Biz leaders struggling with inertia amid unpredictable global conditions: Report

New Delhi, Sep 6

Facing continuous upheaval and the growing complexity of the hybrid business environment, business leaders are struggling to seize new opportunities amid unpredictable global market conditions, a new report showed on Tuesday.

In areas such as transforming customer and employee experience, and on critical issues such as talent acquisition and technology deployment, there is a gap between business growth and the ability to drive meaningful long-term change, according to the report by Verizon Business.

Two-thirds of business leaders (66 per cent) said the pandemic had exposed weaknesses in strategy, while 60 per cent said that they struggle to act decisively in response to new market opportunities.

"The big lesson we've learned over the last few years is that there's not a single right way to lead, build a culture or execute a strategy. This is why we also see many organisations attempting to adopt a 'bias to yes' as a guiding principle," said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, CEO for Verizon Business Group.

"They are increasingly giving employees the freedom to challenge the status quo and openly ask questions such as why a deployment may take so long, or why can't their business deliver on their customer needs," he noted.

The report was based on a survey of 600 global C-suite executives conducted by Longitude for Verizon Business.

However, post-pandemic, business leaders feel better equipped to make decisions quickly, think strategically about long-term objectives, adopt new technologies and develop more empathetic and trusting relationships with both customers and employees.

More than half of executives highlighted the increasing role played by leadership teams in technology adoption over the past 12 months, with cybersecurity services, data analytics software and tools and cloud enablement among the top technology priorities.

However, the report identifies a disconnect between intent and execution. For example, improving customer experience comes out as the top strategic priority.

However, only a third (38 per cent) say they have accelerated the use of data analytics to improve customer experience with even fewer harnessing automation to better serve customers.

The report also highlighted a concerning lack of digital skills as the most common gap facing businesses.