According to the 2016 KPMG CEO Outlook, four out of 10 CEOs expect to be running significantly transformed companies within a few years. Is this true for your business? BALTIMORE: The need for business transformation
GLOBALLY, WE HAVE
DOUBLED DOWN ON TWO MAIN THEMES THAT WE FEEL PASSIONATE ABOUT: EDUCATION REFORM AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. — Kara Gruver
is widespread and likely to expand, especially given the pace of technological change. In the hotel business, advances in technology impact the operational process of checking in guests. For years, guests would queue up in lines (sometimes long lines in periods of high demand) at the front desk and wait for an available front desk attendant. Today, the industry is advancing with various degrees of digital key initiatives, where guests can select a room and get a notification when the room is ready to be occupied. A guest can simply bypass the front desk and use her mobile device to unlock the room door instead of using a traditional key card. The implications across the business for staffing and other customer relationship management applications are huge and just the first of many initiatives to follow. GRUVER: At Bain & Company, we see a need to
drive continuous change as we grow and adapt to persistent evolutions in our business. This leads to new ways of working, new tools and new ways of solving client challenges. It also alters the way we attract and retain the next generation of talent to ensure that they have the opportunity to learn and grow and we have the right skill sets in place to meet our clients’ changing needs. Business transformation is also top-of-mind for all of our clients, and helping them successfully accelerate through these changes is a core part of Bain’s business. We are actively working with companies across many different industry sectors to give them a holistic picture of how their strategies have to change not just to react to technology changes but across their whole organizations. HUGIN: Celgene’s long-term success depends on
our ability to deliver transformational therapies to patients today while investing significantly in research and development to positively impact human health and solve some of society’s most serious challenges. In a highly technical, researchdriven industry with limited product exclusivity due to both patent life and technological competition, we are continually investing in the future and reinventing ourselves. It is critically important for us to be a leading force for change in the rapidly evolving health care environment. SANDS: We strive to continue to evolve, grow,
adapt and thrive — in other words, we are always in the process of business transformation. And transformation is often a source of investment for 14
THE DARDEN REPORT
us, given that markets are dynamic and change is constant. With transformation, the need for trusted relationships and capable people and organizations only increases. Successful leaders must develop robust cultures with strong and time-tested values. And then they, too, must live the culture. This provides a great opportunity for those leaders who execute. How are unprecedented levels of continuous market disruption driven by technology, globalization or other factors impacting what is required of you and other executives at your company to lead successfully? SANDS: Disruption creates both challenges and
opportunities. As a knowledge-driven organization, we are constantly looking globally at trends, disruptions and changes in technology, science, politics, cultures and economics, and asking, “What matters?” We work hard to position our investments and our business to each be on the right side of change, to prepare for challenges and to exploit opportunities. We think continuous disruption only makes it more crucial that we stay true to our values, while also being aware of pre-existing biases and being flexible with our thinking and conclusions.
BALTIMORE: Very efficient and effective competitors
such as online travel agencies, notably Priceline and Expedia, continue to gain share with consumers as booking engines for airline, hotel and rental car reservations. As a result, our customer acquisition costs continue to rise and impact profitability. Our industry has to effectively compete and respond with strategies to control our product and encourage customers to book through brand channels that are more cost-efficient and provide more benefits to consumers. However, it is critically important for business leaders to aggressively fight against competitive threats and make the business case to alter consumer behavior. GRUVER: One of the ways Bain is addressing
continuous market disruption is through an agile mindset, which we believe is essential for success both internally and with our clients. Within Bain, we operate all of our internal teams in an agile fashion, starting with strong business hypotheses, and testing and learning from the results. We also bring an agile mindset to our client work, investing in Digital Hubs, for example, which provide more experiential and tailored digital advisory services, rooted in the nuance of local digital trends. HUGIN: Success in the global biopharmaceutical
industry is driven by an organization’s ability to disrupt the market and change treatment paradigms. Ensuring that we succeed requires our employees