Page 41 - Chapter One

Why it is Time Now for The Management Shift 9

environment. Table 1.1 summarizes key problems, citing the studies that
confirm these patterns.

Common themes emerging from these surveys and other studies show
that the senior executives are aware that the current turbulent and
complex business environments require new skills, new ways of working
and leading, new strategies, new organizational cultures and processes to

table 1.1 Key problems we are facing today
Problem Examples of studies
Declining performance ROA has progressively dropped 75% since 1965
Decreasing life expectancy The average life expectancy of Fortune 500 companies has
of large companies steadily decreased from 75 to 15 years in the last 50 years
Low levels of passion for Only 25% of the workforce is passionate about its work
work
Low levels of engagement Global figures for engagement show that 80% of
employees are less than fully engaged at work
Low levels of employee Only 45% of US employees find their jobs satisfying,
satisfaction 60% intend to leave if the economy improves, only 20%
feel very passionate about their jobs, fewer than 15%
agree that they feel strongly energized by their work
and only 31% believe that their employer inspires the
best in them. According to a CIPD survey only 37% of
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employees are satisfied with their work
Career stagnation A research sample of 2,000 employees in the UK
revealed that 39% of them have no career progression
plans, only one in ten employees feels they have
opportunities for long- term development with their

current employer
Focus on short- term share 80% of respondents in a survey of more than 400
price at the expense of executives indicated they would decrease spending on
long- term sustainable R&D and other similar expenditure to meet short- term

performance earnings targets. According to another study, over

a period of 18 years, companies with long- term and
sustainability focus outperformed matched companies in
terms of shareholder returns by 4.8% annually
Decreasing levels of trust Only about 50% of the wider public in the Western
world puts faith in the ability of business to do the right

thing, less than one- fifth of the general public believes
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business leaders and government officials will tell the
truth when confronted with a difficult issue
(continued )