Digital transformation trends in commerce education influencing the future business professor: Skills, challenges and implications

Abstract

The global digital transformation has challenged every aspect of life. The profound transformation of organisational processes, competencies and models is indicative of the technology mix and its accelerated impact on society (Gobble 2018). In addition, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated the technological impact on our social, professional and educational domains. Globally, reassessments of the current educational system and delivery opportunities have taken place as the shift to online and cloud-based teaching, learning and assessment was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Marr 2022). This disruptive era has opened up numerous new opportunities that will reward innovative institutions (Clark, Selingo & Cluver 2023). Student enrolments at higher educational institutions (HEIs) have reached their peak, where the registration of traditional students has fallen behind demand (Clark et al. 2023). In this regard, institutions are contemplating new business models because of the large-scale digital transformation and heightened student needs. The accelerated demand for accessible education cannot be met through the current traditional educational offerings (Sun et al. 2022). Therefore, institutions need to leverage technological advancements to address educational access and utilise increased demand (Brasca et al. 2022). The chapter provides an overview of the literature pertaining to technology-instilling trends in higher education, including that of upskilling the digital acumen of commerce professors, followed by discussions on the research method, results and findings. Lastly, the conclusion reached based on the research conducted is presented.