Thinking big with Business Transformation

A document by Deloitte..

"The word “transformation” gets thrown around a lot these days, but it can have different meanings for different individuals and companies. In a world of unprecedented disruption and market turbulence, transformation today revolves around the need to generate new value—to unlock new opportunities, to drive new growth, to deliver new efficiencies."
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Founder of UnifiedVU and Venture 9. Previously Founder and CEO of edocr.com

Help companies with digital and business transformation via process optimisation and system design, especially in the areas of bringing everything together for increased productivity and revenue growth.
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<p>Thinking big with business 
transformation 
Six keys to unlocking 
breakthrough value
2
The word “transformation” gets thrown around a lot 
these days, but it can have different meanings for 
different individuals and companies.  In a world of 
unprecedented disruption and market turbulence, 
transformation today revolves around the need to 
generate new value—to unlock new opportunities, 
to drive new growth, to deliver new efficiencies. 
All transformations require you to rethink how your 
enterprise creates value today and in the future. 
In other words, all transformations require you to 
think big. Why? Because incremental improvement 
is not enough to win in today’s exponentially 
disrupted business environment. Your organization 
requires sustained growth in the face of near 
constant disruption, and sustained growth requires 
agile reinvention. It’s not enough to win today. You 
have to be able to continue to evolve in the future.
3
The big transformation pitfall
An effective business transformation 
means your organization can survive 
and thrive as you pursue new 
innovation-driven opportunities that 
emerge, as you respond to shifting 
market demands, and as you navigate 
evolving regulatory complexities. 
You’ll want to proceed with caution, 
however. Transformation today takes 
place at dizzying speeds, requiring a 
level of integration and alignment that 
many enterprises are not prepared to 
handle.
Because many initiatives that once 
took five or six years to complete 
are now being implemented in a 
year or less, many organizations 
now need to manage mountains of 
information, compressed timeframes, 
and countless decisions that affect 
nearly all aspects of strategy and 
operations.  The risk of failure is 
great, but companies that can pull the 
disparate elements into alignment 
can achieve bold objectives, now and 
into the future. 
Understanding the strategic keys 
to achieving breakthrough value 
In light of the potential risks, aligning 
all of the elements to get business 
transformation “right” requires more 
than an A-to-B roadmap. It requires 
an integrated approach linking 
business strategy to transformation 
ambition to executional discipline in 
order to unlock breakthrough value.
Big questions lie ahead. The good 
news is that we know some of the 
answers already. They’re helpful keys 
you may choose to use to make your 
business transformation one that 
can deliver the value you are seeking. 
We’ve identified these six keys 
based on hundreds of engagements 
with some of the world’s leading 
companies, and we’ve seen first-hand 
how these keys can help unlock 
value that’s both revolutionary and 
evolutionary. 
What is business 
transformation?
It is the opportunity to 
define a bold ambition that 
goes beyond incremental 
change—the opportunity 
to rethink your business 
and operating models to 
deliver breakthrough value.  
It involves strategic decisions 
that affect where you’ll 
grow, how your organization 
operates, and what kinds of 
performance improvements 
you can expect.
4
1. Begin with a strategy-informed 
ambition 
Leaders in business transformation 
typically have a clearly articulated, well-
understood business strategy. Often 
an organization’s strategic choices—
although understood tacitly by senior 
leadership—are poorly translated into 
downstream implementation choices. 
The result? The dilution of value. 
A sound strategy serves as the 
foundation for a broad range of 
enterprise-wide investment decisions, 
resource allocations, and performance 
expectations. It helps shape an 
executable transformation ambition—
that is, the value that should come from 
the transformation. 
Organizations that have invested 
in articulating their strategy can 
translate strategic goals into a 
bold yet realistic transformation 
ambition that can be executed by the 
organization. These companies have 
a deep understanding of how their 
organizations will create, deliver, and 
capture value. That knowledge should 
lie at the core of your transformation 
ambition. Working toward strategic 
clarity and consensus on the ambition 
helps executives align their goals and 
activities. It helps them more clearly 
articulate desired transformation 
outcomes, from a financial perspective 
or from an operational perspective. 
And it helps them adjust elements of 
transformation strategy based on the 
ability of the organization to achieve 
those outcomes. 
The BIG question:
How do we ensure that the 
transformation goals and 
objectives support our 
business strategy?
5
2. Lead with capabilities 
Leaders in business transformation 
quickly focus and define the specific 
enterprise capabilities that will help 
achieve competitive advantage. In 
reality, only a small number of an 
organization’s total capabilities play a 
critical role in helping the organization 
find new ways to differentiate and 
compete. Focusing on those critical 
capabilities can help deliver greater 
value, help leaders drive competitive 
advantage, and help the organization 
realize its business transformation 
ambition. 
Knowing where to start is critical for 
unlocking value through a business 
transformation. Prioritization allows 
organizations to quickly evolve 
to address immediate market 
opportunities. It also allows them to 
build discipline they’ll need to evolve 
continuously, and it can help them 
establish the new trajectory that they’ll 
need to keep pace with disruption. 
Ultimately, leaders should move 
quickly past a “people, process, and 
technology” definition of capability—to 
one that represents a more holistic and 
complete picture. For any capability, 
it’s a definition that provides focused 
support for the organization’s strategic 
choices and touches on six dimensions: 
mission, insights, integration, 
processes, technology, and talent.
Here’s an example. A food and 
beverage company wanted better 
relationships with distributors and 
retailers to drive growth. The company 
determined that it needed to transform 
three integrated capabilities. 
Rethinking its customer engagement 
capability provided a set of products, 
insights, and services for distributors 
and retail customers, tailored to 
different segments. The company’s 
market insights capability was 
revamped to achieve a single source  
of truth for driving information to 
action. And the company’s portfolio 
and brand management capability 
was upgraded to create a tighter 
link between customer pricing and 
innovation decisions. By investing in 
these specific new capabilities, the 
organization was able to separate  
itself from competitors and establish  
a platform for future growth.
The BIG question:
What do we need to improve 
and how do we improve it  
to achieve transformation 
objectives?  
6
The Deloitte Capability HexagonTM provides a comprehensive 
approach to defining and designing enterprise capabilities 
across six dimensions:
 
• Mission. The purpose of a capability, how it will operate, and 
what value it will deliver. The mission is derived directly from—and 
supports—the company’s strategy.
 
• Insights. The decision flow, information, and analytics that drive 
informed and timely decision-making.
 
• Integration. Clear roles, decision rights, and policies that facilitate 
integration within and across other capabilities, functions, and 
partnerships.
 
• Processes. An integrated and efficient set of processes designed to 
achieve the desired outcomes.
 
• Technology. The software, hardware, and tools required to enable 
the capability.
 
• Talent. The competencies, skills, talent infrastructure, and workforce 
planning that enable an optimal talent base to execute the capability.
This broader viewpoint allows organizations to frame and link 
execution to the value defined in the transformation ambition.
MISSION
CAPABILITY
TECHNOLOGY
IN
SIGHTS
TALEN
T
IN
TE
GR
AT
IO
N
PR
O
CE
SS
7
3. Drive to value 
Leaders in business transformation 
articulate upfront the value they expect 
to achieve through transformation, 
and they zealously monitor, measure, 
and track value throughout their 
transformation. Value should be the 
thread that links your business strategy 
and your transformation together. 
Take time to be explicit about exactly 
how you intend to create value. Then 
establish strong, clear connections to 
your execution plans.  
A thoughtful value case becomes the 
linchpin that links the transformation 
ambition to capability design and 
execution. It does so by defining and 
breaking down the transformation 
program into manageable initiatives, 
each with specific target values mapped 
to capabilities. A results management 
office then drives all aspects of value 
delivery by understanding (1) the value 
of the program and (2) how to manage 
trade-offs and dependencies to achieve 
the targeted transformation value.
Failure to define the value expected 
can create problems downstream. 
That failure, in turn, can result in 
backtracking to address issues that 
should have been identified upfront. 
For example, a manufacturing 
company might overlook a specialized 
distribution capability needed 
to support a new, multichannel 
business model. Similarly, a global 
financial institution could miss value 
opportunities available through 
strategic tax planning. These aren’t 
minor considerations. They can make 
or break the effectiveness of your 
transformation. 
The BIG question:
How do we reinforce a 
relentless focus on value 
throughout the 
transformation journey?
4. Build in sustainability
Leaders in business transformation 
know that real value emerges over 
time, through sustainable change 
that endures. To put the right 
capabilities, competencies, and 
change-adaptive culture in place for 
sustaining and growing the value of 
the transformation, data is essential. 
Leaders should use data-driven change 
management solutions. Such solutions 
should support a quantifiable, 
analytical approach to managing 
attitudes, behaviors, and engagement. 
And they should be more than generic 
solutions that fail to address the 
unique challenges of the organization. 
By fostering an adaptive organization 
that embraces new ways of delivering 
value, leaders can provide a foundation 
to sustain value post-transformation. 
They can engage and empower other 
leaders within the enterprise to model 
and reward new behaviors and equip 
the workforce to make more effective, 
analytics-based decisions aligned with 
the business transformation ambition. 
Leaders should work to embed the 
change into the organization and build 
the strength to continue to evolve as 
new market opportunities arise.
For example, a consumer products 
company created a new role to own 
the transformed capabilities within 
the organization. Individuals in the 
role were responsible for moving a 
capability from its current state to its 
targeted future state, for delivering 
the value cited in the business case, 
for the supporting the on-going health 
and continuous improvement of the 
capability. This new role embedded the 
change into the organization and built 
a mechanism to sustain and grow value 
overtime.
The BIG question:
Why is it important to  
extend value beyond the 
transformation—and how  
can we do it?
8
5. Be agile and flexible 
Leaders today should be prepared 
to continuously evolve through 
transformation—because the business 
and technology landscapes in which 
they operate are continuously evolving. 
Leaders should work hard to embed 
agility, innovation, and a disruptive 
mindset into every transformation 
initiative. 
Such an agile approach also can 
help deliver quick wins and iterative 
progress that align with the desired 
transformation value. And an agile 
6. Invest in program talent 
Leaders in business transformation 
recognize that the right leader and 
right talent will make or break the 
success of the transformation. A strong 
program leader should have influence 
and credibility within the organization 
to make major shifts and shape how 
work gets done. Assigning a respected 
and capable business leader is critical 
to establishing the credibility and 
importance of the transformation to 
the organization’s strategic goals. 
Many organizations make the mistake 
of not freeing up top talent to support 
the transformation, since that talent 
is focused on meeting near-term 
approach plus agile solutions can 
provide early bottom-line benefits 
that can help fund transformation 
execution. Another benefit of agility 
versus a “big bang” delivery approach: 
greater transparency and visibility into 
progress—your actual “value capture.” 
An agile approach also can support 
your ability to manage complexity and 
unpredictability, through development 
processes that are iterative and 
incremental. 
It’s important for leaders to design their 
business for a shifting end-state, taking 
into consideration alternate market 
corporate objectives. But business 
transformation programs typically 
require significant investment in 
business resources to achieve the 
transformation ambition, and the 
return on this investment is often 
directly proportional to the caliber and 
dedication of the talent aligned to the 
transformation.  
This requires a dedicated 
transformation leader—not someone 
who has to pile transformation 
leadership responsibilities on top 
of his or her regular job. Why? 
Because splitting duties can dilute 
the effectiveness of the individual 
in the regular role and in the new 
scenarios and evolving technologies. 
Throughout any transformation, they 
will connect with peers, partners, 
and thought leaders to challenge 
their own thinking and anticipate 
future disruptions that they turn to a 
competitive advantage. As an example, 
a retailer created an independent 
innovation team to analyze disruptive 
technology and understand the 
influence of external market forces 
on a multiyear transformation. This 
approach helped the organization 
build a sustainable solution designed 
to remain relevant in an evolving 
environment.  
transformation leadership role. You 
should keep leaders connected 
strongly to focused roles. That 
approach also can help you retain top 
talent during the transformation so 
you can redeploy that talent into the 
business after the transformation—and 
help continue the growth of value. 
Be aware that “business transformation 
leader” is not necessarily a career 
destination, but rather an integral part 
of a career development path. The 
skills and experience that your top 
transformation leader gains through 
the transformation can be applied 
directly to the transformed business 
and help sustain the value of the 
transformation over time
The BIG question:
Why are agility and flexibility 
so critical to an effective 
business transformation?
The BIG question:
What does effective 
transformation leadership 
look like?
9
Own the disruption
It’s not enough to respond to disruption anymore. Leaders have to anticipate and own 
disruption—with the agility and discipline that will help them differentiate and stay ahead. 
Without clear vision and strategy to shape the execution, business transformation initiatives 
can falter at even the most high-performing companies. These six keys to unlocking 
transformation value, however, can help keep that from happening. The big idea is a simple 
one: maintain clear links among business strategy, transformation ambition, and executional 
discipline. Those links are essential for delivering the value you are targeting through 
transformation. They can help you execute your design. 
Let’s talk
Want to learn more about these keys to unlocking value and explore some of the big 
transformation questions that should be on your mind? We should talk. Our global network 
of professionals helps some of the world’s leading businesses successfully navigate big 
transformation challenges each day—taking a customized approach to help position 
our clients for ongoing evolution. We have a strong track record of results on business 
transformation, and we can help you start unlocking value that matters for your organization. 
Contact us to get the conversation started.
Contributors
Priya Ehrbar, Nathaniel Paynter, Tanya Raterman
Christine Anderson
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
christinebanderson@deloitte.com
Karen Bowman
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
karbowman@deloitte.com
Dan Kinzler
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
dkinzler@deloitte.com
 
Todd Kovacevich
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
tkovacevich@deloitte.com
 
Mark Pocharski
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
mpocharski@deloitte.com
Transformation at work:
Efficient execution was vital to the success of 
a newspaper conglomerate that needed to 
rethink its traditional print publishing business 
in a market evolving to digital media. The 
company’s leaders needed to find ways to 
grow the new business and shrink the legacy 
business, while managing the transition 
effectively. We helped the client reinvent its 
business model and reframe its operating 
model to support a digital strategy and to take 
advantage of growing consumer demand. That 
help involved transforming all aspects of the 
news value chain and building new capabilities 
in digital sales and content, production, 
circulation, HR, IT, and finance. On a parallel 
track, we also helped transform capabilities 
that weren’t central to the new operating 
model, such as reducing print home delivery 
to three days a week and engineering a lower-
cost printing operation. Through this game-
changing transformation, the organization 
was able to take advantage of disruption to 
accelerate digital revenue growth.
This publication contains general information only and is based on the 
experiences and research of Deloitte practitioners. Deloitte is not, by 
means of this publication, rendering business, financial, investment, or 
other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute 
for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis 
for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making 
any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you 
should consult a qualified professional advisor. Deloitte, its affiliates, and 
related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any 
person who relies on this publication.
As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte Consulting LLP, 
a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about 
for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its 
subsidiaries.
Copyright © 2016 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
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