Extra-condensed knowledge

This HBR gold knowledge article looks at the big problem of executives unprepared to lead digital transformation.
CONTEXT

g-f(2)151 The Big Picture of the Digital Transformation, 3/1/2021, geniouxfacts, How To Succeed At Business Digital Transformation.
g-f(2)156 The Big Picture of the Digital Transformation, 3/5/2021, MIT SMR, Digital savviness is the key ingredient in the success of corporate digital transformation.
g-f(2)158 The Big Picture of the Digital Transformation, 3/7/2021, CNBC, A key to revenue growth in Big Tech era is missing at most companies.
g-f(2)157 The Big Picture of the Digital Transformation, 3/6/2021, AP, Only 7% of larger companies have digitally savvy executive teams, and these teams deliver higher revenue growth and net margins.

HBR

Financial literacy is a baseline qualification for any top executive; we need to think about technological and digital literacy in the same way. These capabilities that used to be nice-to-haves are now must-haves: Companies can’t afford to have an executive who might confuse discussions about the cloud with small talk about the weather.
We think the next few years will see a revolution for many top management roles. The pandemic has exposed the executives who were not up to the challenge of a rapid technological pivot. In some cases, it has become clear that the wrong leaders are in place, and the only thing standing in the way of replacement is the lack of a suitable successor.

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Condensed knowledge

CONTEXT

Financial literacy is a baseline qualification for any top executive; we need to think about technological and digital literacy in the same way. These capabilities that used to be nice-to-haves are now must-haves: Companies can’t afford to have an executive who might confuse discussions about the cloud with small talk about the weather.
We think the next few years will see a revolution for many top management roles. The pandemic has exposed the executives who were not up to the challenge of a rapid technological pivot. In some cases, it has become clear that the wrong leaders are in place, and the only thing standing in the way of replacement is the lack of a suitable successor.
Historically, success rates for digital transformation efforts are dismally low.
Many organizations rush to boost headcount and budget, hiring teams of talented engineers, data scientists, and cybersecurity experts.
But to truly succeed transformation also needs to happen at the very top – with the individuals who set strategy and allocate resources.
Do today’s top teams have the skills to undertake a true digital transformation?

To answer this question, we conducted an analysis of more than 100 search specifications for C-suite positions in Fortune 1000 companies across a broad range of industries.

We found that the search for tech and digital expertise has been on the rise since well before the pandemic: 59% of the searches included technological and/or digital expertise.
Successfully navigating this digital acceleration requires a shift and expansion of responsibilities across all roles throughout the organization.
The dramatic shift in job responsibilities is creating a skills gap in many companies’ leadership pipelines that necessitates major changes to talent strategy.
To find the right candidates, companies may need to rethink traditional promotion pathways.
When the right candidates don’t exist in-house, companies will need to turn to the external labor market.

But they’ll need to prepare to pay a premium; individuals with tech and digital skills are in-demand by many companies.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Age

[genioux fact produced, deduced or extracted from HBR]

Type of essential knowledge of this “genioux fact”: Essential Analyzed Knowledge (EAK).

Type of validity of the "genioux fact".

Inherited from sources + Supported by the knowledge of one or more experts + Supported by research.

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

Is Your C-Suite Equipped to Lead a Digital Transformation?, J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Cassandra Frangos, and Boris Groysberg, March 12, 2021, Harvard Business Review, HBR.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

J. Yo-Jud Cheng is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship area at Darden.

Cassandra Frangos is a member of the Leadership Advisory Services and CEO practices at Spencer Stuart, the executive search and leadership advisory firm, and the author of Crack the C-Suite Code: How Successful Leaders Make It to the Top.

Boris Groysberg is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a faculty affiliate at the HBS Gender Initiative, and the coauthor, with Colleen Ammerman, of Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021).