Todd Pruzan, HBR
Welcome to HBR Video Quick Take. I’m Todd Pruzan, senior editor for research and special projects at the Harvard Business Review. Accenture, a global professional services company with leading digital cloud and security capabilities, recently partnered with Bosch, a German multinational engineering and technology company, on Bosch’s Digital Fluency Program , to deliver a sustainable digital transformation. Today, I spoke with Manish Chandra, Managing Director of Strategy and Consulting, Supply Chain and Operations Lead in India, and Zero-Based Transformation Lead for Growth Markets, to discuss Accenture’s role in Bosch’s Digital Fluency Program and the areas where Digital can deliver lasting value for automotive and industrial companies. Manish, thank you so much for joining us today.
Manish Chandra, Accenture
My happiness.
Todd Pruzan, HBR
Manish, Accenture recently led a digital transformation study across industries and geographic regions. What are the key insights from that study?
Manish Chandra, Accenture
We covered nearly 900 companies across geographies, and what we found is that overall digital maturity has moved from 39% to 48% in the last two years, which is pre- Covid and post-Covid. However, there is a significant bi-polarization between the leaders and the laggards. While the leaders took advantage of the crisis and further improved their maturity index, many companies struggled to rise and move beyond their original score.
The auto, auto ancillary, and aerospace and defense industries came out on top in terms of industry segments. What do these leaders do differently? First, they set a clear North Star for digital transformation. They provide 3x improvements in terms of performance, vis-à-vis the laggards, in terms of three key indicators, namely stability, agility, and sustainability in terms of driving value through digital. They have made huge profits from digital services—really moving from products to services to sales results. They use technologies like digital twins, to create simulation and scenario planning capabilities so they can drive resilience in their operations.
They also monitor the ESG performance of their tier n suppliers—not just tier I or tier II, but tier III suppliers—so that they can push sustainability. They also create an agile organization that can transform with disruption, truly building remote expertise and design-anywhere capabilities. But above all, they are focused on digital fluency. They really focus on the people element, and not just the technology element, of digital transformation, really creating a digital mindset in the organization and building the capability of their people to drive this transformation and make digital happen. fluency as the foundation of successful change. .
Todd Pruzan, HBR
Interesting. Thank you, thank you. Manish, how critical is digital fluency and re-skilling in delivering sustainable digital transformation, and what is Accenture’s role in Bosch’s Digital Fluency Program?
Manish Chandra, Accenture
See, our research shows that only 22% of companies are achieving the targeted return from their digital transformation journey. While companies make a huge investment in technology, one of the main reasons why they don’t get the full ROI on their investment is because they don’t get the people, or the human element, that is key to digital transformation success. journey Bosch, on the other hand, has really got people at the center of the digital transformation journey.
They worked with us to improve the digital fluency of nearly 4,000 people across functions and created 120 digital pioneers who will lead the digital transformation journey of the future. We partnered with Bosch to facilitate this journey and co-create customized learning journeys for each function at three management levels. We drive online training by using Accenture Academy. 90+ courses from Accenture Academy are curated to drive online learning for these 4,000 people.
We drive subject matter expert sessions, where we get global subject matter experts from across Accenture to actually run these sessions for each of the functions. We drove 40+ live demos showing digital in action, and brought in startups and alliance partners to run deep dive sessions. But above all, we activate learning by doing through action learning projects. We selected about 150 action-learning projects, of which 15 were finally selected and implemented during this journey. And these 15 action learning projects not only helped build capability but also drove 3x ROI and generated tremendous business value for Bosch.
Todd Pruzan, HBR
Well, this is really interesting. Manish, what are the main challenges and success factors for such a large program with 4,000 employees across functions? And what did the program achieve?
Manish Chandra, Accenture
Trust me, it’s a challenging program, because it’s done on the cusp of Covid. And as a result, it is run entirely in an online mode. The reason we are successful is that we develop highly customized and curated content for every function at every level, not just generic training. In addition, we hold art-of-the-possible workshops for each function. And based on the art-of-the-possible workshops, we create these customized learning journeys, as well as choose which action learning projects will provide value for that function and help the function that reaches the North Star in terms of digital transformation.
In addition, we also have a dedicated program management team, from Accenture and Bosch. We introduce functional sponsors from each function from the side of Bosch, who owns the drive of the digital transformation of that function. There is full top management commitment. We have a steering committee with the top management of Bosch that is fully involved in the exercise.
If you ask me one thing that is most successful, is communication about the strategic importance of the program to the larger organization, in terms of organizational benefits as well as individual benefit, because individuals really understand that. . this program is not only to help the organization but also help them to improve their capability and improve their capability, and to bring it to the next level. Change management is very important. Top management runs multiple town halls and creates an in-house microsite, publishes multiple newsletters, mailers, and more. trained on Bosch tools. These methods help ensure the adoption and development of these tools, and that we receive real value from the program.
Todd Pruzan, HBR
Nice. Thank you, thank you. Manish, what are some areas where digital can deliver sustainable value for automotive and industrial companies?
Manish Chandra, Accenture
While there are many aspects to delivering sustainable value, some examples that come to mind are the challenges we face in terms of supply chain disruption. Auto companies should focus on investing in supply chain planning, supply chain simulation, and scenario planning capabilities to drive supply chain resilience. In addition, analytics can bring a lot of value to the area of sourcing and procurement, since that is about 60%-70% of costs, manufacturing and automation in the area of manufacturing, sales and marketing, because that’s where you can drive revenue growth with analytics, as well as help companies move from products to services to selling results, which is actually selling digital services and not just the product itself. I think those are the areas that drive significant value. And I would say, in addition to digital investments, digital fluency can play a very, very critical role in driving sustainable change.
Todd Pruzan, HBR
Manish, this is a great discussion. Thank you very much for joining us today.
Manish Chandra, Accenture
Thank you very much. This is my happiness.
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