"Line of business" (LOB) leaders in Singapore expect digital technologies to change what they do in future and they placed high priority on technology-related skills when asked what they will need in future to succeed in their roles, according to a new research conducted by Tech Research Asia (TRA) and commissioned by Fujitsu.
The 500 Singaporean leaders from Marketing, Human Resource, Finance and Operations who took part in this research shared their views on digital and how it impacts their work. With the exception of Finance leaders seeing ‘flexible work’ as the trend having the greatest impact in 2017, the majority of LOB leaders from other roles cited ‘changing customer behavior’.
While the type of digital technologies they view as important are role specific, the benefits available from these technologies are viewed as consistent across all roles: real-time access to accurate information, achieving goals more quickly or efficiently, and spending less time on manual tasks.
Top challenges
The top challenges listed by LOB leaders suggest that their organizations have yet to take full advantage of these benefits available from digital technologies. Marketing LOB respondents said they want to provide better customer experiences and react more rapidly to the competition, for instance, while Finance LOB leaders were concerned about understanding market swings and keeping pace with always-on access to data. Report generation was one of the top challenges for Operations leaders, and talent management a focus for LOB respondents in HR.
One in two Singaporean business leaders say their organization has already begun an organization-wide digital transformation program. When asked how they rate their organization’s overall strategy regarding technology as it relates to their role, less than 40% think that the strategies are mature.
A number of LOB leaders also felt that IT department has not listened to them, saying that the “IT department doesn’t understand my needs as a business user.” The key frustrations felt by business leaders about technology were connectivity, manual processes, understanding needs, and supporting or enabling the use of new technologies.
With these frustrations, it is not surprising that nearly 20% of all LOBs in Singapore already bypass the IT department to make technology purchases at their own discretion, with a further 20% in full control via the IT department. LOB leaders across all roles expect to take charge of their technology needs in the next 24 months, either independently, or in collaboration with IT.
“Singaporean LOB leaders welcome digital transformation and want to see more of the benefits from digital technology implementations in coming months, even going so far as to take a more active role on IT decisions. It is imperative for the CIOs and the IT department to collaborate more closely with LOBs to ensure that they are not only maximizing value for LOBs with the digital solutions they want, but also fulfilling organizational goals at the same time,” said Wong
Significant trend for 2017
All LOB respondents (Marketing 49%, Finance 33%, Operations 48% and HR 32%) are aware of the need to transform their approaches over time.
Changing customer behaviors was identified as a significant trend for 2017. Work flexibility and digital business models are also key macro trends for 2017.
LOBs in Singapore are familiar with emerging technologies and realize the need to embrace them in future.
Payments-related technologies, including online and contactless payments as well as mobile wallets, and location-based services were the emerging technologies predicted to have the most impact on LOBs in Singapore. Artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms were also considered significant.
"It's clear Singapore's business leaders think digital is the way of business today and in future. They know what it can do for them personally and their organisations - and they like it. Notably, they will increasingly have influence and control over IT investments and outcomes. This is true for both core technologies and systems as it is for emerging tech,” said Trevor Clarke, Asia Pacific Research Director, TRA. “This isn't 'shadow IT'. It's just business and IT leaders need to step up and collaborate. That won't be easy, but communication and cultural change is an imperative for future success."