Fascinating statistics from the C-Suite Study with Infographic

On October 7 IBM launched the latest in their C-suite Study series.  This is the first study where all offices within the C-suite were surveyed at the same time with the same questions. The title of this study is “The Customer-activated Enterprise”

You can download the full study here:   Global C-suite Study  or, access this and other studies via your smart device HERE

Technology is once again, as it was in 2012, the CEOs’ number one driving force impacting enterprises today. In this study, three areas emerged as critical to future success. Organisations should:

  • Open up to customer influence
  • Pioneer digital-physical integration
  • Craft engaging customer experiences

Here are some statistics from the below infographic, ready for you to Tweet:

55 percent of CEO’s cited customers as the most influential on strategic vision and business strategy – Tweet This

Nearly seven in ten CxOs recognize the new imperative – a shift to social and digital interaction. Tweet This

Organisations that have a united C-Suite are 28% more likely to be out performers. Tweet This

35% of CxO’s recognise that they don’t understand their customers well today. Tweet This

Two thirds of organisations have a weak digital strategy or none at all. Tweet This

 

CSuite Study 2013 Ben Martin IBM

 

What did you take away from the above? Is there something you would like to know more about? Drop by and leave your comments below.

How C-suite executives see the landscape changing

IBM collect some amazing data, delivered in a series of C-Suite studies, from over 4,000 C-suite executives. Watch this space to be notified of releases as they happen.

In the mean time here are some early discovery snippits along with an Infographic.

How C-suite executives see the landscape changing:

55% of CHRO’s forsee increasing organisational openness “TweetThis

77% of CFO’s support the development of new products and services “TweetThis

19% of CSCO’s anticipate a reduction of their partner base “TweetThis

71% of CIO’s see communication moving toward more social/digital collaboration. “TweetThis

63% of CEO’s want to increase partnering for higher business value “TweetThis

64% of CMO’s want to approach customers as individuals “TweetThis

69% of C-suite executives report that creating a consistent experience across all customer touch points is one of their top initiatives. “TweetThis

40% of C-suite executives are integrating internal and external data for insights “TweetThis

Ben Martin, IBM, CSuite

 

Infographic courtesy of IBM Institute for Business Value

How does the above information resonate with your strategies? Would you like a copy of the full report when published? Pop your comments below, it would be great to meet you.

How to build a social business [Infographic]

Social business adoption is expected to increase to 57% by the year 2017. Companies will need to better incorporate social business processes into how they communicate, engage and interact with employees if they want to innovate more, grow more and be more successful overall.

How to build a Social Business

If you noticed, the ten steps listed above include many references to people and process, further emphasizing the significance of the employee experience. Your social business strategy will be only as good as how well engaged and connected your employees feel to the company.

 

Social Business matters today – and will matter even more tomorrow

Social business is just getting started. But its value is clearly emerging for innovation, operations, leadership and marketing. So what are companies really doing?

In 2012 MIT Sloane Management conducted a survey to really investigate that question. Below you will find my highlights and takeaways from this study.

Even though social technologies have been around for some years now. The sentiment from the report is that many companies are still holding back on the adoption of social tools. Of those surveyed, 52% said that it was important or somewhat important to them today. Whilst 86% believe that it will be important or somewhat important in three years.
Social business is primarily viewed as a tool for external facing activities with marketing departments, sales and customer services being the main driving force with customer relationship management being at the forefront.
The second important use of social software was to drive innovation and competitive differentiation. So whilst the majority see the importance over the coming years most are viewing social tools as external activity, with a smaller group understanding its potential for internal innovation and collaboration.

The Barriers.
The report highlights the biggest barrier is leadership vision. However it is noted that CEOs are twice as likely to drive strategic adoption of social tools than the CIO and CFO.
Lack of understanding on how to measure the effectiveness of social tools is also cited as an inhibitor of adoption with many not measuring at all. Social business depends on leadership, metrics may not be critical when experimenting with social software, but as it becomes more important to organisations, having metrics in place can help managers assess, encourage and reward related behaviours. Helping shift their cultures to be more compatible with social business. CEOs recognise that leadership can be improved with social business, may be more than other members of the C-Suite.

The Challenge
Gartner estimates that the failure rate for social business projects is 70%. That is astonishingly high. Factors that could be responsible include:
– Not using the software deployed to solve a true business problem
– Integration into daily work flow
– Lack of senior management support
– Thinking email is a collaborative tool
– The use of “Social” with the word “Business” vs “Social Media”
– Not realising we are Human. (The three basic psychological factors : The need to connect, feel competent and the need to be autonomous in one’s actions)

The report asked “Why do you use social business at work?” The top three answers being : To network, effectiveness and to voice opinions.
Motivations to participate in social business activities are thus far from superficial and even go beyond just our social nature. They can help fulfil basic psychological needs.

The report also noted that larger organisations and smaller organisations appreciate the value of social business more than that of mid size organisations. With the smaller companies saying they could increase their voice and connect with customers to really make themselves seem bigger than they really are.

The Plan
A clear vision of how social media supports the business strategy was top facilitator in the report. So the first step in your social business journey is to create and communicate the broader social strategy for your organisation. What business challenges are to be solved with  social business activities? What is the Strategy to make this happen? What technology best supports these objectives? What kinds of social networks will support this strategy? Most important is to realise that your social business journey will take time, require and drive changes to your business processes. Defining organisational structure an how you interact with customers and employees.

Take the time to access where you are today, identify problems that are currently being addressed with social tools. Consider if the correct resources are being directed towards the right problems. If you are heavily regulated make sure you have governance process in place to address these. Identify the people or roles that will focus on social business and how these individuals will coordinate with each other. Use listening tools to collect information about your brand, customer service and competition. This area hols tremendous potential for organisations.

Ensuring that your business has enough resources is fundamental. Have you chosen to assign the tasks to an individual or will it be on top of someone’s day job. Will you have incentives in place, targeting and rewarding the correct people. Have you resources in place for communication, content creation, community management and training.

Whilst the report makes it clear that many companies are not measuring and whilst in experimentation mode this may not be so important. Measurement will however need to be conducted especially when redefining practices and processes, measuring adoption thought will be misleading so not advised. For people, often what matters most is whether the tools helps them to do their jobs more effectively.

 

Given that social business is just getting started you may be tempted to wait. But that approach may delay achieving its potential in your organisation, to the detriment of your innovation, leadership, operations and marketing.

Perspectives from tomorrow’s leaders in a digital world

Almost everyday I get the opportunity to discuss the digital landscape, present and future, with some bright minds. The latest study from IBM the 2012 Global Student Study, collected the results from over 3,300 students from around the world and it forms a fantastic read. You can get a copy from me here: Download

Here are some excerpts I found interesting.

Growing up with social and mobile technology at their finger tips, students have already integrated technology into their world view. When thinking about major forces, students are much more preoccupied with the impact of the economy on the job market, versus CEO’s who are are focused on technology integration.

Digital, social and mobile spheres are quickly converging – connecting customers, employees and partners to organisations and to each other. As a result, employees are beginning to be empowered as part of open, less rigidly controlled organisations. Customers are increasingly engaged as individuals rather than market segments – anywhere and at any time.

Although business leaders are acutely aware of the pervasive influence of new digital channels, students view them as even more important. Only 56 percent of CEOs use Web sites and social media for customer relationships today, compared to 70 percent of students who believe organisations should do so. Today, CEOs believe face-to-face interaction is the most important tool in building customer relationships, while students cite social media and Web sites. Both students and CEOs do agree, however, that traditional media falls behind both face-to-face interaction and social media/Web sites

Five out of ten students said they interact online with people they don’t already know – in other words, they use social media to reconfigure and expand their social networks into totally new areas. In fact, even before finishing college, students are joining professional social networks such as LinkedIn to establish and benefit from professional relationships.

Students are moving past the “personally social” and seeing the connection between social media and global citizenship. The majority of them, 61 percent, said that social media has helped increase their awareness of the world. They believe that, compared to older generations, social media has made them more aware of global issues and how they can make a difference in the world. Nearly half of students said social media has given them a more powerful voice in society.

Top-five questions from the 2012 IBM Student Study with greatest regional variation.

What did you think of those answers? Is the older generation ready to take steps towards transparency? Drop your comments below and say hello.

What do today’s CEOs think of social media? [Infographic]

CEOs are searching for customer insight.

Customer insight has always been highly prized, in recent years the pursuit has changed in two key ways. First there is far more raw data to draw from than ever before. Second, “knowing the customer” is no longer confined to segmentation,statistical averages and historical reference. Its is about knowing a customer as a human being – interests, attitudes and life circumstances that bring to life the preferences and needs.

Can organisations pick up on these cues, especially from the outside?

But even if they discover it, are their organisations equipped to respond with relevance and speed?

 

 

To read this study go here

Where are you looking for insight?

What challenges are you facing in this data rich complex society?