Digital leadership 
    in Malaysia
    The long way to digitally sustainable leadership.
                                                                                                                            |   Digital leadership in Malaysia   |
                Introduction
                With the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) in                                   of Malaysia’s GDP was derived from digital products 
                place and the aim for Malaysia to be among the top                                and services created directly through the use of digital 
                20 countries in the world, the Malaysian government is                            technologies, such as mobility, cloud, Internet of 
                                                                                                                                                            2
                driving initiatives under five key focus areas - Society,                         Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).
                Environment, Economy, Technology & Connectivity 
                and Governance.                                                                   According to Bank Negara Malaysia (The Central Bank 
                                                                                                  of Malaysia), the Malaysian economy grew by 5.9 per 
                Under the focus area of Technology & Connectivity, we                             cent in 2017, with private sector demand being the 
                are already seeing exponential explosion in internet                              primary driver of growth; while the outlook for 2018 
                bandwidth, processing power and digital storage                                                                                                           3
                                                                                                  remains favourable, supported by domestic demand.  
                capacity in recent years. There is a rise of broadband 
                and mobile connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT), 
                robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Labs and                                     “The Malaysian economy 
                companies are producing machines and/or software                                        is growing steadily and to 
                with increasing human-like capabilities. There are 
                also emerging developments for example, ‘smart                                          drive and sustain digital 
                cities’ where sensors, information and technology are                                   transformation initiatives, 
                integrated to meet the needs of the population.1
                                                                                  
                                                                                                        government and organisations 
                This paper explores the central role of leaders in the                                  need to urgently look at 
                digital sustainability journey, setting out the traits,                                 developing digital talent and 
                competencies and drivers necessary to becoming a 
                great digital leader.                                                                   especially digital leaders to 
                                                                                                                                                       
                Digital transformation is expected to contribute                                        ensure success in the 
                US$10 billion to Malaysia’s gross domestic product                                      Future of Work. ”
                (GDP) by 2021, and increase the growth by 0.6 per 
                cent annually, according to a joint business study by                                   Mohammad Iesa Morshidi
                Microsoft and IDC Asia Pacific. The study predicts a                                    Senior Principal, Korn Ferry Hay Group, Malaysia
                dramatic acceleration in pace of digital transformation 
                across Asia’s economies. In 2017, about seven per cent 
                1
                  https://mytn50.com/?language=eng
                2
                  https://news.microsoft.com/en-my/2018/02/06/digital-transformation-contribute-us10-billion-malaysia-gdp-2021/ 
                3
                  https://www.nst.com.my/business/2018/02/335373/msian-economy-grew-healthy-59pct-2017-bank-negara
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                                                                                             |   Digital leadership in Malaysia   |
                 What do great digital leaders look like?
            Great digital leaders are flexible and inclusive,               Together, these characteristics describe a leader who is 
            responding seamlessly to the push-and-pull priorities of       people-centric, not tech-centric. They’re humble leaders 
            the digital environment.                                       who are innately comfortable in dealing with risk in 
                                                                           unstructured and ambiguous environments. Combined 
            Drawing on the Korn Ferry Four Dimensions of Leadership        with strong situational and emotional awareness, these 
            and the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential,         qualities allow them to step back and empower their 
            we analysed the traits, competencies and drivers of            people to test ideas; to succeed or fail and change 
            more than 500 digital leaders, and compared them               direction as the conditions require. Critically, they 
            against population norms from our 4.5 million data point       create a supportive and focused environment for their 
            assessment database to create a distinctive profile of the     people through engaging and inspiring them in a strong 
            qualities needed for the digital age.                          future vision and keeping a continued eye on driving for 
                                                                           results.
            The unique characteristics of high-performing digital leaders
                                                                                               © Korn Ferry Institute 2018. All rights reserved.
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                                                                                         |   Digital leadership in Malaysia  |
                The digital leadership imperative
           Korn Ferry research indicates that leaders across 
           APAC including Malaysian leaders are not yet                    Korn Ferry’s DSI research quantifies the 
           digital-ready and risk derailing digital sustainability         compelling commercial advantages of 
           initiatives by perpetuating legacy ways of working.             digital sustainability: 
           We also hear from many leaders who understand 
           the need for change, but are struggling to balance              The index proves that high performers 
           performance expectations today, while innovating for            in the dimensions of sustainable 
           the future.                                                     transformation see a 5.6 percentage point 
                                                                           increase in profit margin (earnings before 
           The fact is, according to Korn Ferry’s digital                  interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation 
           sustainability research, failure to act now risks the           — EBITDA) versus the low performers.
           future success of the business and has real and 
           quantifiable bottom-line impact.                                People are the key to unlocking these 
                                                                           benefits; the DSI dimensions describe the 
           The research also pinpoints people as the lynchpin of           essential organisational conditions but 
           digital sustainability. The role of leaders in activating       great digital leaders must operationalise 
           people to support change can’t be underestimated.               them for success.
           But first, leaders must personally transform in order 
           to inspire and engage their people and create a                 Download the report here:
           more open, agile and networked culture to power                 http://engage.kornferry.com/digital-
           performance.                                                    sustainability-kfhome
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