Digital world demands new relationships for companies, customers: Report

To compete and succeed in a world where digital is everywhere, companies need align their drive to create business value with their customers' and employees' values and expectations, and create a new basis for competition and growth, according to new report released by global marketing consultancy Accenture.

Of the more than 6,000 business and IT executives worldwide that Accenture surveyed for the report, 89 percent of Chinese executives acknowledge that technology has become an inextricable part of the human experience.

As part of the research this year, Accenture also surveyed 2,000 consumers — 89 percent of Chinese consumers expect their relationship with technology to be more or significantly more prominent over the next three years.

The report said about 89 percent of Chinese business and IT executives surveyed believe that competing successfully in this new decade requires organizations to elevate their relationships with customers as partners. Currently, 55 percent of Chinese organizations report using inclusive design or human-centric design principles to support human-machine collaboration.

About 82 percent of Chinese executives report that their organization's connected products and services will have more, or significantly more, updates over the next three years. Three-quarters of Chinese executives believe that the stakes for innovation have never been higher, so getting it "right" will require new ways of innovating with ecosystem partners and third-party organizations.

"Dazzled by the promise of technology, many organizations created digital products and services just because they could, without fully considering the human, organizational and societal consequences," said Paul Daugherty, Accenture's chief technology & innovation officer.

There are five key trends that companies must address over next three years to defuse tech-clash and realize new forms of business value, the report said.

First, organizations will need to design personalized experiences that amplify an individual's agency and choice. Secondly, artificial intelligence should be an additive contributor to how people perform their work, rather than a backstop for automation.

Moreover, as enterprises seek to introduce a new generation of products driven by digital experiences, addressing this new reality will be critical to success. With 5G poised to rapidly accelerate this fast-growing trend, every enterprise must re-think its future through the lens of robotics. Finally, organizations will need to establish their own unique innovation DNA.

"Enterprises are facing their next big challenge. Now, digital technology is evolving from an advantage to a basic expectation—and yesterday's best practices are turning into today's shortcomings. Enterprises will need to revisit their fundamental models of business and technology, rebuilding them to align better with people today," said Jia Jin, Accenture China Technology Group Lead.