BUSINESS AND TRAINING
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• Leaders continue to focus more on using
advanced technologies to protect their positions
than on making bold investments to drive
disruption. Many executives are seeing payoffs
from their investments in technology, but
others are finding it difficult to move forward.
Challenges include being too focused on short-
term results, not fully understanding Industry 4.0
technologies, and too many technology choices.
• The skills challenge has become clearer.
The breadth of the skills gap is more evident
to leaders, as is a sobering awareness that
current education systems will be inadequate
to meet the challenge. Nearly twice as many
leaders said their organisations will strive to
train existing employees rather than look to
hire new ones. But research from Deloitte’s
annual Millennial Survey suggests that leaders
and young employees differ on which skills
are most needed and who is responsible for
developing them.
With these findings as context, we found some
leaders are making better progress than others in
dealing with challenges within the areas of society,
strategy, technology, and talent. We grouped the
leaders who seem to be getting it right into four
personas.
Social Supers
Certain leaders stand out for their ability to do well
by doing good. These Social Supers consider social
initiatives fundamental to their businesses, and their
optimism about creating societal impact influences
their outlook in several ways.
They were more likely to say their workforce
composition is prepared for digital transformation,
and far more willing to train their workers. Companies
with leaders who identify as Social Supers are also
growing more than those who haven’t successfully
found the balance between doing good and making
a profit.
Data-driven Decisives
Some executives are overcoming challenges by taking
methodical, data-focused approaches to strategic
decision-making. These Data-driven Decisives are
almost twice as likely to say they’re prepared to
capitalise on Industry 4.0 opportunities, and their
organisations are already reaping the economic
benefits of embracing it.
In the past year, almost half of such organisations
generated annual revenue growth of 5% or more,
while only a quarter of other organisations saw
such results.
Disruption Drivers
These leaders understand that investments in
disruptive innovations set their organisations apart
from competitors. They are confident, which gives
September 2019 Volume 25 I Number 7
• Leaders acknowledged the ethical implications
inherent in new technology, but few
companies are putting policies in place to
manage those threats.
Klaus Schwab, the man who first coined the phrase Fourth Industrial Revolution.
them an advantage when coping with the unknowns
of Industry 4.0, because more-assured organisations
will be better prepared to implement disruptive
technologies.
Disruption Drivers’ organisations typically have more
defined decision-making processes, and they are
more likely to make data-driven decisions with input
from diverse sets of stakeholders.
Talent Champions
These executives are preparing employees for digital
transformation. They are more likely than others to
invest in employee retraining for the future of work.
And while doing so, the Talent Champions are also
committed to societal impact and are seeing early
returns from their progressive efforts — and 64%
have already generated new revenue streams for
their organisations through socially driven initiatives.
Concluding
The report contains a much more detailed look at
what defines the four leadership personas, but in
general, we can see that “doing good” is good for
business; that using defined strategic processes
and data to make decisions can create competitive
advantages; that companies benefit from a long-term
view towards investing in Industry 4.0 technologies;
and that leaders who place a premium on training will
be more successful.
Industry 4.0
is something
that affects
every industry
around the
world and to
be successful,
a strategy or
at least an
understanding
of it is
essential for
businesses
going forward.
As we look ahead, the qualities of leaders will define
the future stability of organisations. Leaders who
embody the characteristics of the successful leaders
above are not only improving their own bottom lines
and growing faster than their counterparts, but also
are visionary in the ways they lead their companies
into the future. How will you lead in the Fourth
Industrial Revolution? PA
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