Towards an integrated MCDM and BSC method to support the digital transformation strategy in railway companies

Abstract

Digital transformation is now widely discussed and applied in different enterprises and under various organizational aspects. Traditional industries recognize the need to innovate and digitalize their business processes and models. Among these industries, the railway sector presents a vast space for digital transformation. The railway has several operational, regulatory, regional and technological specificities that must be taken into account in the digitalization processes. Given the multiple aspects involved and the transdisciplinarity, the digital transformation strategy and roadmap of companies must be defined in a way that fits it to the corporate strategy, allowing digital transformation program to be implemented effectively, prioritizing internal sectors with the greatest strategic impact, generating greater productivity, business models improvement, security and, above all, competitiveness for the sector. This research aims to propose a model for the definition of the digital transformation strategy in the railway companies using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a tool for strategic organizational analysis and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to define the drivers for digital transformation in the railway. Finally, to demonstrate the proposal, a case study will be carried out at a Brazilian railway company.