RESEARCH REPORT
The resilient operating model
5-MINUTE READ
May 20, 2021
In brief
- Organizational agility and resiliency are increasingly critical to helping companies deal with today’s rapid change.
- 74% of C-suite executives feel they need to completely rethink their operating models to be more resilient.
- 93% say their organization’s existence is jeopardized by operating models that can’t keep pace.
Organizations must be agile and resilient to survive in a world where the global economy has been fundamentally restructured by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing market shifts, emerging competitive threats and technological advancements. Companies need the ability to adapt quickly to these challenges.
Operating models that enable continuous adaptation are more likely to help organizations not only survive but thrive. However, 74% of C-suite executives feel they need to completely rethink their operating models to be more resilient. Organizations that fail to act now risk getting buried by the competition long before the next crisis.
Beyond value of shares to shared value
For starters, every company must consider their raison d’etre. Why they exist, their purpose and how they will create value—not just to shareholders but to extended stakeholders: their customers, employees, and the wider community. Defining a clear organizational purpose acts as the North Star to guide not only the overall corporate strategy but the operating model itself. Sustaining a sense of purpose over time means creating an understanding of how all levels and roles contribute to the organizational purpose.
Foresight begets agility and resilience
In a world of massive data proliferation, every company is challenged to derive insight from information. It’s another challenge that’s been exacerbated by the crisis. In fact, 68% of executives we surveyed ranked capturing insights as the most important element of the organization’s operating model for adapting to the COVID-19 crisis. Yet only 17% had full confidence their organization had the necessary insights to make the right business decisions.
Ecosystems as agents for change
90% of C-suite respondents consider building an ecosystem business model important for their company as they navigate the effects of the pandemic. Why? Partnerships allow organizations to rapidly access capabilities to refine their market approach. By turning to a trusted network of partners and alliances, companies can access the customers, capabilities, talent, and ideas needed to respond to changing market trends, new technologies, emerging competitive threats, and regulatory changes.
93%
of C-suite executives surveyed by Accenture said their existence is jeopardized by operating models that can’t keep pace.
74%
feel they will need to completely rethink their operating models to be more resilient as a result of COVID-19.
68%
of executives ranked capturing insights as the most important element of the organization’s operating model.
Making the change
By designing the operating model to create a state of perpetual motion, organizations can withstand unexpected disruption and rapidly exploit new opportunities. Here are some concrete actions for building agility and resilience.
Agile governance
Organizations need to put in place the right governance to ensure their operating model is consistent with their purpose and values. They should ask themselves: How should we organize the workforce and transition the way work is done? What can we do to foster an environment that promotes a culture of experimentation and innovation?
Take a two-pronged technology approach
Making the right moves when it comes to technology is nothing less than “make or break”. This can necessitate taking a two-pronged approach: Modernizing by making investments in new technologies, and evaluating existing systems to make sure they’re being used to the fullest.
Configure and reconfigure
Smaller, multi-disciplinary teams (“squads”, “pods” or “cells”) operating like discrete businesses within the organization can help boost agility and responsiveness. These squads, built around specific objectives, products or services, are available for the organization to "plug and play" at will. Bringing together varying skillsets, they break down functional silos and hierarchies and help drive innovation and customer engagement.
Invigorate the ecosystem
Organizations should take a fresh look at what each ecosystem partner has to offer. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What new services, capabilities and channels can they offer to help achieve long-term objectives? How can partners help drive innovation, develop new products and services faster, enter new markets and promote agility?
Decision-making at the edges
Empowering the organization with the ability to share real-time data across the enterprise boosts collaboration and drives better decision-making “at the edges” of the organization, in areas closer to the customer. This requires not only the right technology tools, but also the right practices. Inherent in this: Allowing employees to act with more autonomy and make decisions on what they see in the data.
Reskill, reskill, and then reskill again
Reskilling the workforce can never be a “one and done.” Instead, companies need to develop a culture of continuously adapting and building the skills of their people. Of particular importance is providing the workforce with the skills required to work with the latest technologies, creating a Human+Machine collaboration mindset.
Resilience now and in the future
Companies looking to gain the resilience and agility demanded by today’s competitive environment—in the short-and long-term—need to focus on their operating models. Specifically, that means harnessing insights, structuring and reskilling the workforce and re-invigorating partnerships to maximize organizational flexibility.