Strategic change: Literature

Looking beyond this decade, the insurance industry’s current mode of operations will likely reach a point of diminishing returns. The aggregate capabilities of existing and emergent technologies almost guarantee that the next several years will mark a fundamental change in the industry.

Consumer decision process (CDP) modelling is a combination of traditional market research and unique quantitative modelling that takes the guesswork out of why consumers do or do not buy.

A gentle decline into a sedentary old age threatens the consumer products industry, requiring a powerful counterpunch. The prescription is to realign the core goals of consumer products companies and to increase leverage with retailers.

In the electronics industry, products are similar in general, and every innovation in features or functions can be copied quickly. Moreover, model supply chains are tightly linked and highly competitive. These factors have raised the stakes and eroded profit margins for electronics companies.

Today, finance is being pulled in two directions: There's a demand for finance to strengthen its traditional fiduciary role as guardian of the assets and controls; and for finance to become more nimble, efficient and effective in supporting business imperatives.

IBM analysis and interviews with top automotive executives shed light on how a more flexible business infrastructure can help automotive companies cut costs, reduce time to market, increase profits and, perhaps most importantly, prepare for unpredicted challenges in a rapidly changing industry.

In the electronics industry today, business forces and the frantic pace of technological development have intensified the competitive landscape. Surviving and thriving in this environment requires constant vigilance to stay abreast of market forces.

Business and financial executives across all industries are focused on optimising shareholder value. But few companies have successfully 'cracked the code' of measuring value creation, and this goal continues to elude many executives.

During the 1990s economic boom, financial services companies moved into the alluring mass affluent segment, relying heavily on technology. However, as aborted attempts at mass affluent offerings have proven, technology alone won't win the wealth management game.

The traditional travel distribution model is only beginning to realise the potentials of e-business to reduce costs. New technology is capable of much more, as this paper will examine.

Improving the patient recruitment process is imperative to avoid wasted investments and eliminate costly delays in bringing new drugs to market -- today and even more so in the not-so-distant future.

By creating an on demand operating environment, designed with open standards for ease of integration, insurers can implement new capabilities and the associated enabling technologies with significantly less effort.

Today, automotive is truly global, with design and manufacturing occurring on virtually every continent in the world. However, increasing globalisation has brought the industry to a major crossroads in its evolution.

Very broadly, the goal of customer segmentation is to know your customers better, and to use that knowledge to enhance corporate profitability. Companies paying attention to customer segmentation are reaping rewards.

The current automotive industry model is not working. To compete, the leading manufacturers will need to embrace a new business model based on collaboration with suppliers.

In a challenging period for the downstream industry, companies are struggling to achieve real shareholder value. We believe to succeed, companies should revisit their strategic intent and recognise future forces that will shape the downstream. But a good strategy alone will not ensure success.

In their quest to become ever more efficient, companies are looking to help workers quickly pinpoint and apply relevant knowledge from a growing haystack of corporate content that often includes 'messy' knowledge -- knowledge that is out-of-date, out-of-reach and out-of-touch.

The internet is increasing reinventing the way that businesses interact with governments. Now in their fourth year, the Economist Intelligence Unit's e-readiness rankings provide an established benchmark for countries to compare and assess their e-business environments.

The financial asset growth of the 1990's was an anomaly. As the market normalises, asset managers will need to focus on cost reductions rather than top-line expansion to fuel earnings. This starts with a change of mindset -- from managing assets to managing a complete portfolio of operations.

Research at the IBM Institute for Business Value sheds light on how firms can best position themselves to increase retail payments revenues - today and in the future - with an analysis of key trends in the challenging retail payments landscape.

Data from a two-part survey of 138 people in three companies were analysed to discern how trust affects knowledge sharing and how individuals evaluate the trustworthiness of others when seeking knowledge.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) might miss the chance to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction and realise more revenue unless they can cultivate the sophisticated software capabilities that their evolving product lines -- and today's competitive marketplace -- demand.

What will drive the entertainment and media economy in the years to come will be that which gains -- and holds -- the consumer's attention. In the blink of an eye this high change industry has become an attention economy.

In this paper, the IBM Institute for Business Value presents six key competencies and corresponding case studies to guide companies through an assessment of their current strengths in preparation for the future financial services marketplace.

Traditional valuation techniques often fail to capture or adequately quantify the value created by technology initiatives. Is there an alternative technique that identifies value that would otherwise be left on the table?

In telecommunications (telecom) markets around the world, service providers are looking for options to manage their way through the current downturn.

Media and entertainment (M&E) companies face daunting challenges as they prepare for the future media world. To succeed, they must develop and implement a comprehensive digital media strategy that embraces the potential of fully integrated media.

The Basel Capital Accord (Basel II) has profound systems-implications for financial services organisations. For companies with the systems in place to access and utilise far more detailed and precise information, Basel II also provides the opportunity for significant business benefits.

Three strategic initiatives promise the type of far-reaching change that is required to rein in costs today and position firms favorably for the next market upturn.

Lured by attractive economics, many manufacturing firms have attempted to establish complementary services businesses, only to find themselves trapped far short of the profitable growth that they originally imagined.

Companies in the financial services industry are seeking to determine 'what customers will pay for.' IBM's research and experience in this industry has produced a 'three-wave' model showing how various e-business dynamics are evolving.

E-procurement systems have substantially reduced requisition costs and increased internal efficiencies. But the true benefits result from incorporating procurement into a supply chain strategy and building stronger linkages to suppliers and electronic marketplaces.

Faced with the increasingly complicated and changing marketplace, companies of all sizes are finding that two companies working together can often be better than one company competing alone.

In September 2003, IBM Business Consulting Services completed interviews with 450 CFOs from 35 countries. This report places the research findings into an overall context and provides perspective on the continuing transformation of finance.

Growth is back on the corporate agenda, according to the Global CEO Study 2004, a landmark survey conducted by IBM Business Consulting Services.