Canadian Businesses Show Strong Commitment to Digital Technologies, According to Accenture Study

Greater potential to align digital to core business strategies and the CEO agenda

TORONTO, June 5, 2014 /CNW/ - Established Canadian businesses can improve competitiveness by turning their strong commitment to digital technologies into more effective digital business models, according to a new Accenture (NYSE: ACN) report.

The research study, "CEO Briefing 2014 – The Global Agenda: Competing in a Digital World," reveals that Canadian business leaders understand the connection between digital business models and growth better than many of their global counterparts, but have yet to fully anchor their global digital strategy at the level of the CEO. The research includes insights from senior Canadian executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The majority of Canadian executives (51 percent) say that their digital investments are focused primarily on driving growth opportunities rather than on achieving efficiencies, versus only 31 percent of the executives surveyed outside Canada.   This suggests that Canadian businesses are more growth oriented with their digital investments than those in any other mature economy.

Even so, responsibility for digital innovation in Canadian enterprises is most likely to rest with a technology role, with 35 percent citing the CIO and 27 percent the CTO. Less than a quarter of Canadian respondents (23 percent) say responsibility for digital innovation rests with the CEO. That differs from responses of business executives in the global sample, of which 35 percent say the CEO is most commonly the leader of the digital agenda. Further, nearly four in 10 Canadian executives say that one of the most significant challenges they face when implementing digital initiatives is the lack of senior executive support.

"Our research suggests that Canadian business leaders appear more committed to implementing digital technologies than their counterparts elsewhere and they are more likely to see digital business models not merely enabling greater efficiencies, but driving growth opportunities," said Stephen Gardiner, Canada Managing Director, Strategy and Digital at Accenture.  "But they need to do more to make the digital agenda integral to the CEO's growth strategy if they are to use it to break into new markets, form new cross sector partnerships or create entirely new product and service portfolios."

Canadian business leaders are showing strong enthusiasm about the role that digital transformation will play in improving business performance, according to the study. They are more likely than their counterparts in the U.S. and other major markets to consider all of the major digital technologies important to their company in 2014, including data analytics (cited by 73 percent), mobile (77 percent), social media (64 percent), machine-to-machine communication (65 percent), e-commerce (82 percent) and cloud computing (65 percent).  

The study reveals that Canadian executives are optimistic about the economic and business outlook in 2014 compared to respondents elsewhere. Eighty nine percent are positive about the prospects for their company in 2014 compared to 78 percent of U.S. respondents and 76 percent of the global sample.  Against this backdrop, however, Canadian companies appear less likely than their U.S. and global peers to increase investment in research and development in 2014. Seventy one percent of Canadian respondents indicated that such investment will increase this year, compared to 80 percent of global respondents and 87 percent of those in the U.S.

"Optimism about business prospects in the short term will not make Canadian business immune from the potential disruption to traditional industry sectors caused by new technologies and start-ups," said Gardiner. "To avoid the gap between optimism and challenges posed by new competitors, established local companies in a range of traditional sectors should proactively explore new business models to disrupt their markets, before they are disrupted themselves."

The Accenture report outlines a number of steps that can help businesses to effectively capitalize on their digital investments:

• Redefine "digital" and understand that all customers are digital customers. Companies must adapt their customer facing models to better serve customers who are 'always on', continuously revaluating their purchase options and using multiple channels to engage with brands.
• Defend against potential disrupters and seek opportunities to disrupt. Established companies can compete against new entrants by using their existing relationships, customer base and supply chain competitiveness to proactively enter new market segments and create innovative customer experiences,
• Deploy digital technologies to reshape operations and become a digital enterprise. In addition to digitizing their products for customers, Canadian companies must also digitize their own internal operations to become more cost competitive and agile in the face of competition. This includes applying analytics and cloud applications to improve operational performance.     

To read the full report, "Canada's Digital Innovation Imperative: Why Canadian Companies Need to Back Optimism with Greater Digital Innovation," please visit: Accenture.ca/CEOBriefing2014

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 289,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

SOURCE: Accenture

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