Live project - Digital Transformation

The Master program in Business and Management (MBM) attracts students with various backgrounds from all over the world. It assumes a business development perspective, which means that it focuses on developing a firm’s competitive position, its processes, people and products, its networks, and resources. Business development mixes theory and practice and includes areas such as market, strategy, and leadership to be managed in order to succeed.

Unlock innovation with talented business students

The Digital Transformation course in the Master program in Business & Management at SSE is seeking companies to collaborate with for Live Projects running from end-March to mid-May 2025. The Live Project offers an excellent opportunity for your company to work with student teams on a specific digital transformation challenge and gain valuable insights into how digital technologies and data can drive meaningful change in your organization. These insights will be rooted in cutting-edge academic theory with direct applicability to your business needs.

What is the Digital Transformation course about?

In the course, students delve into digital transformation, defined as “organizational change that is triggered and shaped by the widespread diffusion of digital technologies”, and explore how organizations can leverage digital technology to remain innovative, competent, and resilient. Some topics in the course are:

Managing change for the effective implementation and use of new technology
Adapting business models to capitalize on digital opportunities
Designing for human-AI decision making to balance efficiency with explainability
Building digital ecosystems and platforms to create new value for your organization

Who can participate in the Live Project?

The Live Project allows your company to work with student teams on a specific digital transformation challenge. It’s a practical opportunity to explore how digital technology and data can address key organizational issues. For the course starting in March, we are recruiting cases in the following areas: Finance, Retail, Healthcare, Education, Creative Industries, Human Resources, Manufacturing, and Telecommunication.

What you can expect from the collaboration

Innovative solutions: Students will deliver customized recommendations to address your digital transformation challenge.
Fresh perspectives: By working with our students, you’ll gain access to new ideas and approaches.
Talent access: This collaboration gives you early access to top Master’s students, providing potential future employees or collaborators.
Cost-effective results: There are no financial costs—only your time and engagement. In return, you’ll receive research-backed, actionable insights.

What we expect from you

A defined challenge: Provide a clear digital transformation challenge for students to address. However, the ultimate research focus is for students to define in line with the course materials.
Collaboration & feedback: Assign a company contact to provide data, contacts within the company, and some guidance.
Openness to new ideas: Be open to the fresh, innovative solutions our students will bring to your organization. Please also know that, despite the clear benefits, this is first and foremost an educational project for students.
No NDA: SSE students cannot sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for this project for practical and pedagogical reasons. In certain cases, NDAs nevertheless need to be put in place. For these cases, we have prepared an NDA that is appropriate for an academic setting. Please note that the school, not the students, would be the signatory party. We ask that you let us know as soon as possible if your participation is likely to require the use of an NDA.

Project overview

Student Teams: 3 groups (5–6 students per group), each working to understand, refine, and propose innovative solutions to your challenge. This approach offers multiple perspectives and potential solutions to the same challenge.

Time commitment during the project (at least 6,5 hours for all groups):

Kick-off meeting (1 hour): Introduce the case with a pitch deck and share relevant data.
Q&A session (1 hour): Provide initial clarifications to guide students' research.
Interviews: Each group will conduct at least 3 interviews (30 minutes each) with different company representatives across relevant functions.
Check-in with contact person: We also recommend short, weekly check-ins with a designated contact person to ensure progress and alignment throughout the project.

Timeline:

Submit your challenge by February 28, 2025 (right side on this landing page).
Preparations (March): Use this time to gather materials and data relevant to the challenge. Students will be introduced to the company and begin work in late March.
Project period: Late March to mid-May. Students will dedicate 20% of their full-time studies to this project i.e., working on the project for one day per week.

Defining the Digital Transformation challenge

We suggest that you provide a specific challenge related to digital transformation in a question format: How can [your organization] use [digital technologies and data] to [achieve desired organizational change]?

In formulating the tentative question, please specify the following two components:

1. Organizational change
Think in terms of work processes, products, and corporate strategies…

What needs to change: what is the current situation and what is the desired situation?
Why is change needed: what is the issue with the current situation and what are the expected benefits of the desired situation?

2. Digital technologies & data
Think in terms of data points, datasets, software applications…

What concrete datasets or digital technologies do you have or plan to procure that can facilitate the above-mentioned organizational change?
Please note that the challenge doesn’t need to involve brand-new technology but can focus on a novel application of existing technologies for organizational change and value creation.

Example questions from previous years that could inspire you:

What are the key drivers and challenges for transforming reactive compliance into proactive, data-driven sustainability management? How can we place [organization] at the forefront of sustainability performance?
How can [NGO] use new technology or data sources to reach beneficiaries and engage volunteers more effectively?
What can data and digital technologies do to help [organization] solve stakeholder problems in the [business] process? How can we integrate these solutions into a digital ecosystem to create recurring value for stakeholders?

If you need further guidance in defining a suitable challenge, reach out to andreas.dahlberg@hhs.se.