BrazilAccenture coins best practices for success as total enterprise reinvention
The turbulent economic environment of 2023 (and beyond) means that businesses must be more adaptable than ever. To help CEOs build a resilient and future-proof business, consultants from Accenture have grouped the best practices for success under a new phrase: ‘total enterprise reinvention’.
The world is going through a massive transformation. According to the recent ‘Global Disruption Index’ by Accenture, based on socioeconomic, geopolitical, climate, consumer and technology factors, the world saw a 200% disruption increase from 2017 to 2022. In contrast, the Index rose by only 4% from 2011 to 2016.
Going forward, the pace of change is by no means expected to slow down. “Companies now face a permanent state of change at a pace never seen before. Technology, consumer preferences and climate change in particular are driving massive structural shifts in how the world operates,” said Jack Azagury, group chief executive of Accenture Strategy & Consulting.
To navigate the complex landscape of change, a new report by Accenture suggests that companies need to take a radically different approach to how they strategize and run their business. This concept, coined ‘total enterprise reinvention’, prepares companies for “a new performance frontier” and is imperative for remaining competitive, said the firm.
Explained: total enterprise reinvention
So what is total enterprise reinvention exactly? As per Accenture’s ‘Total Enterprise Reinvention: The strategy that leads to a new performance frontier’ report, it is a concept “that places a continuous, dynamic reinvention of business and operating models at its heart, enabled by technology.”
Companies that adopt total enterprise reinvention exhibit six characteristics:
- Reinvention is the strategy. It is no longer an execution lever.
- The digital core becomes a primary source of competitive advantage. It leverages the power of cloud, data and artificial intelligence through an interoperable set of systems across the enterprise that allows for rapid development of new capabilities.
- Reinvention goes beyond benchmarks, embracing the art of the possible. Technology and new ways of working create a new performance frontier.
- Talent strategy and people impact are central to reinvention, not an afterthought. These companies consider change management a core competency.
- Reinvention is boundaryless and breaks down organizational silos. It tackles capabilities end-to-end.
- Reinvention is continuous. It is no longer a time-defined one-off, but a capability continuously tapped by the organization.
“Centered around a strong digital core, enterprise reinvention helps drive growth and optimize operations,” summarized Azagury.
The development of the new concept builds on years of research, said Accenture, and is further backed by a recent survey among some 1,500 C-suite executives worldwide. In the survey, 75% of leaders agreed that a range of external forces – but particularly the pace of technology innovation, shifting consumer preferences and climate change – will further accelerate their investment in digital transformation.
The research also found that those companies that succeed in embracing the six characteristics of total enterprise reinvention emerge as clear leaders in their landscape. “Leaders report generating 10% higher incremental revenue growth, 13% higher cost-reduction improvements, and 17% higher balance-sheet improvements than laggards,” the analysis uncovered.
Beyond financial value, the results are equally impressive. Compared with industry peers, frontrunners in total enterprise reinvention perform 32% better on sustainability and 31% better on experience – for customers, suppliers and employees. They also score higher on innovation, higher on talent management (including higher on inclusion and diversity).
Adopting the approach
“The time is now for companies to adopt a total enterprise reinvention strategy and embrace the art of the possible that is available today through technology and new ways of working,” said Azagury.
“Total Enterprise Reinvention isn’t a to do; it’s a to be. It requires continuous, dynamic reinvention. It becomes a unifying force, across the C-suite and every function and business area, because, by definition, all are involved and accountable for its success. It demands an outside-in perspective that connects what’s happening at the company with what’s happening in the world. And it requires new skills and an increased depth of understanding of technology, change management, communication and how to leverage partners to achieve results faster.”
