The impact of Digital Transformation on Leadership in a Public Service Organization : The case of the RTBF (National Belgian Television)

This Master’s thesis aims to bring a reflection on how digital transformation is affecting leadership inside the RTBF (National Belgian Television). Since the beginning of the 21st century, a new phenomenon has emerged in several aspects of our society: the digitalization. The digitalization is creating a wave of disruption on all types of businesses requiring them to reinvent themselves continuously or otherwise, their business models will become not pertinent. They will do that through a transformation of their company that they will need to undertake if they want to stay relevant. People could suppose that digital transformation is only about tech-savvy industries but in reality; it concerns all traditional businesses. There are different methods to follow for managers of an organization to move forward a digital transformation. Several of these leadership practices are considered as traditional and it is important for these managers to also use non-traditional leadership methods. They need to show to their employees that they will own the transformation. It is also important for these organizations to understand where they need to improve for this process and they will know which actions to take. Firstly, it is important to stimulate a culture of experimentation and innovation amongst the employees. Secondly, managers need to create a place that will favor the emergence of new leaders. Thirdly, leaders need to develop continuously their digital skills. Finally, leaders need to align all the employees on a common vision around the digital transformation through an effective communication plan. For this Master’s thesis, I used qualitative research and a case study approach. I realized this analysis in collaboration with the main managers (preferably from the top-level) of the RTBF that provided me with several useful resources. I also interviewed managers from the middle-level to remove biases and have a more accurate view of the phenomenon. Concerning the interviews, they were conducted individually and lasted around 30 to 60 minutes. I had a list of around 20 questions that I tried to ask my interlocutors. I chose the semi-structured interview approach as the main form for these interactions. Finally, I used documents about the RTBF’s digital transformation like reports, newspaper articles, company website as a way of completing the content of my interviews. Managers of the RTBF expressed aspects from classical leadership theories like the transformational leadership theory and the Situational Leadership model. However, they also expressed some elements that did not really fit in under these two theories but more under the digital leadership characteristic. Therefore, leaders of the RTBF tried to express a balanced mix of these theories with some problems. It is important to keep in mind some core fundamentals of good leadership and not focus too much on the technological aspect of the transformation. At the same time, managers need to keep an agile mindset and to develop pertinent digital skills to improve continuously. The RTBF’s managers have more or less expressed this result but they still went through some problems on the communication level and employees involvement.