Jean-François Martin

AU G U S T 2 013

b u s i n e s s

t e c h n o l o g y

o f f i c e

Bullish on digital:
McKinsey Global Survey results
CEOs and other senior executives are increasingly engaged as their companies step up efforts to build digital enterprises.

Brad Brown,
Johnson Sikes, and Paul Willmott

As businesses continue to embrace digital tools

their digital goals. We found that despite the

and technologies—especially when engaging

organizational and talent challenges, executives

with customers—C-level executives in a recent

remain optimistic about digital business.

McKinsey survey say they are stepping up their
1

own involvement in shaping and driving digital
1  he online survey was in the
T

field from April 2 to April 12,
2013, and garnered responses from 850 C-level executives representing the full range of industries, regions, and com­ any sizes; 8.6 percent of p these executives have a spe­ i­ c fic technology focus. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respon-­ dent’s nation to global GDP.
2  n the 2012 survey, we asked
I
about three digital-business trends: big data and advanced analytics, digital marketing and social-media tools, and flexible delivery platforms.
See Brad Brown and Johnson
Sikes, “Minding your digital business: McKinsey Global
Survey results,” May 2012, mckinsey.com. They report, for example, that their companies are

strategies. This is vital to the success of digital

using digital technology more and more to engage

programs, as survey respondents most often cite

with customers and reach them through new

a lack of senior-management interest as the

channels. What’s more, growing shares report that

reason for an initiative’s failure. Respondents

their companies are making