Building Competitiveness and Business Performance with ICT

Next StepsTo remain relevant and competitive in today’sdigital economy, most firms have no choice butto invest in information and communicationtechnologies. As they do, organizations mustalso figure out what it takes to take control oftechnology – both in terms of what it takesto enhance performance with technologyand what it takes to mitigate any risks fromtheir growing uses of and dependencies ontechnology. In the process, it is easy to focuson all that is changing and lose sight of whatremains constant. The insights from thisresearch are intended to help business leaders,policy experts, and academics learn about whatcritical success factors are really new and whichremain constant.For business leaders and policy experts,recommended next steps are described indedicated sections in the preceding pages.For academics, the findings offer important newareas for future research. With the collection ofadditional data, two related research questionsto explore in greater detail immediately cometo mind:• How are firms achieving and sustainingstrong key business enablers thatcomplement investments in technology?• Are there significant differences bysector and by region – especially whenconsidering an even broader set ofgeographic areas (e.g., Latin America) andsectors?INSEAD eLab looks forward to feedbackfrom and discussions with business leaders,policy experts, and academics on theseimportant topics, and in the process, tohelping organizations and countries excel withtechnology.AppendixAbout this researchThis research was based on data from over 225surveys completed by ICT leaders representingfirms from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and from a variety of industrialsectors. The survey was administered with thesupport of GLG Research.Each completed survey was tested to ensurehigh quality of responses. For example, if a firmsaid that for all 3 time periods, they spent 100%Figure A1 : Participating firmsdistributed across three regions24+40+35+1of their ICT budget on application development,then that firm was discarded. The results inthis report are based on the cleaned set ofcompleted surveys. Please note, for specificquestions and analyses, the sample size willvary as not all participating firms qualified (e.g.,not all firms invested in cloud-based services).Figure A2 : Results are derivedprimarily from large firms14+8+32+11+5+30Less than 250 employee 13%250-999 employees 18%1,000 – 9,999 employees 37%10,000 – 49,999 employees 20%> 50,000 employees 12%Figure A3 : Overall, participating ICTleaders represent a variety of sectors,particularly ICT services (32%)13+18+37+20+12Finance and insurance activities 14%Human health services 8%ICT services 32%Manufacturing 11%Wholesale and retail trade 5%Other 30%North America 24%Europe 40%Asia-Pacific 35%Other 1%Most participants (87%) represent large firms(i.e., firms with 250 or more employees). Abouta third of participating firms (32%) representfirms with 10,000 or more employees.Building Business Performance and Competitiveness with ICT 31