Chief Strategy Officer, Issue 15

Issue 15 | theinnovationenterprise.com

16

Profiling the world’s top female CEOs This list looks at the four most prominent female Fortune 500 CEOs and what they’re doing to become successful 26

Just how difficult is Amazon’s recruitment process?

Read about the importance Amazon places on hiring the right people

Who uses their desktop anymore?

We investigate the likely implications of Google’s algorithm change on mobile searches

editor’s letter Welcome to the 15th edition of the

Do you use the words strategy

Chief Strategy Officer magazine.

and tactics interchangeably? We

On the back of our workplace diversity focus in April’s edition of CSO, we’ve included a rundown of who we feel are the world’s

look at why there’s a marked difference between the two, and why this differientiation is key for

We hope you enjoy the magazine,

includes individuals who are not

it has been created to help spread

only recognized as leaders of their

new ideas within strategy, so if

respective companies, but also

you have any feedback please get

for their wider industry influence

in touch with me at

by prestigious publications like

sbarton@theiegroup.com.

Amazon has over 150,000 employees, with every single individual hand-picked to make sure that the online-retailer has the capacity to maintain its position as the market’s dominant force. We take a look

Simon Barton

organizational success.

top four female CEOs. The list

‘Time’ and ‘Fortune’.

Managing Editor

Also, if you like the magazine, please share it.

Editors George Hill James Ovenden

Art Director Chelsea Carpenter

Simon Barton Managing Editor Are you are looking to put your products in front of key decision makers?

at the hurdles Jeff Bezos insists

For Advertising contact Emily at

upon in order to find the perfect

ekutchinsky@theiegroup.com

Contributors Harriet Connolly Max Bowen Michaela Jeffery-Morrison

candidate.

This edition will discuss future business trends, focusing on the impact of digital technology on recruitment, supply chains and collaboration.

In keeping with the international spread of the CSO role, Max Bowen looks at the developing digital scene in Australia and how the country is currently in the midst of a transformation.

General Enquiries sbarton@theiegroup.com

2015 contents

8

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY

We take a look at how Australia is transforming its digital fortunes

5 FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS The impact of digital technology on divisions across every company including: recruitment, supply chain and collaboration

20

12 THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT George Hill looks at the Financial Times’ new online advertising model

22

STRATEGY VS. TACTICS

WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?

We discuss the difference between strategy and tactics and what both concepts mean to organizations

We see what the implications of Google’s algorithm change are likely to be for mobile searches

16

CEO

CEO

PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS This list looks at four of the most prominent female Fortune 500 CEOs and what they’re doing to become successful

26 JUST HOW DIFFICULT IS AMAZON’S RECRUITMENT PROCESS? Read about the importance Amazon places on hiring the right people

chief strategy officer

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5

Future Business Trends by james ovenden editor

“

As digital technology opens new opportunities to innovate, old markets are increasingly being disrupted.

”

n his seminal work, The

I

Christensen’s idea was that a

Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton

new company invents and begins

M Christensen argues that

marketing an inferior product in

the process that causes great

the eyes of industry incumbents,

companies to fail is ‘disruptive

who fail to see it as a threat

innovation’ driven by technology.

because they don’t believe

Christensen has gone on to

it would interest established

become something of a hero

customers. Customers, the

figure for Tech in particular, with

incumbents believe, desire the

technology companies leading

premium quality, attentiveness

a cavalcade of disruptive forces

and incremental improvements

through a number of different

they offer them. This failure to

industries in recent years,

appreciate the unstated needs of

causing permanent realignment

their customers and adapt leads

in sectors unused to change.

to the collapse of companies.

chief strategy officer

6

FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS

This is currently being seen

Deloitte’s report argues that the

more effective, cut costs,

across the business spectrum

very nature of the ecosystem is

and mitigate risk. Increased

on an unprecedented scale.

changing, and is set to change

globalization will also feed

Business is undergoing a profound

further. Customers will become

into these value webs, and

change, at a pace that even

even more active participants,

firms will see value being

Christensen himself would not

the Internet of Things will grow to

created not only within firms,

have anticipated. The nature of

upwards of 26 billion devices, and

but in the rich interactions

disruption is now different to what

there will be a multitude of new

between them, creating

it was when he studied Disk Drive

platforms, filling functions that

thousands of partnerships in

technology firms. Driven by the

even current disruptors may fail

the process. A further trend

amount of venture capital being

to provide.

will be that globalization

pumped into new enterprises, the value of data as an asset, and the influence of Christensen’s work itself - which has been treated as advice by his acolytes, and has in

combines with localization.

Deloitte’s report argues that

Deloitte’s study points to

businesses will have to adapt to

Nestlé, which operates its

the changing nature of ecosystems

networks according to the

in a number of ways.

basic principle: ‘Centralize

opportunities to innovate, old markets are being disrupted. Every piece of data is being digitized, and the global business landscape is becoming more connected.

Everything that worked in the past

The Internet of Things is

what you can.’ Economist

set to be a major cause of

Brook Adams once argued

disruption. Much low-skilled

that all economies move

work will be automated,

toward centralization, and it

giving way to a new staffing

will be a skilled balancing act

structure with a greater

for firms to fight that natural

focus on workers with niche

instinct.

specialities, as well as more

is having to be re-evaluated in this

contract workers. Talent

new environment, and previously

sourcing and recruitment

strong arrangements are being

will be irrevocably altered

destroyed. Deloitte Consulting’s

as a result, and freelance

recently released business trends

platforms will become more

report, Business Ecosystems Come

prevalent.

of Age, subsequently uses the metaphor of ecosystems to world.

chief strategy officer

Outside the supply chain, businesses will also depend more on collaboration in other areas. The move to contract workers will see companies share employees and talent, as well as

supply chain

describe the current business

collaboration

As digital technology opens new

what must, but decentralize

recruitment

some ways become self-fulfilling.

The IoT will also have a

ideas and innovations,

massive impact on supply

bolstered by the advances

chains, helping them to

in communication and

evolve into so-called ‘value

platforms that make

webs’. These value webs

connecting with other

span and connect entire

companies easier. Advances

ecosystems of suppliers and

in Big Data mean that

collaborators, which will be

information is set to be

7

traded like never before. All

performance improvement,

Deloitte’s survey implies

of this will lead to entirely

and help hone capabilities.

a level of destruction, as

new business models,

Leaders who recognize

opposed to disruption in future

models that emphasize

the importance of such

business trends. One case

agility in the market place.

platforms will understand

study beneficial to looking at

that the greatest opportunity

how businesses are currently

is to find the influence points

progressing when faced with

that capture a larger share of

such disruption is the private

the value created there.

car industry. Faced with the

As the nature of business changes, so too will the way it is taught. More and

introduction to the market of

more business degrees are incorporating innovation and disruption. The Deloitte study also points to an increase in degrees being offered with a social focus.

These are designed to suit the sort of high-achieving entrepreneurs looking to have an impact on the social sector and catalyze change - to make a difference to society as well as succeed in their field. Deloitte notes are replacing the old type of leaders, for whom this was far less of a consideration.

regulation

education

FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS

With innovation moving

Uber and Hailo, taxis have been

forward at such a pace,

up in arms as they attempt to

regulators are already

block their perceived ‘intrusion’

struggling to keep

into the sector, often citing

up, and firms such as

things like their ability to avoid

Uber and Airbnb are

the same regulations that they

testing the boundaries

face, despite black cabs having

of their frameworks.

a range of advantages over

More important than

their new competitors.

conventional regulations now is reputational risk.

Social media is such a powerful force that keeping business behaviour in line is a completely different proposition to what it was, one that is arguably far more

platforms

difficult than when there Platforms are set to be vital

was just a regulator with a

moving forward. As well

list of rules. Now there is an

as aggregation platforms,

unruly and often irrational

social platforms, and

mob of Twitter users

mobilization platforms, there

looking to shame corporate

will be a fourth platform

wrongdoers for any small

introduced in response to

malfeasance, often with a

the dynamic and demanding

seemingly arbitrary level

environments created. These

of outrage.

are ‘learning platforms’, which will make work lighter for their participants, as well as aid knowledge, accelerate

Some firms have, however, adapted to this change in the market place. One example of this is Addison Lee, which has dealt with Uber’s meteoric rise by improving its own technology and developing its App, as opposed to trying to compete on price or changing its service. In February, Addison Lee reported profits for 2014 of £33.5m, up 55%.

This may be the way we see existing models cope with the influx of disruptors. Those who adapt quickly to new technology yet still emphasize their point of difference and don’t compromise on price will flourish, consolidating their position by buying up those who fail to do the same. chief strategy officer

8

The Australian Government’s New Digital Strategy by max bowen director, strategy events

“

The lack of coverage in more indigenous areas of the nation is still a problem, but it was addressed in 2013 as part of Australia’s strategy to reform itself to be ready for digital.

”

A

ustralia is in a period of digital disruption. It is

struggling to achieve its goals though, with former News Corp Australia CEO, Kim Williams, stating, ‘[Australia] is not managing the change at all well,’ and that ‘the opportunities will be infinitely larger and more interesting, [but] the journey is still in its infancy.’

chief strategy officer

9

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY

“

“

The country’s clearly going through a process of change at the moment and is planning accordingly.

”

This comes only a year or so after the Australian government embarked on an initiative to include lessons about technology on the school curriculum from foundation to year 8.

”

chief strategy officer

10

Kim Williams says,

We’re up

This comes only a year or so after the Australian government embarked on an initiative to include lessons about technology

or a fascinating

in the school curriculum from

ride’. foundation to year 8.

To help this, the Australian government has pumped nearly

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY

Here are a few eyeopening statistics from the australian Bureau of Statistics

Whilst this is positive news, focusing on the number of connections as a metric is somewhat shortsighted. Perhaps a more telling statistic was that only 30.2% of Australian businesses used the internet to take orders, with industries such as agriculture, finance and insurance almost

AU$7 million dollars into higher

untouched by online ordering.

education, with the hope that more students will take up IT

Although it’s difficult to ascertain

related courses designed to help

much from these statistics

fill the current talent gaps in the

shown in Figures 1 to 3, they are

Australian workforce.

the problem, with most having

of Australian businesses had used the internet to take orders

a reliable internet connection.

Fig 1.

Getting people online is not

However, the lack of coverage

low, especially for a country as developed as Australia. If these percentages were to increase, it’s probable that the nation would be home to more efficient companies, which could well help Australia

in more indigenous areas is still

overcome its problems with digital.

a problem, even though it was addressed in 2013 as part of

The country’s clearly going

Australia’s strategy to reform itself

through a process of change

for the digital age.

at the moment and is planning of web use is from desktop

accordingly. Its plans to roll out

Fig 2.

the nation, coupled with further

Wi-Fi to the indigenous areas of education expenditure and medical benefits to allow doctors to see their patients through video, should also put them on the right path - not to mention the government’s plea to companies

of the population have access to the internet Fig 3.

chief strategy officer

to implement cloud computing and open data in their working operations.

As

Kim Williams

says,

‘We’re

up

for

a

fascinating

ride.’

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The Financial Times’ New Online Advertising Experiment by george hill editor

chief strategy officer

13

THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT

T

he Financial Times (FT) was

The advertising change is one

not known as the most

of the most significant and with

progressive newspaper until a

their previous success with the

decade ago, mainly because it

paywall transferring to many other

has a 127 year history and when

publications, it may be that this

you have that much time behind

same approach is adopted by

you, it can sometimes take a

other advertisers.

while for changes to occur.

Traditional online advertising is

However, last week they

charged based on impressions

managed to change the way that

and clicks. They get a certain

advertisers pay for ads on their

amount of money for the number

site and it seems to have worked

of people who have seen an ad

well. This follows on from their

and then more money every

successful online subscription

time somebody clicks on the ad.

service (or paywall) that has been

The problem with this system is

widely emulated by other titles

that the impressions could have

across the world.

little impact as there is no way of knowing how many people have paid any attention and click throughs are easy to falsify, leaving them open to abuse.

The FT have taken the idea of brand recognition and brought it into the online advertising space.

They have found through their research that readers who see an ad for five seconds or more are up to 50% more likely to display familiarity and association with a brand.’ It means that the more people are shown a particular advert, the more likely they are to have recognition of that brand or product in the future, increasing the likelihood that the customer will make a purchase.

chief strategy officer

14

THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT

By charging advertisers a per hour

that the readers who sign up for

rate, it means that ads are shown

the initial offering will develop a

to readers for longer and in a

reading habit and feel compelled

far more targeted way. It allows

to sign up for the full product.

for not only increased brand

They believe that people will not

recognition for the advertiser, but

be able to develop this habit with

also a guaranteed income for the

limited access to content.

publisher. It is a much simpler and more effective way of advertising that allows for a highly targeted campaign and 10% more time on page than traditional CPM advertising.

articles each month, which gives the FT the opportunity to advertise to them without the necessity to subscribe, further opening its potential to advertise to passing

By using Chartbeat to help make

interest visitors or those looking

the process more productive

only for specific subject matter.

through data, the FT have put a system in place where advertisers are only charged after an ad has been seen in a prominent position for over 5 seconds. Rather than hoping that people have seen an advert through an impression or paid attention to it due to a prominent position, they are almost guaranteed to have noticed it if the algorithm has flagged it.

A new approach to paid advertising has perhaps been prompted by their announcement in March that they have slightly adjusted their paywall policy to firstly attempt to get more subscribers and secondly to increase their online ad revenue.

They have given people the opportunity to pay ÂŁ1/â‚Ź1/$1 for the first month before paying the full list price in order to become full subscribers once that month ends. The thinking behind this is

chief strategy officer

A non-subscriber can also read 8

The question is whether the new advertising model will be something adopted by others. As it requires a considerable feedback loop and analytics based system to establish the validity of each ad and whether these five second have truly engaged the customer.

Regardless of spread, it will be interesting to see how it works in future and whether this is a genuine game changer.

ie.

The Leading Global Voice in Strategy HOW STRATEGY LEADERS EXECUTE ON BIG PROJECTS TO ACHIEVE GREAT RESULTS

16 by harriet connolly director, global operations

Profiling the World’s Top Four Female CEOs L

ast year, Quantopia, an American trading platform,

identified that female-led Fortune 1000 companies had performed better than S&P 500 organizations between 2002 and 2014.

With this in mind, we are going to look at four of the most prominent female CEOs working for Fortune 500 companies, determining what strategies have made them so successful in their field amongst a male dominated job role.

chief strategy officer

CEO

17

PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS

2 3 4

Mary Barra general motors

Indra K. Nooyi

General Motors has a historic

pepsico

company culture, and with the recent ignition switch debacle,

Meg Whitman hewlett-packard

Having taken the reigns at Hewlett-Packard in 2011, she

Indian-born Nooyi became CEO of

where 32 deaths were linked to

PepsiCo in 2006. Cleary someone

faulty cars still fresh in everyone’s

who puts a lot of emphasis on

minds, being the CEO of General

innovation, R&D costs at PepsiCo

Motors is a real challenge.

have risen by 25% since 2011.

Mary Barra has come out fighting

was immediately thrown in

The success of this spending

however, when in 2014 she

at the deep end, with the tech-

is evident in the fact that products

unveiled General Motors growth

giant experiencing one of its

launched in the last three-years

plans, which included expansion

leanest spells.

now make up 9% of their revenue.

into China and growing their

Whitman’s tenure hasn’t been

She held the top-spot on Brendan

without its blemishes however,

Woods International list of the

In April 2014, she was on the cover

with Bloomberg labelling her as

world’s most powerful female

of Time’s ‘100 Most Influential

the most underachieving CEO

CEOs for five years, with her reign

People in the World’ and rightly

in 2013.

ending in 2014.

takes her place as second on

She should however be praised for

She was recently named

the fact that in the third-quarter

by Fortune magazine as the

of last year Hewlett-Packard’s

sixth most powerful woman in

sales rose for the first time in

the world.

Cadillac brand.

this list.

three years.

With the New York Times stating that Whitman was one of the likeliest females to first make President, she definitely deserves a place amongst the world’s most powerful female CEOs.

chief strategy officer

18

PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS

Virginia Rometty ibm

IBM’s CEO, Virginia Rometty, oversaw a decline in her company’s revenue in 2014, the second consecutive year.

It’s her relentless investment in new technologies and strategic partnerships however that makes Rometty stand out. For example, mobile and cloud services revenues rose by 69% last year.

She’s also agreed a partnership with Apple, which will see IBM provide its services on the iOS platform.

A member of the ‘Time 100’ in 2012 and a frequent name on Fortune’s ‘50 Most Powerful People in Business’, Virginia Rometty is currently the most powerful female CEO in the world.

Despite the careers of the women above, an imbalance at the highest echelons of the world’s biggest companies continues to persist. Currently, women hold a mere 5.2% of Fortune 500 CEO roles.

This is clearly something that must be addressed if we want to work in a business environment that promotes equality.

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20

Strategy vs.

Tactics by simon barton managing editor

“

People commonly use the words ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ as interchangeable - this is a misconception, they’re different and both serve separate functions.

”

W

hen two boxers get in the ring they’ve normally

had months of intense physical training and trash-talking.

Whilst the sport is seemingly surrounded by brutishness alone, a boxer’s ability to punch will rarely win him a fight. The reason for this is the minute margins between success and failure at the elite level, meaning that strategy and tactics are imperative when attempting to wear down an opposing fighter.

chief strategy officer

21

STRATEGY VS. TACTICS

People commonly use the

Time orientation also marks a

Front-line workers need to be

words ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’

significant difference between the

as knowledgable about tactics

interchangeably - this is a

two. Strategy, whilst not always

as senior management. For this

misconception, they’re different

about the future, is predominately

reason, thinking tactically as an

and both serve separate functions

about setting targets for

entire company is an operation

when attempting to achieve a goal.

development. It allows company

requires experienced leadership

If we revert back to the boxing

decision makers to visualize

and a strategy that can be

analogy, the strategy could be to

where the company is going in a

communicated easily,

unsettle the opponent early-on,

particular industry.

with the tactics to start fast and go

Anyone who has the responsibility

Tactics on the other hand are

of setting a company’s strategy

almost exclusively about the here

should understand the tactics

For organizations, strategy can

and now. They are concerned with

that go behind achieving it. It will

take many forms. A company

analyzing the current business

then be possible for companies

might want to guarantee its future

environment and finding ways to

to disseminate their strategies

by investing in youth. The tactic

solve any predicaments they are

to every echelon of their

would be to promote from within

in. Thinking tactically is basically

organizational structure quickly

or even put on management

the building blocks to strategic

and effectively.

courses. This is a clear distinction,

development.

for body shots.

showing that strategy is the ‘what’ and tactics the ‘how’.

Due to the nature of both of them, they are also carried out by

In a recent Harvard Business

different parts of the organization.

Review article they explained

“

that many organizational leaders can’t execute planned strategies because they don’t really

Strategy is the job of the board, and the ‘thinkers’ within the organization,

understand how they’re going

whilst tactics is something

to achieve the goals they’ve set -

which the whole company

emphasizing the importance of

should be involved in.

tactical awareness.

”

chief strategy officer

22

about

contact

features

Who Uses Desktop Anymore?

by james ovenden editor

chief strategy officer

gallery

23

WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?

G

oogle’s ‘Inside Adwords’ event was broadcast on a

live stream on the 5th May 2015, during which the search giant revealed a number of new product updates.

These however took a backseat with Jerry Dischler’s announcement that Google had hit an inflection point where in countries such as Japan, Canada and the United States more Google searches were taking place on mobile than desktops.

Google handles around 100 billion search requests each month, but it’s not known what the exact total made on mobile is.

What this news has done however is inspire Google to proclaim ‘micro-moments’ as the source of the mobile-revolution. They also revealed that 91% of people use their phone to look something up in the middle of a task - Dischler explained that this could entail a user comparing running shoes in a store or looking up a cookie recipe in the middle of cooking.

Due to this, the customer journey has been distilled into short, instinctive moments, where their needs are served on-demand.

These bursts of activity are what’s driving mobile - with convenience clearly an important factor.

chief strategy officer

24 so what are the

implications

?

of this

WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?

Well firstly it’s meant that Google

sites which don’t rely heavily on

has changed its search algorithm

organic searches, but more from

to favour mobile friendly sites.

links from other sites, shouldn’t

Therefore, when a user searches

be as concerned as they won’t be

for their cookie recipe they’ll

missing as much traffic.

be shown mobile-optimized sites before websites which are not. This has caused online publications such as Business Insider to label the move as ‘Mobilegeddon’ - with even the Washington Post unable to resist labelling the development as the next ‘apocalypse’.

Whilst it would be naive to suggest that this wouldn’t have an impact on traditional companies which have yet to implement mobile

It does however seem that we’re getting to a stage where nonoptimized sites will eventually be more and more ostracized. Making your website mobile friendly is not as easy as flicking a switch either, it often demands that a site’s redesigned and reconfigured so that it’s easily readable on smaller screens.

The desktop will remain an important part of Google’s strategy, but as recent developments demonstrate, it’s going to become secondary to mobile. With at least 50% of Google’s searches now going through mobile platforms in many countries, its users ‘micro moments’ will be what they want to focus on.

As we all know, Google’s changeup is only likely to be the start, as when they do something, everybody else is likely to follow.

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Should Your

Recruitment Process

?

Be More Like ‘s

by michaela jeffery-morrison head of strategy

“

T

With some of Amazon’s interview questions including, ‘How would

he job market has never

it’s up to companies to attract

been as ruthless as it is now

them. However, this change

for young graduates. In the UK,

has yet to hit many professional

you solve problems if you

the average graduate spends six

industries and it’s clear that we’re

were from Mars?’, there’s

months searching for their first

going to be waiting some time

no doubt that many of

full-time job, and more often

before candidates are, in effect,

Amazon’s interviews will

than not, the role isn’t aligned

interviewing companies.

have an interesting twist.

with what they studied, or their

”

future ambitions.

organizations make candidates

For the most desirable roles,

jump through hoops to get a

those at established companies

chance to contribute to their

with higher than average salaries,

success. One of these companies

recruiters expect at least 100

is Amazon, who under the

applications, with the final number

leadership of Jeff Bezos, have

often closer to 1,000. Not only

reshaped the retail industry,

are these figures daunting, it also

putting many bricks and mortar

throws up questions about the

establishments in real danger.

importance of higher education.

chief strategy officer

The world’s most innovative

One of the keys to Amazon’s

There have been claims that the

success is its incredibly arduous

job market is becoming more

recruitment process, which sees

primed for ‘sellers’, that is where

potential recruits go through five

candidates hold the power and

two hour interviews.

27

JUST HOW DIFFICULT IS AMAZON’S RECRUITMENT PROCESS?

To add to this, candidates know

Bezos continues to live by

companies like Apple, Amazon

that their application could be torn

the phrase;

and Sony will continue to be

up at any moment if a ‘bar raiser’, an evaluator who already holds a position at Amazon, decides that the application is not aligned to company culture.

The main job of Amazon’s ‘bar raisers’ is to make sure that prospective employees fit in with company culture. They also come from a different section of the company than the recruit, meaning that they do not feel the pressure to hire someone just because a position is open. This system has

‘I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.’

difficult. These companies will continue to receive hundreds of applications per post, so prospective employees better do

With some of Amazon’s interview

their research and understand

questions including, ‘How would

what their recruiters are

you solve problems if you were

looking for.

from Mars?’, there’s no doubt that many of Amazon’s interviews will have an interesting twist.

With questions like that, it demonstrates that Amazon are looking for people who can think laterally and creatively.

been in place for some time now,

Although the job market is

allowing Bezos to maintain the

changing, getting a job at

Amazon’s employees will tell you that the reward at the end of the process is a well-paid job and a chance to be part of one of the globe’s most exciting companies.

Sounds like it might be worth the effort after all.

same company culture he started with two decades ago.

chief strategy officer

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sforeman@theiegroup.com

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