When Steve Balmer became CEO of Microsoft in 2000, the stock was trading at $40.00 a share. When he stepped down as CEO in 2014, the stock was trading at $40.00 a share. During his entire 14 year tenure as CEO of Microsoft, the stock never traded above $40.00 a share.
To successfully compete as a digital enterprise requires starting at the top with the CEO and Board agreeing on the right digital strategy for the company and a game plan to implement it. That is virtually impossible to do if the majority of board members are not digitally savvy.
As the old adage says, what gets measured gets done. So, if you are measuring the wrong things then the wrong things are getting done. Less than 30% of companies have a process in place to measure the return on investment of their digital technology projects.
A recent Harvard Business School study documented that “leading digital companies generate better gross margins, better earnings and better net income than organizations that have not adopted a digital-first business growth strategy.
The myriad of new disruptive digital technology innovations has raised the leadership bar for success. Companies can no longer pay lip service to innovation as an addendum to their business growth strategy if they want to compete as viable digital enterprises.
Failure to attract and retain top talent was the number-one issue in the Conference Board’s 2016 survey of global CEOs ahead of economic growth and competitive intensity.
A McKinsey Global Institute study found that employers in Europe and North America will require…
Talk to anyone working today whether in a startup or a well-established Fortune 500 company, and they will tell you the same thing – “I’m working so hard but there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do my job.” It’s not just that they are spending more hours working, but it’s also that…
It’s hard to argue that the speed and diversity of disruptive digital technologies doesn’t present a potential existential threat to companies of all sizes across all industries. While many organizations are still struggling to come to grips with this new competitive reality, many other are rushing off in multiple directions with multiple initiatives trying to get ahead of them or fend them off.
Most of you reading this blog are now fully immersed in your company’s annual planning and budgeting process for 2019. Unfortunately, many IT shops still go into this exercise with a defensive mindset that tries to avoid budget reductions rather than an offensive mindset that makes a compelling business case for new technology investments.
Almost every C-level executive I speak with tells me they are so busy doing their business that they have no time to think about their business. Whether it’s the back-to-back to back meeting calendars or the explosion of digital communication tools from e-mail to texting to Twitter, executives at all levels are completely overwhelmed by the demands on their time and their schedules.
