Operate Like a Disruptor

LATEST THINKING

Established companies of tomorrow will look more like their smaller, disruptive competitors of today. Why? Mainly because of massive change in competitive and consumer needs, in fact 58 percent of consumers globally say they find it easy to switch from one consumer goods brand to another. These dictate equally massive transformation of company operating models.

Accenture, in conjunction with the World Economic Forum, has painted a vision of the operating model of the future for consumer industries. As your company reinvents itself, we see seven essential transformative characteristics in three main areas as key.

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KEY FINDINGS

THE DNA OF A FUTURE-READY OPERATING MODEL

Within a new mindset, structure and economic viability, seven transformative characteristics come to life.

MINDSET

HUMAN

Future organizations will be filled with purpose-driven intrapreneurs who value life-long learning.

LIVING

Highly agile organizations will continually re-shape, adapting to a volatile market.

ENHANCED

Consumer industry disruptors have digitalized 50 percent of their processes, compared to 27 percent by incumbent consumer industry companies.

STRUCTURE

ECOSYSTEM-FRIENDLY

The power of partnerships: 1+1=3

MODULAR

Establishing a “plug-and-play” structure, company leaders efficiently accelerate development.

FLUID

A workforce that includes permanent employees, company affiliates, partners, publicly available talent and consumers.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY

ENDURING

Changing consumer behavior—driven by the emergence and fast adoption of innovative technologies—is making many question whether consumers have fallen out of love with big brands.

“Changing consumer behavior—driven by the emergence and fast adoption of innovative technologies—is making many question whether consumers have fallen out of love with big brands.”

OLIVER WRIGHT

Managing Director, Accenture Strategy, Consumer Goods & Services

RECOMMENDATIONS

Changing the operating model is no small feat, but is necessary for companies to achieve sustainable results in an ever-changing world. A few first steps help:

Clarity comes first. Prior to changing its operating model, a company must achieve clarity about its strategy and business models.
Take a zero-based “clean sheet” approach. They are building the organization to create value and deliver against the strategy; the core should focus on the muscles required to win.
Leaders will need to empower employees to experiment, building trust in data-led decision making.

RADICAL RESKILLING KEY TO REINVENTION

With an expected shortage of talent, companies that look to simply hire for the digital era will find themselves in an expensive talent war for scarce skills. Scaling up new skills develops workers' capabilities in all things digital—is 63 percent more cost effective than recruiting (and a more realistic option), according to General Assembly Benefits and ROI of Talent Pipeline-as-a-Service, 2017.

Cost Reduction of Radical Reskilling vs Traditional Hiring over three years