Fujitsu released its Fujitsu Future Insights Global Digital Transformation Survey Report 2021, highlighting the results of a survey drawing on the insights and experiences of 1,200 CxOs and decision-makers in 9 countries The fifth iteration of this survey examines how organizations responded to the changes that the pandemic caused and business leaders’ perceptions around priorities in the post-pandemic world. The survey results revealed the factors that contributed to an effective pandemic response, identifying essential organizational capabilities and important insights in designing successful businesses after the pandemic.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the ways in which we live and work. While many people and organizations were forced to change their previous ways, various responses to the pandemic have yielded many different results. Moreover, as the digitalization of business progresses, organizations must increasingly accelerate their own digital transformation initiatives. Against this backdrop, Fujitsu conducted a survey to deliver new insights into how business leaders responded to the pandemic, as well as their perceptions around business priorities in the post-pandemic world.
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Summary of survey findings
1. How did organizations respond to the pandemic?
While many online organizations that provide products and services purely online saw revenue increase during the pandemic, half of offline organizations that provide products and services completely offline or partially online experienced decreased revenue. Though the impact to revenue was significant for many, 78% of business leaders from offline organizations said that they were able to effectively respond to the pandemic. The three main factors contributing to their effective pandemic responses included agility, digitalization, and employee well-being.
Organizations with stronger “digital muscles” also responded more effectively to the impacts of COVID-19
The results of our previous global surveys have consistently indicated that leadership, value from data, a culture of agility, ecosystems, empowered people and business integration are the organizational capabilities that lead to success in digital transformation. Fujitsu refers to these six factors as “digital muscles.” The analysis of the correlation between the score of an organization’s “digital muscles” and ability to mount an effective response to the pandemic demonstrates that organizations with better development of these critical capabilities responded more effectively to the unprecedented changes posed by COVID-19.
2. Priorities in the post-pandemic world.
Resilience is perceived as the top business priority in the post-pandemic world. The survey results indicate that many organizations have understood the importance of a flexible response in the face of changes in an uncertain world. Many respondents also noted the importance of business process automation, data-driven management and a seamless customer experience where online merges with offline.
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Many business leaders expect more business processes to become automated. The survey revealed that 44% of respondents from offline organizations predicted that more than half of their current business processes that were not yet automated would be automated by 2025. The survey also found that the premium value of Face to Face (F2F) experiences must be revisited.
In fact, 64% of respondents from online organizations thought that the value of F2F engagement would increase because premium services that cannot be offered online will become more exclusive. 49% of respondents from offline organizations had the same opinion, exceeding the number of respondents who thought the value of F2F engagement would decline.
In last year’s survey, it was already apparent that most business leaders had recognized the importance of delivering value to society. The pandemic reinforced this trend. In this year’s survey, 78% of respondents from offline organizations said they thought the importance of delivering value to society had increased as a result of the pandemic.
Fujitsu defines its Purpose as making the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. The findings of this survey will help Fujitsu to continue to serve as a trusted DX partner, simultaneously helping customers to succeed in business and to provide even greater value to society.
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Fujitsu also annually publishes its Fujitsu Technology and Service Vision, which sets out ways in which business and society can be innovated with technology. Fujitsu Future Insights, which includes this survey report and whitepapers detailing the state of digital transformation and future trends across industries, analyses the challenges influencing transformation initiatives, including the impact of technology, and offers suggestions for future scenarios and strategies.
(1) Across 9 countries:
Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Spain, UK, US
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 represent a set of common goals to be achieved worldwide by 2030. Fujitsu’s purpose — to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation–is a promise to contribute to the vision of a better future empowered by the SDGs.
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