinlikler; dijital dönüşüm ve veri analitiği ise dijital dönüşümle birlikte ortaya çıkan yeni yetkinlikler olarak belirlenmiştir. Belirlenen bu yetkinliklerin içeriklerine açıklık getirilmiştir.Çalışma ile proje yöneticilerinin, dördüncü sanayi devrimiyle birlikte sahip olmaları gereken yetkinlikler konusunda yönlendirilmeleri amaçlanmıştır. Tüketim hızının giderek arttığı ve müşteri talebinin değiştiği dünyada, yetkinliklerini güncelleyen proje yöneticileri sayesinde işletmeler dijitalleşme süreçlerini daha sorunsuz atlatacak, rekabet ortamına daha hızlı uyum sağlayacaktır.

Production is one of the major factors for developed countries to obtain economic profits. In recent years, with the aging population and increasing competition between developed countries, lowering the number of manpower became a requirement and thus industrial technology development speeded up. The encountering with new problems left the traditional production industry inadequate, resulting in the development of intelligent production systems in order to cope with the challenges caused by globalization. Modern production became increasingly important, especially for European countries. The first project was introduced by Germany by the name Industry 4.0 and it was followed rapidly by other projects. Based on the internet of things, cyber-physical systems, vertical-horizontal integration, big data analysis, cloud computing, robots, simulation, additive manufacturing and augmented reality technologies, the Industry 4.0 concept was presented with different names by different countries.The first industrial revolution brought mechanics into production. The second brought electricity and the third information technologies. Thanks to successful innovations and technological developments, the global industry's appearance has changed considerably. The rapid progress of electric and electronics, information technology and advanced manufacturing technologies has enabled production to become smarter. At the core of these technological developments lies being able to respond and adapt quickly to the changing market demands.Today's customers are much more conscious about their purchases. Together with the new supply chain structures, they play a much more active role in production systems. New customers who have strict rules about what functions the products have to perform and how they should look like, force companies to update their way of doing business and request to have a say in each and every stage of the production process. With Industry 4.0, these customers get the chance to be involved in the production chain earlier. This situation forces businesses to offer more individualized products. To be successful in the transformation process makes it essential for enterprises to understand the rapidly changing customer demands and to develop new digital products and services shaped by digital technologies that the customers are willing to buy. At this point, the need to benefit from the personal data of customers, by taking into consideration data security and privacy, is a critical issue.The processes concerning digitalization, big data collection and the security of this data, necessitates the development of new business models, etc. and brings along the topics, such as, collaborative interactions and management support. Designing new business models through digital innovation; transforming traditional corporate architecture into a modular architecture that can seamlessly connect with new digital technologies to compete with emerging new competitors; and to attract new capabilities that can integrate digital technology expertise with technical know-how could be given as examples of managerial challenges faced throughout the process.Industry 4.0 will change human-technology and human-environment interactions, increase employee participation in innovation processes, and support the development of urgently needed innovations. The increase in the number of robots and smart machines in production will affect the work done by the employees and thus change the job environment. As the new technologies such as the robots will take over the simple work, the more complex and comprehensive work will be left to the human employees.The fact that the physical and organizational boundaries are dissolving because of new conditions, forces organizations to move and be managed faster. The management techniques that have been put forward so far will not be sufficient under the conditions created by Industry 4.0. Expected flexibility will increase with international competitiveness and technological developments, and expertise such as self-management and project management will be vital. In the course of this process, the competencies that have not been mentioned so far will have increasing importance with the fourth industrial revolution.With the fourth industrial revolution, the number of projects performed to start new companies, develop and implement new technologies, products and services is increasing. These Industry 4.0 projects include, together wih new technologies, high complexity and uncertainty concerning structural, organizational, socio-political, etc. conditions. Traditional project management, which emphasizes planning and control, expresses that projects can be implemented in seperate parts, does not focus on the human factor and soft skills, loses validity for complex, uncertain and time pressured Industry 4.0 projects.Digital transformation involves both institutional and technical transformation of enterprises. It is required in order to adapt to the era and becomes a reality when innovative technologies such as the internet of things, big data, cloud, robots, simulation and augmented reality is applied where it is necessary, in the most favorable way. It is also vital to draw a road map and calculate the steps that have to be taken before the application. It is very important for the project managers to play an active role in this phase that can be considered as a transition to Industry 4.0 project. The application of new technologies is only possible with the efficient utilization of the resources in hand and the guidance of the project managers during strategic decision making in enterprises.When the general framework of Industry 4.0 is drawn, there are some keywords that need to be underlined. These are automation, being smart, digitalization, personalization, decentralized control, and flexibility. These keywords express the changes that businesses have to go through. Project managers have to run projects in new enterprises using new technologies. It is inevitable for these changes to shape the main competencies of project managers to fulfill their responsibilities.In line with all the developments that have taken place so far, this study analyzes the impact of digital transformation on project managers' competencies by analyzing existing project management and Industry 4.0 literature. Within the scope of the study, firstly the definition and content of traditional project management, and the responsibilities and competencies of project managers are presented. Then the concept of Industry 4.0 (Digital Transformation); technologies underlying the concept; the impact on technology, employee and customer; challenges to implementation; application examples and suggestions are discussed. Lastly, the competencies compiled from the traditional and current project management literature are listed and evaluations are made concerning the effect of digital transformation on project managers' competencies. As a result of the evaluations, two important conclusions were reached:(i) Change management, contingency/flexibility, customer focus, development management, entrepreneurial approach, innovative approach, and multicultural approach are competencies that have been mentioned in the past but are emphasized in the future.(ii) Digital transformation and data analytics competencies are must-have competencies of future project managers.The contents of all the competencies derived are detailed in the study. The fact that project managers develop themselves on both technical and social issues such as communication and cooperation is vital for the transition to Industry 4.0. In order for the organizational structures to be flexible as it is required by digitalization, project management applications have to be integrative, sensitive and interesting; and project managers have to be more mobile, accessible and virtually active. One of the most critical points that has to be considered is that the workplace environment is open to change and consists of employees who strive to gain new competencies. The aim of the study is to guide the project managers about the competencies they are obliged to have with the fourth industrial revolution. Through project managers who update their competencies in a world where the consumption is increasing and the customer demand is changing, enterprises will overcome the digitalization processes more smoothly and adapt to the competitive environment more quickly.