Where the digital transformation is concerned, is your company a conqueror, observer, facilitator or planner? By analysing the digital agility of 330 large French companies based on interviews with over 400 decision-makers, Econocom, SIA Partners and Ifop identified four “digital player” profiles.
At the end of September, Econocom, SIA Partners and Ifop published a 2015 Digital Practice Survey. The survey, one of the most extensive of its kind ever conducted in France, focused on four main areas:
> Customer experience: is there a variety of digital experiences to offer a cross-channel experience? How much do you use customer data?
Employee experience: what digital tools and functionalities are provided for employees? How are they rated in terms of quality? What training is given for digital tools, issues and practices?
> Governance and process: what initiatives have been taken to review process? Is there a specific digital position? How involved is Senior Management?
> Ecosystem: does the company take full advantage of partnerships with digital? Is open innovation used on an ad-hoc basis or is it standard practice?
Each of the companies studied was given a score on their digital progress, based on their answers to the questionnaire. This enabled the interviewers to identify four main profiles, depending on their digital transformation approach and accomplishments.
THE observers: keeping an eye on digital… but nothing more!
Particularly prevalent in the manufacturing (33%) and building industries (56%), the observer accounts for 24% of French companies. Still in the early stages of digitalisation in the four main areas studied, these companies are “digitally curious” but with very few identified, visible transformation drivers.
So what do they want? To react to the competition and see how to optimise their processes. Unfortunately, the lack of financial resources and security issues are serious barriers to mutation. They also either have difficulty measuring the return on investment of the digital transition or predict a low ROI.
THE planners: a clearly-defined vision and an open approach
In 22% of French companies, the digital transformation involves implementing a governance and new, more digitally-oriented management methods. These organisations have slightly more contacts and partnerships with the digital ecosystem than other companies.
Their digital approach is cross-functional, well-organised internally and forward-looking: in other words, that of a true planner!
THE Facilitators: using digital TO BOOST THE COMPANY’S image
For the “facilitators” (27%), meanwhile, the digital transformation is driven by customer and employee experience, with a strong focus on uses and optimising practices.
And what are the main obstacles? Like the observers, financial resources are a problem, but the major issue for this type of organisation is resistance to change.
the Conquerors: MAKING HEADWAY AND innovATING
With a digital transformation that’s well underway in all four of the key areas, these companies (27%) are intrepid. Particularly present among CAC 40 companies (41%) and in the service industry (38%), these digital champions are notable for the high degree of involvement from Senior management in the digital transformation.
Driven by a need for growth and a desire to conquer new ground by offering new products and services or new procurement methods, the conquerors are implementing all the necessary measures to ensure an overall transformation, and aim for excellence across the board.
Whilst they’re the only type of company not to cite budget as an obstacle to digitalisation, the conquerors do encounter other difficulties, namely data security and a lack of agility within the organisations and their IT system.
The digital revolution may be underway everywhere, but organisations are not going about it in the sale way or at the same pace. More than just a buzzword, the digital transformation is profoundly changing things, and forcing organisations to rethink their business models, internal and external processes and the way they deal with clients, employees and partners…Some companies are only just beginning this phase, whilst it’s well underway in others, and it’s these organisations that are carving out a new position for themselves in the market. And tomorrow: will we all be conquerors?
Further reading:
– Sandrine Godefroy, CDO at Econocom: “the digital transformation is an infinite playing field”