09.09.2021

2021 Future Organization Report: The key drivers of success

Successful companies are increasingly taking a holistic approach. Human resources- and process-related aspects – in particular purpose, diversity and sustainability – are increasingly recognized as critical factors for the progress of an organization. At the same time, financial success continues to be the main business objective for 80 percent. That is confirmed by this year’s Future Organization Report from Campana & Schott and the Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik at Universität St.Gallen. The study investigates the agile transformation of companies and the attributes of excellent organizations.

When it comes to business decisions, 90 percent of respondents believe that customer satisfaction is more important than profitability. And requirements are changing all the time: Customers want to be involved in development processes and are calling for more sustainability in addition to fast, digital products. Of those surveyed, 68 percent believe that the environment is an important consideration for business decisions.

Compared to the previous year, company agility increased from 41 percent to 46 percent. And it pays: Companies can increase their adaptability to changes in demand by more than 26 percent. To achieve excellent processes, companies should also create a common understanding of processes and structures, make them agile and not forget about the human factor in this equation.

Companies are increasingly realizing that a holistic and agile operation is required to be successful. However, the numbers in the 2021 Future Organization Report also show that these processes are not consistently thought all the way to the end, and they are not broken down to the employee level. Sustainable value creation, however, can only be achieved by engaging employees in efficient processes.

Christian Schmid
Project Executive
Campana & Schott

One of the key set screws is digitization. 47 percent of managers and employees believe that a strong IT performance is of great help on the way to Process Excellence. And 63 percent of respondents believe that cutting-edge IT will improve their competitive position. Customers are also increasingly asking for digitized processes, because they open up new and personalized service options. It also helps companies to involve customers in the development of new products and services. This is very favorably viewed by 70 percent of respondents.

For more findings and insights, see the full 2021 Future Organization Report, which can be downloaded free of charge here.

To the full study