Smart Technology Offers Vast Business Potential, Yet Relatively Small Proportion of Companies Take Advantage, Says PA Consulting Group Survey
Global survey of over 200 global business leaders on how data and smart technology are used to enhance business value
New York, October 11, 2011 – According to a PA Consulting Group global survey, smart technology offers vast business potential, yet a relatively small proportion of firms appear to be realizing it. The survey of 216 global business leaders showed that 74% of business leaders believe that competitive advantage will come from innovation and agree that a smart approach is important; however, less than a third of the companies analyze and act on the data that comes directly from customers, and 40% of the data that companies are using is inaccurate.
Smart technology allows organizations to monitor and interact with their employees, customers, suppliers and partners in real time. Used intelligently, it helps organizations spot business opportunities and become more competitive. 81% of those surveyed by PA Consulting achieved the promised tangible benefits when implementing a smart initiative. More than half (58%) of those surveyed believe that failure to embrace smart initiatives will severely impact on how competitive and successful their organizations will be in the future.
“It’s clear that businesses are at an early stage of maturity in maximizing the value of smart technology,” commented PA Consulting’s Peter Siggins, expert in smart organizations. “It’s also evident that the advances in technology are running well ahead of the readiness of organizations to make the necessary and critical changes to the way they operate. This includes breaking down silos and making smart technology a boardroom issue. Organizations must allocate dedicated resources to look at how data and information - both within and outside the enterprise - can be fully leveraged.”
Fundamental to the smart organization is the ability to capture, analyze and act on information. To do this effectively, organizations need to break down traditional boundaries and start sharing information across the company. The survey shows that in over a third (36%) of cases, business units are finding it difficult to work together to facilitate cross-company information intelligence, and middle management is resisting change. And while smart technology requires the effective use of information and data, only 44% of organizations surveyed have resources dedicated to managing and innovating with data assets.
The survey illustrated that organizations are also faced with barriers to smart implementation: the challenge of securing stakeholder support, implementation taking longer than expected timeframes, separate business units having difficulty working together to successfully implement, and a lack of agreement at a senior level on business priorities and potential solutions.
Around half of business leaders surveyed also said they had not adequately supported staff during the transition to new ways of working, and only 10% are seeking ways to improve internal communications through connected working.
How can business leaders create the right environment to allow the smart organization to flourish?
- Create consensus among business leaders to move towards a smarter organization. To take advantage of the opportunities presented by smart technology, senior leadership must champion innovative thinking and inspire their organizations to think afresh about the way they do business.
PA Consulting’s survey highlights a lack of consensus between senior leaders on key business challenges and how they should be addressed For example, only 16% of COOs believe new technologies are having a significant impact on their businesses, compared to 52% of CIOs. To exploit smart approaches, members of the senior team must ensure their priorities are aligned.
- Support and recognize your people in the process of becoming smarter. Just 11% of organizations surveyed are focusing on training and development for their staff to adopt smart technology. Companies must remember that it is their people who use the smart technologies, their people who communicate the benefits (both from a customer and employee perspective) and their people who can also block the prime benefit of smart initiatives: information.
- Create conditions that allow data and information to be readily shared, analyzed and combined in innovative ways. PA Consulting’s survey reveals that traditional organizational boundaries are an obstacle to leveraging information and data across the enterprise, and often technology architecture mirrors this complexity. An example of a company that has successfully broken down silos is MAN Diesel. Engineering company MAN Diesel was a cluster of companies and individual business models, processes and IT systems when it was formed through a series of mergers. To become a smarter organization, a cost-effective master governance model and data management process was designed and implemented, giving the business access to standardized data across all its locations. By engaging with key decision makers and business champions on the change management process, the company ensured commitment to the new approach. Today, MAN Diesel has a global overview of customer and supplier activities and no longer wastes time and money aligning and matching data across functions, departments and borders.
Noted Siggins, “If you engage and motivate people so that they join you on the journey, embrace the power of existing and new information and technology, and develop a smart strategy to accommodate innovative thinking, then you will have set the stage for smart technology to flourish in your organization.”
For more information on creating a smart organization, visit www.paconsulting.com/smart
About the Survey
The 2011 business leader survey on smart technology was conducted on behalf of PA Consulting Group by independent research agency TNS Research International (TNS), a global market information and insight group. The survey set out to understand the global challenges, opportunities and actions of today’s business leaders in companies with revenues ranging from $300 million to $1.5 billion+, across eight sectors and five geographies. The research included 216 in-depth interviews to delve deep into the drivers of organizations across the globe.
Who was surveyed?
-Roles:
51 CEOs
58 CFOs
33 CIOs
19 COOs
27 CTOs
28 SVPs
-Locations:
33 Denmark
32 Germany
5 United Arab Emirates
76 United Kingdom
70 United States
-Sectors:
5 Defense
19 Energy and utilities
51 Financial services
17 Government
20 Healthcare
42 Manufacturing
14 Telecommunications and media
17 Transportation
About PA Consulting Group
PA Consulting Group is a leading management and IT consulting and technology firm. Independent and employee-owned, PA Consulting operates globally in more than 30 countries and transforms the performance of major organizations in both private and public sectors. From initial idea generation and strategy development through to detailed implementation, PA Consulting delivers significant and tangible results. PA Consulting has outstanding technology development capability; a unique breadth of skills from strategy to performance improvement, HR to IT; and strong expertise in communications, defense, energy, financial services, government and public services, healthcare, international development, manufacturing and water. For more information about PA Consulting Group, visit www.paconsulting.com.
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Carrie Gray
PA Consulting Group
+1 212-973-5954
carrie.gray@paconsulting.com
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