Despite three straight years of ongoing disruption and economic ambiguity, when it comes to resiliency, 53 percent of executives admit their company is not where it should be. This is among the top findings in a global business survey report by SAS, an analytics software developer. Resiliency Rules explores the current state of business resiliency and what steps companies in industries like financial services, retail, manufacturing, health care, and government are taking to navigate change and seize opportunity.
Between rhetoric and reality
SAS surveyed 2,414 senior executives at companies around the globe with more than 100 employees. Among the respondents, 70 percent are optimistic about the future of their country’s economy, and 80 percent are currently investing in resiliency planning and strategy. However, the research indicates a resiliency gap between the importance executives place on resiliency, and how resilient their organizations actually are.
According to the survey data, nearly all (97 percent) executives believe resiliency is very or somewhat important, yet less than half (47 percent) perceive their company as resilient. Roughly half (46 percent) admit they are not fully equipped to face disruption and struggle in addressing challenges such as data security (48 percent), productivity (47 percent) and driving technology innovation (46 percent).
While the resiliency gap is today’s reality, 81 percent of respondents indicate they believe resiliency is attainable with the right guidance and tools. And more than 90 percent of the respondents see data and analytics as critical tools for a resiliency strategy.
The five Resiliency Rules and the necessity of data and analytics
SAS identified five principles instrumental to maintaining and strengthening business resiliency: speed and agility, innovation, equity and responsibility, data culture and literacy, and curiosity.
Referred to as the five Resiliency Rules, SAS’ research examined how executives prioritize and implement each. One thing was clear: high-resiliency executives place higher value and invest more than low-resiliency executives in each area. This was consistent in the responses across country and industry segmentations, indicating executives view these as fundamental components for a resiliency strategy.
A key takeaway from the executive research is the critical role of data and analytics in implementing the Resiliency Rules. Nearly all high-resiliency executives (96 percent) use internal and external data and analytics to inform decision-making, which is key for navigating changes and ensuring business continuity. The highly resilient business executives claimed to implement data tools more than their less resilient counterparts (93 percent vs. 22 percent low resiliency).
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