Executives' confidence in their organizations' ability to handle digital transformation and digital change fell 15 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to a 2017 survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The scope and scale of digital-driven change has grown substantially in the last five years, and organizations have invested significant time, resources and energy to keep pace. Yet a majority of company leaders do not feel they are better equipped to handle the technological changes coming their way than they did in 2007, when PwC conducted its inaugural Digital IQ survey, according to the report.
PwC surveyed 2,216 executives across 53 countries between September and November 2016. About 62 percent of respondents worked in organizations with reported annual revenues of more than $1 billion; 38 percent worked in organizations with revenues between $500 million and $1 billion.
The study refers to "digital IQ" as an organization's ability" to harness digital-driven change to unlock value."
Here are four findings.
- About half of executives (52 percent) rated their organization has having a "strong" digital IQ, compared to 67 percent of respondents in 2015.
- Forty-two percent of executives see the internet of things as disruptive to their business model.
- The study found companies with more comprehensive digital strategies also tended to achieve stronger financial performance. Strong financial performance was defined as reporting revenue growth and profit margin increases greater than 5 percent for the past three years, and with expected revenue growth of at least 5 percent for the next three years.
- About 82 percent of top-performing companies, in terms of both finances and digital presence, said they pay particular attention to the human experience surrounding digital technology and often included business, technology and user experience specialists in digital projects.
To read the report in full, click here.