OREANDA-NEWS. December 14, 2015.  A report titled “Organizing for Digital: Why Digital Dexterity Matters” by Capgemini Consulting, the global strategy and transformation consulting organization of the Capgemini Group, conducted in collaboration with MIT Center for Digital Business, reveals that few companies have successfully used digital technologies to evolve their organization into truly digital businesses. The report found those that did were twice as likely to be reporting industry leading growth, profitability and customer satisfaction than their competitors. “Digital dexterity” is the ability to rapidly adapt organizational design to realize more value from successive digital transformations – for example, becoming more intelligent organizations through systematic data-driven decision making, devolving more decision power to frontline employees, or enabling seamless cross-boundary collaboration.

Didier Bonnet, Senior Vice President for Digital Transformation at ?Capgemini Consulting, said: "During electrification, productivity surged only after firms had radically redesigned how they organized – from the physical factory layout to the introduction of the assembly line and greater job specialization. This was a radical shift that did not happen overnight. It took some 20-30 years to evolve. Our conviction is that something very similar will happen with digital transformation. It will require major surgery to evolve our traditional industrial organizational models into digital ones. But we have no choice if we want to fully benefit from this digital revolution."

The report, the latest in a series analyzing the opportunities and challenges presented by digital transformation, is based a survey of 274 industry executives, representing 150 different enterprises across 28 countries. It uncovers several key attributes that set the most digitally dexterous organizations apart from others:

  • A digital-first mindset that prioritizes digital solutions first and foremost
  • Systematic experimentation to drive innovation across the organization
  • Ability to self-organize quickly around new digital opportunities 
  • Empowering the organization’s workforce through access to data
  • Engaging employees by encouraging collaborative problem-solving.


It also reveals that advanced levels of digital dexterity allows organizations to seize opportunities and respond to disruptions much more quickly than their traditional competitors (see Figure below).

Advanced Level of Digital Dexterity is a Key Advantage over Competition

N=135; Percentages indicate share of organizations/firms agreeing with each statement
Source: MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini Consulting Analysis