As many as 88 percent of respondents to a recent study conducted by the EIU believe that organisational agility is vital for business success.
The importance of rapid decision-making and execution is particularly striking among respondents in the C-suite. Fifty-two percent of all CEOs and 50 percent of CIOs polled say that agility is a vital way to differentiate their companies. Yet 27 percent of survey respondents say that their organisation is at a competitive disadvantage because it is not agile enough to cope with fundamental shifts in their markets.
The study, Organisational agility: how business can survive and thrive in turbulent times, identifies several obstacles to improved business responsiveness. Executives who took the survey cite slow decision-making, conflicting departmental priorities, risk-averse cultures and silo-based information as the main impediments.
The results also showed that mid-size companies are more nimble than small or large ones and sales, marketing and customer service are the most agile.
By contrast, finance, information technology (IT) and human resources (HR) are seen to be among the least agile departments of global organisations. This is significant, given the fact that finance, IT and HR play important roles in heightening efficiency, knowledge transfer and innovation.
Organisational agility: how business can survive and thrive in turbulent times is available free of charge at www.eiu.com/sponsor/emc/orgagility
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