The FINANCIAL — Despite expressing an unprecedented commitment to direct customer influence on their business decisions and operations, one-third of CEOs worry that the rest of the C-suite is out of touch with customers, according to a new IBM study.
The study, entitled “The Customer-activated Enterprise,” is based on findings from face-to-face conversations with more than 4,000 CEOs, CMOs, CFOs, CIOs and other C-suite leaders from 70 countries and 20 industries worldwide. The study, conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, reveals 60 percent of CEOs plan to directly engage their customers and proactively apply what they learn to set their business agendas in the next three to five years — up from 43 percent of CEO’s who now include customers in the development of business strategies.
“Our research with C-suite leaders over the past decade has shown that organizations have steadily shifted to embrace more open, collaborative and reciprocal models,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Business Services. “Today, CEO’s recognize that they can’t do it all alone. They’re opening up their organizations, breaking down barriers and actively engaging customers — providing customers a seat at the table to help shape their business model and strategy,” Kralingen added.
A new era of connectivity, massively available user-generated information and the mandate for open, ongoing communication is demanding new levels of transparency across an organization. Business leaders are breaking down internal and external barriers to open up new paths of collaboration, innovation and growth. Last year, IBM’s research showed that 44 percent of CEOs expected to open up their organizations to empower individuals. In 2013, 56 percent expect to do so – a 27 percent increase in just one year.
Definitively illustrating the depth of this new openness, a growing number of CEOs believe that customer influence should extend beyond traditional activities such as developing new products. Senior leaders are relinquishing tight control over internal affairs to acquire valuable customer input in such critical domains as business strategy development, pricing structure and social and environmental policies.
The IBM report uncovers a key correlation between the companies that succeed and their levels of external collaboration. Outperforming companies are 54 percent more likely to collaborate extensively with customers, according to IBM.
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