Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has published its global study titled ‘Where, How and What Leaders Will Compete With in the New Decade: Findings from the TCS 2021 Global Leadership Study’, based on a survey of 1,200 CEOs and senior executives. The study reveals a sharp divide in the digital strategies of better performing companies (Leaders) versus the laggards (Followers), including unexpected insights such as: 80% of Leaders are more willing to collaborate with competitors compared to Followers (23%).
Brought out by the TCS Thought Leadership Institute—which conducts primary research to help organizations transform for long-term, sustainable growth—the study examines how large global enterprises have recalibrated their competitive strategies through 2025, following the pandemic.
Specifically, it explores how management teams across the world are striking a balance between innovation and optimization in four areas—digital strategies, digital offerings, digital ways of conducting business, and leadership approaches.
“This study captures the pulse of global business leaders and their nearly ubiquitous belief that massive digital opportunities abound in the next five years—and their company culture must embrace an innovation mindset,” said Krishnan Ramanujam, Business Group Head, Business & Technology Services, TCS.
Key findings of the study include:
• Innovation was ranked as the most important aspect of organization culture, followed by Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity (#2), Quality Orientation (#3), and Customer-Centricity (#4).
• Leaders ranked Customer-Centricity as the top cultural priority, above Shareholder Value, while Followers ranked it number 6, indicating that higher-performing companies embed a ‘customer first’ mindset across the organization.
• By 2025, respondents believe 41% of their revenue will come from new offerings. Within that, Leaders expect 44% revenue from new offerings, while Followers expect 40%.
• The respondents projected that by 2025, 46% of their revenue will come from purely digital products or services. Leaders expect it to be even higher – 56%.
• When asked where they need to more effectively use data, Leaders ranked Digital Marketing Campaigns first, followed by Sales Initiatives and Customer Service, suggesting that their companies need to improve the way customer data is used to create demand and improve customer experience.
The report also offers data-driven recommendations to help shape the strategy of forward-thinking senior leaders on how to take their organizations to higher performance.