China's enterprises willing to invest in transformation projects

More Chinese enterprises are willing to invest in transformation projects, but they lack confidence in their change capabilities in organization, and a relatively small proportion of companies have mastered the ability to achieve significant value from change initiatives, according to a new report released by global consultancy Accenture.

The report said all of the surveyed Chinese companies are planning to invest more than 5 percent of their total revenues in change initiatives over the next three years, while only 20 percent of the interviewed executives have confidence in their change capabilities.

It noted that 68 percent of the polled Chinese firms have undergone two and more transformations in the past three years. About 40 percent of the surveyed Chinese executives cited high financial costs as a common obstacle in their transformation journey.

As business leaders are increasingly committed to driving reinvention across the enterprise, Accenture's latest report underscores the value of building continuous change capabilities for achieving a more predictable and positive impact across the business.

According to the report, the key to navigating change successfully lies in embracing six capabilities of continuous change. These capabilities include "foundations," or proven practices known to drive success, as well as "innovations," which refer to areas of new thinking and practice enabled by technology, data and AI that are focused on turning insights into action.

Noting enterprises are facing mounting challenges from transformation, Robert Hah, president of strategy and consulting at Accenture Greater China, said they should push ahead with change initiatives with a focus on strategy, research and development innovation as well as operation and information technology.

Amidst radical shifts in ways of working, changes in technology including generative AI and the constant potential for unforeseeable disruption, the ability to effectively navigate and measure change has become a critical competency for business leaders, the report said.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn