Column
Posted on January 12th, 2012 at 5:11 pm by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: Business Transformation, Column, Marketing | Tags: communications, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Technology, Emerging markets, globalization, High-Tech, Hypermobility, Mobility, Multichannel purchasing, Smart phones
In the past five years, Accenture’s Consumer Electronics Study has researched consumers’ preferences for technologies and services. As innovations in technology continue, it doesn’t appear that consumers’ affection for technology will fade anytime soon. With mobility as the latest trend in consumer technology, hardware and content providers enjoy a booming market that shows no signs of slowing down, at least in the foreseeable future.
Accenture’s 2012 survey of more than 10,000 consumers across 10 countries shows consumers are making their networked lives more robust. They are connecting in more than one way and on multiple devices, consuming more content, and doing it all on the go. Specifically, this research has identified 5 trends for manufacturers and service providers to consider as consumers strive to be always connected. Below I will discuss three trends of these trends in more detail.
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on December 21st, 2011 at 1:35 pm by Wouter Koetzier
|
Link
|
Theme: Column, Innovation that works | Tags: Accenture High Performance Innovation model, ideation, Innovation Excellence, Innovation Execution, invention, scaling
Most people agree that perseverance and discipline are very important qualities for any entrepreneur or business leader. You need plenty of both to run and grow a business successfully. At the same time, most of us associate innovation with ideation and creativity, which is actually odd. Innovation essentially breaks down into two key activities: Invention and Scaling. It is absolutely no use scaling up a bad innovation, but not scaling up a big idea can also fail to deliver value. Invention is about foresight, ideas and creation. Scaling is about quality, speed and predictability; actually it’s about operational excellence in development & research. Successful innovators therefore treat innovation & product development as a systematic capability that can be repeated time and again. I do realize that this sounds a bit counter intuitive, but if you want sustained innovation success, you’d better start managing the development of your future business with the same rigor and discipline as you manage your current business.
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on December 5th, 2011 at 2:45 pm by AccentureNL
|
Link
|
Theme: Business Transformation, Column, High Performance IT, Latest Post | Tags: Analytics, business process outsourcing, cloud computing, DCS, Information technology, infrastructure service, ISA95
Information technology has become increasingly more integrated into maintenance. But the advantages are not yet visible. Most often, it is seen as an administrative burden. Yet, further integration of information technology will be necessary in the future to deliver visible results.
Research by the US Department of Energy has shown that the shift from preventive and corrective maintenance to predictive maintenance offers a number of advantages, such as lower maintenance costs, downtime reduction and increased production. However, it requires quite an investment in time and money to realize vertical integration of the current systems.
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on October 13th, 2011 at 12:15 pm by Wouter Koetzier
|
Link
|
Theme: Column, Innovation that works | Tags: Breakthrough Innovation, Customer insights, Incremental Innovation, Innovation death spiral, Innovation portfolio management, Innovation that works, Market foresights, Platform Innovation, Share of Market Innovation
In my opening post, I touched upon how companies that take a systematic approach to innovation manage to escape what we call “The Innovation Death Spiral”. They do so by balancing incremental-, platform-, and breakthrough innovation projects in line with their market positions, ambition and strategy. This week I will explore innovation types a bit more in-depth and zoom in on the importance of project portfolio balance.
Innovation success is either luck or it is based on a competitive advantage in foresight & insight. Companies that out-innovate competition time and again, systematically develop the market foresight and customer insight that informs them which are the most attractive future growth options and where they have the best chance of winning. Innovation most of the time does not start with an idea (something that happens to you) but with a sound understanding of a business opportunity driven by a customer need. The rigorous and systematic approach to defining business opportunities and developing ideas and solutions to meet customer needs, drives Bigger & Better innovation simultaneously. Consistent innovation success builds innovation confidence within the organization (f/e to overcome the fear to fail) and reinforces client interest in news from the company, almost as a self fulfilling prophecy. Innovative companies are also seen as more attractive to work for by top talent. So this is all why companies as diverse as Google, P&G and of course Apple generate superior value from innovation.
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on September 30th, 2011 at 12:09 pm by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: About Accenture, Column | Tags: Accenture, History, Innovation that works, Management Consulting, open leadership, Outsourcing, Technology services
In celebration of Accenture’s 10-year anniversary, I have written about it’s history over the past months. Over this period, I have taken a chronological look at the roots of Accenture by taking a closer look at one specific period which shaped the culture and values of our company: from the Beginnings in the early 1950’s to our transformation which resulted in Becoming Accenture in 2001, to Building High Performance and our Accent on the Future.
As a wrap-up of this series of blog posts, I have highlighted the blog posts which discussed the foundational periods in Accenture’s history below:
- 1953: First commercial application of a computer in the United States: Andersen was hired to program the payroll for General Electric’s Appliance Park manufacturing facility near Louisville, Kentucky. General Electric hired the Administrative Services team to assist in the design and installation of the system.
- 1965: John Higgins’ Charismatic Leadership and Accenture’s Special Sauce: Higgins was the organizational genius of Andersen. “John was probably one of the most brilliant men I have ever met in my life. He was meticulous in everything he did. It was either going to be right or not at all”. The Special Sauce was a mixture of moxie, drive and the willingness to commit the necessary resources. While Higgins didn’t coin the phrase “special sauce,” his strong leadership provided all the key ingredients for the recipe.
- 1970’s: “Bargain of the Century” – St. Charles: Beginning in the early 1970s Andersen made the “bargain of the century” when it purchased St. Dominic College in St. Charles, Illinois for $4 million. Today, the facility continues to play a role in Accenture’s education programs. A trip to the St. Charles campus is still a rite of passage for newly hired consultants.
- Early 1980’s: Competition from IT Outsourcing: The consultants realized that while Administrative Services was growing at roughly 20 percent a year, the industry was growing even faster, and, therefore, the consultants were losing market share. A new breed of non-accounting firms with practices which had it’s roots in IT outsourcing was emerging.
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on September 16th, 2011 at 11:56 am by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: About Accenture, Column | Tags: Business Transformation, Commitment, Corporate values, customer needs, Emerging markets, History, open leadership, Stewardship
Some speculated at the time of the IPO in 2001 that Accenture’s special culture and values wouldn’t be able to survive the transition to public ownership. The severe economic downturn that followed didn’t help the organization’s odds. But the partnership values and culture have retained a special meaning at Accenture.
The principles of it will never change—that is the emotional attachment, the ownership, the feeling of authority and accountability are the things we have to continue to hone and get right. Green was leading a town hall meeting at the St. Charles campus in the summer of 2004. There were about 800 employees in the auditorium, and one employee in the back of the room said, “I’ve been here three weeks. I think I understand some values, but what is this thing called stewardship?”
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on August 5th, 2011 at 12:16 pm by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: About Accenture, Column | Tags: Accenture Career Framework, Career Management, Catalyst Award, Compensation program, Diversity, History, Outsourcing, Training courses
The dramatic growth of Accenture’s outsourcing business involved internal cultural issues particularly concerning hiring and training a much more diversified workforce. “We’ve done the right thing by creating separate workforces and trying to engineer each of them differently to recognize and be relevant to the men and women who chose to work here,” Green said. “What’s before us now is how we rationalize that and bring us all together on one common agenda.” Accenture’s leadership focused on making up for ground lost during the recession. “On the one hand we did what we had to do to be good stewards of our business. “But we lost something in the area of skills, by reducing training budgets, and in personal connections and networking.”
Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on July 20th, 2011 at 12:36 pm by Wouter Koetzier
|
Link
|
Theme: Column, Innovation that works | Tags: Competitive advances, Innovation death spiral, Innovation Process Model, Innovation that works, Profitable growth, Sustainable Growth
Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts in which I’ll be looking at how a company’s approach to innovation can be the difference between success and failure. Or the difference between sustainable growth and declining sales. So what is innovation and why does it matter? And how do businesses that truly understand its importance achieve success? Not just once, but again and again. Accenture research has shown that innovation is about doing the right thing and doing the things right. In other words, what you do is important, but how you do it is even more important. Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on July 15th, 2011 at 11:57 am by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: About Accenture, Column | Tags: Can-do spirit, High Performance, High Performance IT, History, Outsourcing, Rebranding, Special sauce, Stock listing
The sense of accomplishment that came with the rebranding and stock listing was tempered by the sense of loss in the wake of September 11. And from a business perspective, it became clear within a few weeks that the company had been fortunate to go public when it did. With so much uncertainty in the world concerning security and the outlook for the economy, it was unclear how long the company might have had to wait to raise permanent capital, and whether it would have been able to raise anywhere near the amount it did in July 2001.
A sharp falloff in business spending was felt especially in the information technology sector in the final months of 2001. Read more…
Loading ...
Posted on July 8th, 2011 at 11:55 am by Jort Possel
|
Link
|
Theme: About Accenture, Column | Tags: Accenture, Andersen Consulting, Arbitration, History, Initial Public Offering, IPO, Joe Forehand, Redefine, September 11
The late 1990s witnessed a surge of entrepreneurial risk-taking unleashed by the growth of the Internet. Andersen Consulting pursued its entrepreneurial destiny as well by filing, and winning, an arbitration case against Andersen Worldwide. The fully independent firm established its own identity with the adoption of its new name, Accenture, and a successful IPO, despite the bursting of the dot-com bubble. The company adjusted to new realities brought on by economic recession and the war on terror.
Two months later, Accenture and the world were shocked by the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The consultants rallied to fund and construct a Family Assistance Center in downtown Manhattan where families of September 11 victims could seek information about loved ones and emergency aid. Accenture remained true to its roots. Rather than resist change, its employees proved willing to make the kind of bold moves that characterized Accenture’s strategy over the years, and that kept Accenture in the vanguard of the global technical services industry. Read more…
Loading ...
