Mind the Gaps – 500 executives share Flat World insights
Of particular interest to me was the opinion of the CXOs and the gaps between the perspectives of CXOs and other business executives. In this survey we had about 200 C-level executives participating. Only 23% of the CXOs were CIOs indicating a good mix of business CXOs. Nearly 70% of CXO respondents are from companies with annual revenues of over USD1billion and come from a wide spectrum of industries.
CXOs believe that Technology and Regulations are the top change drivers. About 71% of respondents mentioned them (each) as having a significant or very significant impact on their industry. Impact of demographic changes was next (63%), followed by changing business cycles (61%) and emerging economies (59%). The good news is that nearly 80% of respondents indicated that they are already preparing themselves to address changes. However, only 12% of these companies feel they are industry-leaders in terms of their preparedness.
As more CXOs see the role of information and technology as ‘very significant’, we can expect more business involvement in IT decisions and better business-IT alignment. I think this is a good thing for the industry. I am not surprised at regulations being a top change driver. Companies today need to comply with and manage multifaceted regulatory requirements across geographies and business units.
An interesting point to note is that different industries view impact of forces differently. For example, if you view the detailed report mentioned earlier, you will see that the impact of emerging economies is highest in high-tech OEM and manufacturing while least in energy and natural resources. Impact of demographic changes is highest in the consumer goods industry. The impact of technology and information is high regardless of the industry.
In my next post, I will talk about the 3-year strategies and one-year actions of these companies.
