
It is widely believed that we have globally embarked on the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a revolution that is being driven by a constantly connected world. By 2020, 6B people will have smartphones and Machine Learning.

What is clear is that companies leveraging these two forces – connectivity and machine learning – are forcing transformation across multiple industries. In fact, all industries are experiencing the effects and influences of these transformational forces and the economic power of those best utilizing these capabilities, e.g. Amazon, Facebook, etc.

Companies like Amazon, Uber, Airbnb and Tesla are forcing industries to re-approach their winning business strategy.
When dealing with fundamental change, most companies will ultimately seek to define a “winning strategy” – a future business model – that leverages their historical strengths while enabling them to compete and win within the new realities.
In defining this “winning strategy” many companies, however, fail to identify and build the “distinctive capabilities” required for them to be able to deliver on the core promises of their new business model. These “distinctive capabilities” are a combination and integration of functional, cultural and leadership qualities that will enable them to deliver exceptional value, consistently and at scale.
The Human Capital Group’s Organizational Excellence practice – Plan Forward – approach provides companies with a systematic and powerful method for identifying the distinctive capabilities their winning strategies require. This approach then guides the creation of a roadmap for developing the specific functional, leadership and cultural qualities required for building and scaling these distinctive capabilities.
When we apply this model to specific industries, we look at historical industry characteristics, the transformational trends impacting business today, and the probable outcomes to identify the required “distinctive capabilities” for a company’s unique “winning strategy”.
Companies with “winning strategies” are poised to confront the Fourth Industrial Revolution with organizational excellence. If you would like to learn more about the Plan Forward approach and its specific applicability to your industry, contact our team for more information.
Paul Cleckner, J.D. is a Managing Director at The Human Capital Group. Throughout his career, Paul Cleckner has been focused on guiding organizations through transformational change so they can be leaders within their industries for multiple generations. He has served in senior operating roles at Standard & Poor’s, Deloitte, LifePoint Health and Saint Thomas Health.
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