Business Leaders Optimistic About Recovery in Europe, Research from Accenture Finds - Seite 2

Accenture’s research indicates that there is a risk that executives in Europe are overly cautious regarding how they prepare for the rebound, compared with those in North America and Asia-Pacific. Specifically, European executives appear to be:

• Focusing on incremental rather than game-changing innovation: More than half (53%) of European respondents said they are slowing investments in innovation and won’t relaunch any initiatives in the next six months, compared with 33% of respondents in North America and 49% in Asia Pacific.
• Underinvesting in the future of business: In Europe, only about one in seven companies (16%) is already investing in initiatives to prepare for the rebound, compared with one in four (25%) in Asia Pacific and one in three (34%) in North America.
• Less likely to collaborate to rebound: Business leaders in Europe are slightly less likely than those in North America and Asia-Pacific to collaborate with other companies to mitigate the impact of the crisis and rebound faster (48% of those in Europe, compared with 53% in North America and 55% in Asia-Pacific).

“Europe’s business leaders must start reinventing themselves for the post-COVID-19 world today,” Ollagnier said. “Now is the time to think and act differently and take balanced risks to build long-term resiliency and to renew growth models to adapt to what we call a ‘never normal’ world.”

The report highlights critical areas that European companies need to focus on to close the competitiveness gap with their North American and Asian peers. These include:

• Increasing the pace and scope of digital transformation: Companies that have been the most resilient during the pandemic have the most-advanced digital capabilities, enabling them to equip their workforces for remote working, adjust their supply chains and adapt to new ways of buying — quickly and at a massive scale. European executives now clearly see the need to turn up the speed on digital change, as nearly two-thirds (63%) said their companies will accelerate their digital transformation, including their use of cloud.
• Creating experiences for increasingly responsible consumers: Buying habits during the COVID-19 lockdown ― with consumers making more-responsible purchases and massively shifting to online channels ― will remain in the post-pandemic world. Therefore, companies will need to deliver an end-to-end customer experience — one that brings customers in early, during the innovation stage, and continues through the sales and service processes. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of European business leaders in a group of consumer-related industries¹ see opportunities to build on buying habits that are increasingly driven by social and environmental criteria.
• Leveraging technology to reinvent the industrial sector: COVID-19 has triggered debates about the need for businesses to bring their operations back to their home markets. However, “re-localization” might not be the panacea for the European “industrial renaissance.” To build long-term operational resilience, reinvent their business models and create new revenue streams, businesses must leverage advanced digital technologies, such as predictive modelling, digital twins, and edge computing, among others. With 42% of European respondents in the manufacturing sector planning to accelerate investment in digital transformation, compared with just 32% and 30% in North America and Asia, respectively, there’s an opportunity for European companies to take the lead in the industrial sector.

“Europe is at a crossroads; its business leaders can continue down the well-trodden strategic and operational paths, or they can explore a new way forward, one based on innovation and high-potential technology that blends with Europe’s traditional strengths of sustainability, solidarity and purpose,” Ollagnier said. “Difficult though the COVID-19 pandemic has been, as we emerge from it the scale and scope of new opportunities — particularly in the industrial sector and on energy transition issues — are clear. It’s time for Europe to make bold moves and seize those opportunities to finally close the competitiveness gap.”