How do C-suite executives cooperate to achieve a balance between customer needs and their business needs? What steps and strategies are they adopting to better understand customer relationships and develop them? How do they view the specific aspects of their executive roles? These are the three main issues of this year's study by IBM called IBM Global C-suite Study. More than 4,000 C-suite executives in six key management positions (CEO, CFO, CIO, CMO, CHRO, and CSCO) participated in the study. The respondents came from 70 countries and involved 88 Czech top executives. The data were collected through personal interviews with the participants of IBM's worldwide training program called C-Suite Study program.
Success lies in understanding and cooperating with the customer
According to CEOs, their companies will be most influenced by various technologies in the next three to five years. These technologies will allow them to develop completely new strategies. "Other CxOs have different priorities. Although all include technology in their list of the top three forces, their views reflect their respective areas of focus. CFOs fret most about macroeconomic factors. CIOs, CMOs and CSCOs put more emphasis on market factors, while CHROs see people skills as the biggest issue," the study concludes. Communication and cooperation among the C-level executives is essential for their companies to operate successfully.
The study identified three main themes that will help shape the future of the organization:
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Open up to customer influence.
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Pioneer digital-physical innovation.
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Craft engaging and activating customer experience.
The Czech Republic hindered by its legislative environment
In the Czech Republic, the legislative environment influences business much more than in the other countries. The study results, therefore, show that Czech companies have a certain "retrograde attitude" to the technologies. A need for greater control of operational management at the expense of organizational openness exists in the Czech companies as well.
As far as the cooperation of Czech companies with their customers, the study concludes that Czech executives currently feel a greater understanding of their customers than their global counterparts. However, none of the executives understands their customers completely. This should improve in the coming years. Czech executives are also more interested in getting involved in talent management and customer experience.
The study is available for downloading at IBM's website
The English summary of the study's global results can be downloaded from IBM's website here (after filling in the registration form). The report which includes the outputs obtained from the interviews with Czech top managers is available for download here.
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