Digitization on Boards 2 nd Edition Are Boards Ready for Digital Disruption?
Consumer& RetailDigitization on Boards 2nd Edition
Are Boards Ready for Digital Disruption?
About Amrop
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Consumer & RetailLife Sciences
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Amrop’s Technology & Media Practice Group
Technology & Media
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FinancialServices
Digitization on Boards - Methodology
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In the 2nd half of 2016, Amrop’s Global Technology & Media Practice Group analyzed board member profiles (supervisory or equivalent) of the top 20 stock listed companies by revenue in 15 countries (14 Europe + the US).
A board is considered as havingtechnology/digital competencies when it hasa digital/technology committee, or if 1 ormore board members are categorized as technology/digital profiles.
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Definitions
Technology/Digital ProfileTechnology/Digital/Innovation
Committee
A board member with professional operating experience from a company within software, hardware, infrastructure, internet, digital, online, telecommunications, social media, etc.
S/he has worked in such a company within minimum the past 5-10 years. Alternatively a CIO or CTO from other companies.
Guiding and advising the Board on issues related to software, hardware, infrastructure, internet, digital, online, etc.
FinancialServices
The pressures surrounding digital disruption and security are intensifying.
Yet when it comes to exactly how organizations are addressing digitization, the picture is fragmented and questions surround its role. To what extent is digital an agent of change for your organization?
Should you continue with business as usual? Or deliberately engineer digital into specific parts of your supply chain?
Should digitization have a higher purpose, driving innovation or business model transformation? If so, in what time frame, and with what resources?
Crucially, to what extent is your Board equipped to ask the right questions, find the answers, and implement solutions in the right place, at the right time?
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FinancialServices
What the Numbers Say
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FinancialServices
5% of board members in non-tech companies have digital competencies.Almost nowhere do we see any
significant movement.
Looking only at the digital
representation of the countries
analyzed over our past two editions,
the overall average rose from 5% in
2015 to 6% in 2016.
Non-tech CompaniesDigital representation in non-tech companies is low and slow-moving
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FinancialServices
Tech Companies
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43% of Board Members in tech companies have digital competencies.
Unsurprisingly, digital
representation on the boards
of tech players is far higher
than for non-tech.
With 79% representation,
Poland is the clear leader.
Digital representation is rising in the tech sector
FinancialServices
Tech vs. non-tech
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The gap between tech and other sectors is widening
Digital on tech sector boards is now nearly 9x other sectors, vs 7x last yearIn our last analysis the penetration of digital competences at board level was 7 times higher in
the tech industry than in others. So the gap is widening.
FinancialServices
Committees
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Only 3% of Boards have a Technology Committee. Traditional committees still dominate
Examining 300 Boards of listed companies we found only 9 official technology committees, (in 6 countries). Their rarity contrasts strongly with other committees.
FinancialServices
Committees
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9 Committees found overall
Newcomers 2017
FinancialServices
Gender Diversity
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Digital is a catalyst for gender diversity
Women now hold 35% of all board positions with a digital/technology profile – a significant uptake since last year
FinancialServicesThere is a correlation
between boards with tech profiles and higher female representation.
In Sweden and Belgium, all new tech profiles entering boards in 2016 are women.
Turkey, USA, UK, Spain named no new female digital/tech board members among the 133 new non-executive directors appointed in 2016.
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Gender DiversityDigital is a catalyst for gender diversity
FinancialServices
Views From the C-suite
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Amrop conducted confidential interviews with 19 board members from listed organizations during 2016 and 2017.
Few saw digital as having a primary role in their business.
So the next findings mainly give insights into companies for whom digitization plays a secondary role.
FinancialServices
Satisfaction
Of 19 board members who invited Amrop into the digital kitchen, half are on the journey, with much work done, and a long road ahead. A third are dissatisfied, hardly any fully satisfied.
Low Satisfaction indicates work in progress
Complex, fragmented organizational structures
Low or questionable ROI of digital, and other pressing priorities on the board agenda.
Digital initiatives have a short shelf-life and ‘good enough never is’
Boards’ understanding of digitization, citing the ‘Kodak example’ may mask digital illiteracy
For digital evangelists, realism and patience are the name of the game
FinancialServices
Threats
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Cyber security is a burning red thread -the most often-cited threat. And there’s more…
Cyber security is one of several threats
Regulation impeding progress in e.g. financial services, slowing recruitment of new board members or the digitization of critical processes.
Several fear drowning in excess data, with customers dissatisfied with their data access.
However, digitization
is a double-edged
coin.
With threats come
opportunities for
agile organizations
who adopt a clear
strategy, and get the
timing right.
FinancialServices
Investment
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Despite cyber security threats, investment in streamlining processes (often in multiple zones of an organization) are most common.
Emphasis more on exploitation than exploration.
Business model transformation rarely in the picture.
Process is first in line for digital investment
Little change since our last visit
Organizations still taking a step-by-step approach
Digital primarily an operational enabler.
The customer interface is a high priority.
FinancialServices
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InvestmentProcess is first in line for digital investment
Process streamlining/ infrastructure
Customer interface
Cyber security
Analytics
Recruitment Sales support R&D11% 11% 11%
47%
53%
21% 21%
FinancialServices
Profiles
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Boards face hiring dilemmas – agile thinking can solve them
As in 2015, the T-shaped profile is most wanted: broad business shoulders + digital incisiveness.
Cyber attacks aside, the stakes are high, e.g. using Industry 4.0 data to anticipate and prevent serious production blockages.
Dilemmas: youth (fresh digital knowledge, often in the heads of digital natives in successful start-ups) and maturity (seasoned hands, large-scale transformation experience in a corporate setting).
One solution, if the Board can accommodate it, is to compose the T-shape from more than one profile.
Or take existing senior talent to Silicon Valley, and engage in aggressive training and development.
FinancialServices
As seen, their scarcity contrasts vividly with other committees.
CommitteesQuestions surround the relevance of Technical Committees
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Yet another committee would be superfluous at this stage.
The digital strategy is often undercooked.
Other committees are already doing the job, (risk management, strategy. innovation).
Digital is an over-arching concern; bigger than a single committee.
Or a management task: management feed into, and/or are steered by, the board.
FinancialServices
Management Messages
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Our interviews reveal digitization can often end up chasing its own tail. Here are some potential traps (paraphrased). These may partially explain the low
representation of digital board profiles in non-tech organizations.
Chicken or egg? Digitization creates vicious circles
If we don’t know our digital strategy, how can we decide what if any digital profile/s to
bring to the board?Yet, how can we define a strategy without them?
Our infrastructure and processes are heavy and fragmented. How can we integrate digitization into
outmoded structures?Yet without digitization, how
can they be updatedand streamlined?
Technology evolves fast and dynamically. So systems quickly go obsolete, absorbing massive
resources and providing insufficient ROI to justify
further investment.
“
”
FinancialServices
Management Messages
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Costly mis-hires, strategic paralysis, risky re-designs….Boards can avoid vicious digitization circles with development and coaching programs for members, also working with their CHROs. With this knowledge in hand, the thinking can start. Here are some suggestions, shared with us by board members.
Board education can pre-empt them
Tap into internal
knowledge
Learn from tech
companies
Look beyond Silicon Valley
And also go to Silicon Valley
Combine digital and diversity
Engage in reverse
mentoring
FinancialServices
More on the digital journey | www.amrop.com
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Cyber Security | How boards can safeguard digital assets today for success tomorrow
From Disruption to Daylight | Travelling the digital change curve
Customer Experience 2017 | Retail executives deliver their verdict
Embracing Technology is About Innovation | Technology expertise is not just about IT
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