Personal Finance for Young Professionals - by Scott Gong Paperback

Book Synopsis

Organizational Digital Transformation: An IT-Enabled Program Approach provides a comprehensive, actionable framework for planning, executing, and sustaining digital transformation across modern enterprises. As organizations navigate heightened competition, accelerated technological change, and rising stakeholder expectations, this book demonstrates why traditional project-by-project upgrades are no longer sufficient. Instead, successful transformation requires a coordinated IT-enabled program management approach-one that integrates interdependent initiatives, aligns strategy with execution, and delivers measurable business value.

Drawing on decades of research and real-world managerial insight, the authors walk readers through the entire program management life cycle-from identifying and formulating a transformation program to defining, planning, executing, delivering, and ultimately closing it. Each phase is equipped with tools, templates, governance mechanisms, and decision frameworks designed to help leaders steer complex digital transformations with clarity and discipline. The book builds on themes such as program visioning, blueprint design, benefits realization, stakeholder analysis, risk and resistance management, governance structure, and organizational readiness, all of which are central to ensuring sustained transformation success.

Central to the text is the fictional yet highly realistic case study "Digital Transformation of The Sun News," which guides readers through a multi-year transformation journey. Through this extended example, readers observe how a traditional media organization evolves into a digital-first enterprise, applying program management tools to reimagine business processes, modernize IT capabilities, and adapt organizational culture. The case illustrates how program phases unfold, how decisions are made in dynamic environments, and how benefits mapping, project dossiers, and governance structures support enterprise-level digital integration.

The book is structured around the logic of the IT-enabled program life cycle, offering a chapter-by-chapter roadmap:

• Chapter 1 explains why digital transformation requires program-level thinking, describes the four phases of the program life cycle, and identifies the core responsibilities and skills required of Program Managers.
• Chapter 2 walks through identifying and formulating the program-including producing a Program Mandate, Program Brief, Program Preparation Plan, and conducting formal stakeholder analysis to establish strategic alignment and social feasibility
• Chapter 3 describes defining and planning the program, producing the Program Business Case, Blueprint, benefits plans, and an execution roadmap for moving into delivery.
• Chapter 4 covers executing and delivering the program through oversight, iterative governance processes, stakeholder communication, risk management, capability delivery, and benefits realization strategies.
• Chapter 5 addresses closing the program by reviewing benefits realization, ensuring organizational transition, and capturing lessons learned to support long-term sustainability.
• Chapter 6 concludes with a culture-technology perspective, connecting change management principles with program management practices to reinforce organizational readiness and adaptability.

Across these chapters, the authors blend academic rigor with practitioner relevance. Readers gain access to actionable templates, governance models, benefit maps, stakeholder tools, and program management artifacts suitable for immediate application in real organizations. This dual emphasis on theory and practice ensures the book is valuable not only for academic study but also for hands-on transformation leadership.

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Review Quotes

"Be not afraid: Even if you have a seemingly genetic aversion or allergy to financial planning in all forms, this book is for you. Scott Gong offers a light in the darkness, destigmatizing the daunting processes of money management with humor, intelligence, and the reassurance and encouragement the most skeptical and intimidated among us need." -Brit Washburn, editor and author of Notwithstanding, Homing In, and What is Given

I really appreciated the conversational tone and relatable stories throughout the book-it felt like sitting down with a friend who's openly sharing their journey. Scott comes across as deeply human, and his story is a powerful reminder that financial empowerment is within reach for young professionals from all backgrounds. -Verica Nakeva, licensed realtor