How to Build an Agile Foundation for Change
PwC White Paper
Globalization. Instant communications. Virtual business networks.
Empowered customers. These are a few of the dizzying changes forcing companies to reinvent how they do business. More are on the way, and while we may be able to see some of them speeding toward us, others will surely catch us off guard. One thing is certain: Change is no longer something that happens periodically. It’s continuous — constant and unrelenting.
The block-and-tackle strategy for dealing with change that may have worked in a simpler past just won’t cut it today. To achieve sustainable success, today and in the future, you must take advantage of change
— whether planned or unexpected — without ever letting it sideline you.
This means embracing a new core competency: agility.
Just another buzzword? Far from it.
Being agile means anticipating likely change and addressing it deftly, all while keeping your business on course and your customers satisfied.
To achieve those goals, agility must be built into an organization’s very foundation, from strategy to design, people, processes, and supporting technology. That sounds straightforward enough. Why, then, are so few companies truly agile?
In the last decade, business leaders have worked to create efficiencies and cut costs through surges in technology investment and standardization.
For a time, this strategy created advantage, but it also sapped flexibility.
Having overestimated the importance of standardization, companies now find themselves bogged down with inflexible systems and processes.
In order to survive and thrive amid constant change, companies must reclaim the right balance of standardization and flexibility and build strategic and operational agility into their business foundations. By developing a business agility blueprint — a shared view of an organization that promotes deeper understanding of core processes, risks, and transformational opportunities — business leaders can approach
Globalization. Instant communications. Virtual business networks.
Empowered customers. These are a few of the dizzying changes forcing companies to reinvent how they do business. More are on the way, and while we may be able to see some of them speeding toward us, others will surely catch us off guard. One thing is certain: Change is no longer something that happens periodically. It’s continuous — constant and unrelenting.
The block-and-tackle strategy for dealing with change that may have worked in a simpler past just won’t cut it today. To achieve sustainable success, today and in the future, you must take advantage of change
— whether planned or unexpected — without ever letting it sideline you.
This means embracing a new core competency: agility.
Just another buzzword? Far from it.
Being agile means anticipating likely change and addressing it deftly, all while keeping your business on course and your customers satisfied.
To achieve those goals, agility must be built into an organization’s very foundation, from strategy to design, people, processes, and supporting technology. That sounds straightforward enough. Why, then, are so few companies truly agile?
In the last decade, business leaders have worked to create efficiencies and cut costs through surges in technology investment and standardization.
For a time, this strategy created advantage, but it also sapped flexibility.
Having overestimated the importance of standardization, companies now find themselves bogged down with inflexible systems and processes.
In order to survive and thrive amid constant change, companies must reclaim the right balance of standardization and flexibility and build strategic and operational agility into their business foundations. By developing a business agility blueprint — a shared view of an organization that promotes deeper understanding of core processes, risks, and transformational opportunities — business leaders can approach