DIGI TA L L E A DE R SH I P I N T H E N E W E C ONOM Y H OW L A RGE O RGA N I SATI O N S C A N EVO LVE TO MEET THE DEM A N DS O F THE D I G ITAL ECO N O M Y
K AT E Z AT L A N D
Practice Head, Digital
C ON T E N T S 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
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2 . T H E C H A L L E N G E : T H E PAC E O F C H A N G E
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3 . A U S E F U L B E N C H M A R K : T H E D I G I TA L M AT U R I T Y CU R V E
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4 . B U I L D I N G F O R CO N S TA N T C H A N G E : N E W S T R U C T U R E S , N E W TA L E N T
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5 . L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H D I A L O G U E : D I G I TA L A DV I S O R Y B OA R D S , S TA R T- U P L A B S A N D I N CU B AT O R S
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6 . CO N C LU S I O N : T OWA R D S T WO -WAY I N N OVAT I O N
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The MBS Group is the leading sector-specialist executive search firm, covering all consumerfacing industries. Founded by Moira Benigson in 1989, MBS took on its first digital search in 2000 and has continued to advise businesses on their digital challenges and strategies ever since.
1 . I N T RODUC T ION How can large organisations evolve to meet the demands of the digital economy? That has been the question for British business leaders since the dotcom boom of the late 90s, but it is more urgent than ever today. Turning traditional businesses into digital-savvy organisations, built for a world of constant change, is a challenge that requires strong digital leadership. The MBS Group asked CEOs, chairmen and digital leaders for their views on how enterprises can face this digital challenge. This white paper is the result of those conversations. It suggests how large organisations can reorganise to embrace a world of constant technological change – and offers pointers on the kind of digital talent that businesses will need to attract. This is a guide, providing practical tools for CEOs and business leaders – from the digital maturity curve benchmark to the emerging models that bring together traditional executives and digital natives for mutually beneficial dialogue – to help traditional organisations become digital leaders in years to come.
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“ T H E DE M A N D S ON T H E BUSI N E S S A R E C H A NGI NG ON A W E E K-B Y-W E E K B A SI S … W E ’ V E A L L BE E N USE D T O PA RTA K I NG I N A L OW-R I SK E N V I RON M E N T A N D YOU ’ V E G O T T O BE PR E PA R E D T O MOV E QU IC K E R .” CEO
FTSE 250 Retailer
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2 . T H E C H A L L E NGE: T H E PAC E OF C H A NGE 1 The digital landscape has changed beyond recognition over the course of the last decade; it’s easy to forget how much of the technology we take for granted today is still relatively new
2 Businesses that have been used to large change programmes that typically take 3–5 years have had to adapt to change at an unprecedented pace
3 The trend is set to continue and companies must adapt for a new world of constant change
For businesses that pre-date the digital revolution, the challenge is clear. Digital is a fast-changing world: in order to thrive, we need the skills, knowledge and flexibility to anticipate the impact of technological change. So it’s not just about buying in the skills we need to build mobile-enabled websites, or to become part of a social conversation with our customers, or to jump aboard the latest digital bandwagon. It’s also about the ability to transform in response to changes that are just around the corner – from the ones we can predict, such as wearable technology or the Internet of Things, to the ones we don’t even know about yet. That means looking at leadership skills and corporate cultures in a new, more flexible way. In the past, after all, when change was required in a business, they adopted large-scale change programmes that would last, say, three to five years. Now, though, we not only need to be able to adapt much more quickly, but also to adapt constantly. That means bringing in digital skills – harnessing the experience of “digital natives” who have grown up with digital culture and understand it intuitively – but also working out how to integrate this capability into the heart of organisations.
There are no easy answers to this challenge. But it is clear that many traditional businesses have been slow to react to the challenges and opportunities of advances in digital. They must now adapt to future-proof themselves in the new e-commerce economy: the following chapters suggest some ways how.
“ I F I T H A S TA K E N 1 5 Y E A R S F OR ORG A N I S AT ION S T O E M BR AC E DIGI TA L , T H E Y C A N ’ T TA K E 1 5 Y E A R S T O C AT C H U P ON S O C I A L .” MD
Social Technology Platform
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3 . A USE F U L BE NC H M A R K : T H E DIGI TA L M AT U R I T Y C U RV E 1 Responding to the digital challenge, businesses must adapt in a way that suits the existing business structure and makes the most of existing talent
2 In our conversations with leaders across a broad spectrum of businesses, we have identified a broad three-phrase process through which companies typically build up their digital capabilities
3 The process sees them first acquire digital know-how, then integrate it across the business and finally leverage their existing strengths
One useful measure of how far a business has integrated digital capability into its business is the digital maturity curve. Through our research and interviews, we have observed a three-phase process through which businesses tend to acquire, integrate and leverage digital know-how. Companies can use the digital maturity curve to assess how far along they are in the process of integrating digital leadership into an organisation.
PH A S E ON E DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISE OF THE CHIEF D I G I TA L O F F I C E R
In the first phase the business is operating at its lowest point from a digital perspective. Digital expertise is concentrated in specific roles and around specific elements of the customer experience. The business may look to bring in digital expertise from outside; once inside, it grows and develops within a largely siloed part of the organisation. The first phase is often characterised by the rise of the CDO, or Chief Digital Officer, who corrals and leads digital transformation in the early years. Depending on the size of the company and the scale of the task, they may work in a new functional area; in some cases this person might even be a Managing Director who leads digital change in a separate division. It can often be tempting to draw a link between the technical skills of a chief information officer or chief technology officer and the technical aspects of digital. However, in most circumstances, relying on the CIO/CTO to lead a digital transformation is not the right solution. It is usually less about having the aptitude to understand the technical aspects of digital, and more to do with having an understanding of consumers in the digital age.
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PH A S E T WO
PH A S E T H R E E
I N T E G R AT I O N : F R O M C D O T O C E O
LEVER AGING TR ADITIONAL A SSET S
Once the business has built its digital capability, the second phase sees businesses integrating digital across the entire organisation. At this point it is no longer sufficient for digital knowledge to be concentrated in specific parts of the business; now the whole executive team, and leaders across all parts of the business, must be fluent in digital.
Once a company is digitally literate throughout, it is operating on a more level playing field with pureplay digital businesses. It can then start to leverage its existing network and assets to get ahead.
At this time, a digital approach begins to be integrated seamlessly across all aspects of the customer experience: for example, the business may be able to transform social media from a brand marketing tool into a full revenue stream.
“ T H E C H I E F DIGI TA L ROL E I S NO T S OM E T H I NG T H AT W I L L N E C E S S A R I LY EXIST IN THE FU TUR E, A S DIGI TA L W I L L BE W H AT A BUS I N E S S D OE S A N Y WAY.” D I G I TA L C E O,
Publisher/Media Company Once the wider team is able to grapple with digital issues confidently, there is often no longer a need for a specific CDO. The business may even reach a point where the CEO ultimately is the CDO. This trend is still good news for existing CDOs: we have seen a number of CDOs promoted into the CEO role over the last 18 months, and in future it is increasingly unlikely that we will see more shop-floor-toCEO hires. Instead, executives will need greater exposure to digital to stand a realistic chance of taking the top job.
One of the biggest challenges faced by pureplay retailers, for example, is order fulfilment – for traditional retailers, though, click and collect is booming. These retailers have an opportunity to make the most of their existing square footage and improve customer experience. Businesses are beginning to use digital technologies such as ‘smart’ mirrors, virtual mannequins and tablets to enhance and enrich bricks-and-mortar stores, giving customers an experience that their pureplay competitors cannot replicate online. Few businesses have yet progressed up to this stage of the digital maturity curve – but there are pioneers paving the way for a digitally enabled future. Meanwhile, businesses which developed as pureplays are increasingly looking for ways to do more offline. The line between pureplays and multi-channel businesses is becoming blurred – and that fact is accompanied by the need for greater dialogue and exchanges of ideas across the digital-traditional divide.
“ W E H AV E A T RU E T R A N S F OR M AT ION G OI NG ON, A N D I T W I L L C ON T I N U E . T H I S I S A S M UC H A N OPP ORT U N I T Y A S I T I S A T H R E AT.” V E N T U R E C A P I TA L I S T
A good example is Art Peck, CEO of Gap Inc. Art was previously President of Growth, Innovation and Digital, where he was responsible for Gap’s $2bn e-commerce business. His promotion to CEO is just reward for his development of Gap’s user-focused omni-channel experience, and demonstrates that digital is now a core part of what used to be a simple bricks-andmortar retailer.
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T H E R O L E O F DATA
Data plays a very important role in the digital evolution of a business and it requires a specific kind of expertise and capability. The technology that supports the digital aspects of business gives organisations greater insight to consumer behaviour than we have ever had before. But more doesn’t always mean more – understanding which data to build into management systems is important. For companies that can afford to, it often makes sense to bring in both a chief digital officer and a chief data officer in the first phase of digital transformation. But which CDO will last? Ultimately the chief digital officer role is transformative and therefore temporary to a certain extent. Data, however, will continue to need careful management once the transformation is complete. In any case, the addition of both CDOs is likely to shift the balance of influence more in favour of the digital agenda – and is likely to make the business a more attractive proposition for potential digitally-savvy future recruits.
“ C OM PA N I E S A R E R IGH T LY BE I NG I NC R E A S I NGLY DATAF O C US E D A N D T H AT M US T BE T H E K E Y T O OL A N D DR I V E R T O DE C I S ION M A K I NG … US E DATA R IG OROUSLY ” P O R T F O L I O N O N - E X E CU T I V E D I R E C T O R
Tesco gained a huge advantage over competitors after being an early adopter of data-focused marketing through its now ubiquitous Clubcard scheme. Amid rumours that Tesco is looking to sell it, the company behind the scheme, Dunnhumby, is now attracting billion-pound valuations from interested parties, confirming the competitive advantage that comes from understanding consumer trends in minute detail.
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“ P E OPL E A R E T H ROW I NG OU T OL D ORG A N I S AT ION A L S T RUC T U R E S . PE OPL E A R E R E ORG A N I SI NG AWAY F ROM T R A DI T ION A L S T RUC T U R E S T O TA K E ON SH A R E D R E SP ONSI BI L I T Y.” V E N T U R E C A P I TA L I S T
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4 . B U I L DI NG F OR C ONS TA N T C H A NGE: N E W S T RUC T U R E S , N E W TA L E N T 1 A new world of constant change requires new ways of working; traditional hierarchical structures are much less important
2 Talent must be viewed differently, with greater emphasis on potential to adapt over past experience
3 Businesses must explore ways to bring in new skillsets and develop existing talent
Progressing along the digital maturity curve, of course, brings challenges at every step. In phase one, as a business develops its digital capability, tensions and misunderstandings may develop between the “digital” and “traditional” parts of a business. In phase two, as a business integrates its digital capability, reorganisation and cultural change will be needed if people with digital and traditional skills are able to work alongside each other and share expertise. In phase three, businesses will need to use their creativity, innovative thinking and collaborative skills if they are to steal a march on their pureplay rivals. How a company responds to this need to reorganise, integrate and innovate will be key to the success of its digital transformation. The need for digital leaders who can navigate their way through these complex transitions is clear. L E A R N I N G F R O M P U R E PL AYS
It can be instructive to see how purely digital businesses organise themselves. Google, for example, operates with a very flat organisational structure: it has just 100 vicepresidents across a workforce of more than 37,000. Part of the reason Google is able to operate such a flat structure is its Objectives & Key Results (OKR) principle, a system that aligns teams around specific tasks, goals and measurable results, rather than organisational groups. LinkedIn, Intel and Twitter, among others, use the system.
While it can be tempting to try to emulate other companies’ business structures and methods, trying to import another company’s organisational design and culture wholesale is unlikely to be successful. Every business is different: there is no one-size-fitsall structure for businesses in the digital age. Instead, companies must adapt their own business in a way that maximises and pays respect to existing strengths, character and complexities. Yet there are still lessons that can be learned. Because in a world of rapid technological change, businesses will need to be flexible and fluid, so that they can respond quickly to future challenges and opportunities. That makes traditional models and methodologies of organisational design increasingly irrelevant. Businesses should emphasise building in flexibility, rather than organisational charts and hierarchies – to help meet the challenges that tomorrow will bring. Nimble corporate structures and flexible ways of thinking about talent are vital if businesses are to navigate future challenges and opportunities. In order to thrive in the e-commerce economy, companies need to be built for constant change.
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A N E W V I E W O F TA L E N T
Creating more flexible structures also requires a new way of viewing talent. Businesses will need leaders who are able to combine technological and traditional skills, and exchange ideas not only with other parts of their business, but with outside organisations too.
1. Educating traditional executives. As the digital world evolves, senior executives need to adopt digital skills that they may never have needed before. As they do this, they also become able to mentor the digital natives who may work in the highest-growth parts of their business.
We see businesses doing three things as they try to develop leaders with this mixture of technological and traditional skills:
The consultancy Decoded, for example, works with businesses to teach the four skills of the future: coding, hacking, data and hardware. As its founder Kathryn Parsons says (see sidebar), digital confidence and literacy will be “fundamental” for all leaders in years to come – and can help empower the rest of the business to think about technology in new ways. Over time, of course, businesses can start thinking about the balance of digital experience in their non-executive board. While a lack of native digital talent at board level may need to be corrected in future, educating the existing board remains a very powerful tool in the meantime. 2. Hiring digital natives. Bringing digital natives into a business is rarely a one-stop fix, but can be an effective way of acquiring fresh perspective. When hiring candidates, employers must assess their potential to adapt and grow in an increasingly complex environment – not just their track record of successful past performance. That means digital natives should be more than just digital experts; they will need to be digital champions too. Identifying potential is particularly important when hiring young people into leadership roles. Most people under 30 will have little experience of leading complex organisations – but they may already be experienced digital operators with the potential to lead in future. 3. Exploring collaboration. Collaboration with technology companies can also be of benefit to traditional businesses. While the boards of traditional businesses might benefit from technology companies’ digital knowhow, leaders of technology businesses also learn from the experience of more traditional executives if they want to develop into attractive board-level hires. The benefits work both ways: as traditional businesses demonstrate their willingness to innovate, they will also start to attract interest from digital leaders. Structured initiatives such as digital advisory boards, incubators and innovation labs are a few ways to drive this kind of collaboration – as we will discuss in the next chapter.
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S I D E B A R : C R O S S I N G T H E D I G I TA L C H A S M
Kathryn Parsons is CEO of Decoded, a company that teaches digital skills to traditional businesses. She believes there’s a “chasm” of communication between executives and digital natives – but that the gap is starting to be bridged.
“We’ve taught thousands of people across the world and one thing that unites them is that they come to us, saying: ‘I’m a fantastic CEO, or HR director, or whatever – but actually, there’s one bit missing in my vocabulary, in my suite of tools, and that’s digital.’”
“The challenge is that nobody on the boards of traditional businesses has been brought up on digital and tech,” Parsons explains. So in her view, the best way to help businesses is to empower them to think in digital terms.
Businesses might even discover that they don’t need to bring in talent from outside. “You might find that you have the talent inside your company already – if you empower them with a better understanding of coding, hacking, data and hardware.”
First she focuses on the threats of digital disruption. “We get people to ask one really important question: ‘If a technology could totally disrupt my business or industry, what would it be?’ The reality is, if you can dream it, someone else is probably trying to create it.” Then it’s about making sure board members start acquiring digital literacy. When senior team members are open to change, she says, that sends a message to the rest of the organisation.
Bridging the gap between digital natives and executives, Parsons says, also helps foster collaboration outside an organisation. Already 12% of start-ups are supported by corporates, a huge change from four years ago and each is learning from the other. Looking forward, Parsons recommends that leaders equip themselves with as much knowledge as possible. “Digital confidence and literacy will be fundamental: you won’t be able to do without them in the coming years.”
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5 . L E A R N I NG T H ROUGH DI A L O GU E: DIGI TA L A DV I S ORY B OA R D S , S TA RT- U P L A B S A N D I NC U B AT OR S 1 While it is important to seek the right kind of talent for a constantly-changing world, it is equally important to maximise existing talent and knowledge in the business
2 Finding structured ways to open up dialogue between existing leaders and digital natives are useful to gain better insight into customers, new technologies and to drive innovative thinking
Of course, it is one thing to identify the kind of digital talent you need to bring in to your business; quite another to integrate it into your business. First, there is that limited talent pool: few people are both digitally innovative and have the potential to lead large, complex businesses. When you do identify these people, they can also prove expensive to hire. Secondly, while it is essential to gain digital skills it is also important not to lose the inherent knowledge and capability already in the business.
DIG I TA L A DV I S OR Y B OA R D S
For many businesses, however, there is an emerging alternative: by increasing the dialogue incumbents in the company have with digital natives – through initiatives such as digital advisory boards, start-up labs and incubators – they can begin to bridge the gap between technology pureplays and multi-channel businesses.
E A R LY A D O P T E R S
Sitting separately to the main board, digital advisory boards pool together a broad spectrum of views from leaders across the digital landscape – contributing to the strategic and practical decision-making of your business.
Travel and leisure business Thomas Cook created its digital advisory board in March 2014, paving the way for other blue-chip companies to do the same. Following its near-collapse in late 2011, Thomas Cook embarked on a major turnaround. The company’s ability to adapt to a digital world was one of its biggest challenges at the time of its crisis; it therefore had to respond faster than most. The implementation of a digital advisory board is another step in its battle to get ahead.
Some of the most successful businesses learning from external entrepreneurial talent include John Lewis, Tesco, Google, Barclays and O2 – all of which recognise the value of engendering dialogue between their own teams and digital innovators.
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Alongside Thomas Cook, other corporates that have adopted digital advisory boards include NBCUniversal and L’Oréal, as well as bodies ranging from the UK government to the British Fashion Council and Macmillan Cancer Support. These organisations have been transforming their digital offer for some time, and it is a measure of the challenges associated with digital transformation that their advisory boards are still relatively recent initiatives.
In the other direction, the advisory board format enables younger digital natives to gain experience of bigger, corporate organisations in different sectors. This exposure to different ways of working, combined with the skills and experience gained from working in an advisory capacity, should be an appealing option for digital innovators. So forming a digital advisory board can be a mutually beneficial approach.
It seems likely that we will see additional boards appearing over the next 12 months, signifying that more and more businesses are becoming increasingly digitally mature. Though the concept of the digital advisory board is still relatively new, it has the potential to bring companies many advantages:
2. Flexibility. Digital advisory boards are a forum for ideas, innovation and practical advice – but, crucially, that advice and guidance is non-binding. Unlike management boards, they are free of regulatory and legal responsibilities. They can also be set up to address specific goals and needs and reconfigured or disbanded once those goals have been met.
1. Maximising a limited talent pool. Few business leaders combine the skills of digital innovation and the ability to lead large complex businesses. The creation of a digital advisory board allows larger businesses to buy in digital expertise much more easily, avoiding the need to match them up to an executive role within the business in the short term. This allows for more traditional executives to learn from different pureplay businesses, which have different insights into the consumer world.
“ T O F I N D GR E AT DIGI TA L PE OPL E YOU N E E D T H R E E BROA D AT T R I BU T E S: I N T E L L IGE NC E , T H E A BI L I T Y T O BE C OM M E RC I A L LY PR AGM AT IC A N D BE I NG A G O OD C U LT U R A L F I T. PU T T I NG A L L T H R E E T O GE T H E R I S T OUGH .” P R E S I D E N T (C H I N A )
Fortune 50 E-Tailer
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3. Ability to attract otherwise unattainable talent. Perhaps the biggest advantage of a digital advisory board is the ability to attract talent that would not normally be available into a business. The very fact that it is advisory in nature means that many of the usual obstacles don’t apply. Relocation is no longer an issue for companies located outside of digital hubs, while all companies can consider bringing in international expertise too. Compensation is also much less important – and companies have the option to be more creative in putting together an attractive fee proposition. Whatever the fee, it is far cheaper to bring in a broad range of senior expertise via an advisory board than it is to hire into full-time roles.
A M O D E L F O R S U CC E S S
What should a digital advisory board look like? Some early adopters of this model should be congratulated for their pioneering efforts; however, for digital advisory boards to be most effective, they must be carefully constructed. Simply having a digital advisory board can have a positive impact because of the message of serious intent that it demonstrates internally and externally, but the opportunity is far greater than that. It works best, of course, when it is composed of a mixture of internal and external experts, to facilitate that allimportant exchange of ideas. Typically, it will include the chief executive and one or two other executive directors from the business. We recommend a maximum of seven to ten members in total, to ensure the advisory board is focused rather than unwieldy. It must have clear strategic objectives, which will inevitably change over time. The board should meet on at least a quarterly basis and there should be a strong link with the group board. That way, innovation can flow in both directions – and the traditional business can gain maximum strategic benefit from the initiative, helping it to meet the digital challenge as it moves forward. Most importantly, the hiring process must be hugely ambitious and seen as an opportunity to hire different kinds of talent. This is not the place for traditional executives; instead the focus should be on attracting the kind of digital native talent that you would ordinarily be unable to acquire if you were thinking about permanent roles. That might take the form of outside entrepreneurs who have achieved great things, but a fresh perspective could be sought in other ways too, such as appointing someone on a graduate scheme to the digital advisory board.
S TA R T- U P L A B S A N D I N C U B A T OR S Outside of establishing a digital advisory board, other excellent ways of ensuring a dialogue between existing executives and digital natives include working with or setting up start-up labs and incubators. The benefit of traditional executives’ experience is invaluable to early-stage businesses, while a highly creative and innovative environment opens the mind for leaders in traditional businesses. This two-way exchange of ideas and innovation forces those on both sides of the divide to think in a different way. Google, as we all know, is one of the most innovative companies we have seen for a generation – and its Google Ventures arm is an important driver in that endeavour. Outside of the purely digital, multi-channel businesses like Tesco and Barclays have also got in on the act. Tesco Labs compares its culture to that of a “perpetual start-up”1 where its mission is to find “the best ideas” for customers and colleagues. It combines innovation teams from within the company with support from relationships built up with start-ups and SMEs over a series of hackathons. Tesco Labs is designed to help solve internal challenges to improve the customer experience, using outside support, and in a structure that allows a new “pool of wisdom”2 to be spread around the business. By contrast, through its Accelerator initiative, Barclays is focused on supporting external start-ups. Through access to its own data, technology, networks and facilities, Barclays offers fintech start-ups a thirteen-week programme to accelerate their growth. Crucially, though, it also offers start-ups access to key decision makers within Barclays, who offer coaching and mentoring. In turn, the two-way dialogue also benefits those key decision makers on their own digital enlightenment. And that is what it is all about – different structures will make sense for different companies, but the ultimate aim of increasing dialogue between digital natives and traditional executives is an important step in the digital evolution and continued innovation of a business.
http://www.tescolabs.com/?page_id=48 http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1229346/tesco-creates-londoninnovation-lab-tap-wisdom-start-up-company 1 2
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6 . C ONC LUSION: T OWA R D S T WO WAY I N NOVAT ION While traditional consumer businesses have historically been slow to react to advances in digital, the phenomenal pace of change in recent years has forced them to wake up to new realities. There are no signs that the pace of change will decelerate any time soon, so businesses not only need to meet the digital challenge, but also to organise themselves for constant change. One way is to move away from hierarchical structures and towards flexible, fluid organisational design, organised around business goals. Nimble businesses, who aim to hire leaders with the potential to grow and adapt to opportunities, will thrive in the e-commerce economy. Few traditional consumer and retail businesses are at this stage yet; they are mostly still catching up, advancing at different speeds through the digital maturity curve, where they develop, integrate and eventually leverage their digital capability. Through emerging models such as digital advisory boards, start-up labs and incubator initiatives, we are also beginning to see the signs of an exciting new phase – where innovation starts to flow in both directions between traditional and pureplay businesses. When traditional businesses start gaining a reputation as Britain’s digital innovators, we will know how far we have come.
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AC K NOW L E D G M E N T S We would like to express our sincere thanks to the industry leaders and innovators who took time out of their busy schedules to share their thoughts on this important subject. Through our research we spoke to chief executives and digital leaders of multi-channel and pureplay businesses, as well as entrepreneurs and investors.
AU T HOR S K AT E Z AT L A N D
Practice Head, Digital kate@thembsgroup.co.uk @katezatland SIMON MORE
Associate Business Development & Marketing A L I S TA I R J O H N S O N
Knowledge Manager
If you’d like to explore the points covered in this paper further, we’d be delighted to hear from you – please do get in touch. Kate is the lead consultant advising online, digital and technology-enabled consumer businesses, appointing a broad range of board level individuals. Kate works across corporate, VC and private equity-backed, and independent businesses.
To keep up to date with the latest industry headlines, as well as MBS founder Moira Benigson’s weekly column, sign up to the MBS News at www.thembsgroup.co.uk/mbs-news/latest
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