SINGAPORE, 2 APRIL 2009 - IT is vital for knowledge-sharing and business agility within the enterprise, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by EMC.
The report, Organizational Agility: How Businesses Can Survive and Thrive in Turbulent Times, is based on an EIU survey of 349 senior executives from companies around the world.
Executives from 19 different industries took part in the survey, 44 per cent had revenues of US$500 million or less and 31 per cent had revenues of US$5 billion or more. According to the report, 88 per cent of respondents, including half of all chief executive officers and chief information officers, believe organisational agility is crucial for global business success. However, more than 27 per cent place their organisation at a competitive disadvantage because it lacks the agility to anticipate fundamental marketplace shifts.
Executives point to faster access to real-time information (45 per cent), improved search functionality (38 per cent) and better integration of IT systems across the enterprise (38 per cent) as key enablers of business agility. A large number surveyed report that tools enabling them to find, filter and focus content are critical drivers for business success.
Agility and innovation
Most report that processes such as knowledge management and collaboration—as well as those able to pull data from multiple applications used for research and development, and product/service innovation—drive agility and innovation.
However, not all of these initiatives succeed. More than 80 per cent of respondents claim to have undertaken one or more initiatives to improve agility over the past three years, yet 34 per cent admitted those initiatives failed due to slow decision-making, conflicting departmental goals and priorities, risk-averse cultures and silo-based information. Additionally, 52 per cent admitted to having wasted valuable time hunting for business-critical content, hindering their ability to make business decisions rapidly.
