With all of the disruptions over the past few years, companies are having to re-think their strategies in terms of talent, technology and operations.
Accenture has identified a small group of companies, 8% of those in a survey they did, that are adopting a deliberate, continuous strategy of Total Enterprise Reinvention for every part of their business. The group explains that Total Enterprise Reinvention is possible due to technology such as AI and cloud computing.
As part of the research, Accenture surveyed more than 1,500 C-suite executives, 75% of whom agreed that a range of external forces—but particularly the pace of technology innovation, shifting consumer preferences and climate change—will further accelerate their investment in digital transformation.
“Post-pandemic, these leaders are systematically changing the game and their industries,” said Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, in a statement. “Over time, they are transforming every part of their company to achieve improved financials, breakthrough innovation and increased resilience, and more actively create value for all stakeholders.”
Methods of Transformation
Most companies (86%) focus on transforming parts of their business and treat transformation as a finite program rather than a continuous process. Accenture calls these ‘Transformers.’ The remaining six percent of companies are ‘Optimizers.’ They focus on functional transformations limited in scope and ambition—technology is not a significant enabler of their transformations.
Those that are Accenture calls Reinventors report generating 10% higher incremental revenue growth, 13% higher cost-reduction improvements, and 17% higher balance-sheet improvements than Transformers. They also deliver 1.3 times more financial value in the first six months than Transformers—a reflection of the speed at which Reinventors operate. Also, two-thirds of Reinventors say the delivery of their reinvention strategy is happening significantly faster relative to past transformations, compared to less than one-third of Transformers.
Companies that adopt Total Enterprise Reinvention exhibit six characteristics:
- Reinvention is the strategy. It is no longer an execution lever.
- The digital core becomes a primary source of competitive advantage. It leverages the power of cloud, data and AI through an interoperable set of systems across the enterprise that allows for rapid development of new capabilities.
- Reinvention goes beyond benchmarks, embracing the art of the possible. Technology and new ways of working create a new performance frontier.
- Talent strategy and people impact are central to reinvention, not an afterthought. These companies consider change management a core competency.
- Reinvention is boundaryless and breaks down organizational silos. It tackles capabilities end-to-end.
- Reinvention is continuous. It is no longer a time-defined one-off, but a capability continuously tapped by the organization.
