Young, fast and agile digital disruptors are increasingly posing competitive threats to incumbents. Many legacy companies have responded to these threats by creating a forward-looking digital business strategy. The problem they often encounter, however, is that the weight of an old, out-of-date operating model is a drag on the new strategy. In this PoV, we detail the elements of an effective digital operating model. Such a model—or models—is critical to executing digital business strategies successfully, overcoming disruption and creating value.

1. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
CAN YOUR DIGITAL
OPERATING MODEL
SUPPORT YOUR
DIGITAL STRATEGY?

2. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
THE RACE TO DIGITAL
Young, fast and agile digital disruptors are increasingly posing
competitive threats to incumbents. Many legacy companies
have responded to these threats by creating a forward-looking
digital business strategy.

3. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
AN OLD DRAG
ON A NEW STRATEGY
The problem they often encounter, however, is that the weight of
an old, out-of-date operating model is a drag on the new strategy.

4. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
CLOSING THE GAP
BETWEEN YOUR
STRATEGY AND
OPERATING MODEL
Such a model — or models — is critical to
executing digital business strategies
successfully, overcoming disruption and
creating value.

5. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
KEY ELEMENTS OF AN
EFFECTIVE DIGITAL
OPERATING MODEL
These four elements can be highly leveraged to deliver business
benefits in a digital context:
• Organization: Creating structural agility to enable speed
• Incentives: Driving the right behaviors
• Culture: The missing glue
• Capabilities: Establishing a digital foundation for success

6. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
TAKING ACTION
Traditional companies need to learn how to adapt operating
models to the specificities of different functions.
• Based on Accenture research, 75% of incumbents agree that
successful digital operating models will be flexible, dynamic
and customer-centric.
• 81% acknowledge the need to manage multiple operating
models in parallel.

7. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
FOUR KEYS TO
CREATING A FLEXIBLE
AND ADAPTIVE
OPERATING MODEL:
Re-shape organization structures and governance to allow
for speed. Digital innovations hubs — or a centralized "Digital
Hub" — can help traditional companies get the speed they need
to keep up with the fast pace of digital disrupters.

8. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
FOUR KEYS TO
CREATING A FLEXIBLE
AND ADAPTIVE
OPERATING MODEL:
Re-think board & C-suite incentive structures to help reallocate
capital to fund new bets. Giving the C-suite flexibility to pursue
strategic growth initiatives outside of optimizing traditional "cash
cows" can provide the capital ad focus required to be successful.

9. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
FOUR KEYS TO
CREATING A FLEXIBLE
AND ADAPTIVE
OPERATING MODEL:
Invest in fundamental digital capabilities regardless of your
digital strategy. Specific digital capabilities — such as rapid
prototyping combined with a deeper empathetic understanding
of customer needs — can provide a higher degree of certainty
that your strategy will be successful.

10. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
FOUR KEYS TO
CREATING A FLEXIBLE
AND ADAPTIVE
OPERATING MODEL:
Transform corporate culture to accommodate open ecosystems,
innovation, risk-taking, openness and customer obsession.
Culture change that moves traditional companies away from "the
way we've always done things" and embraces failing quickly can
embed startup-like concepts into the corporate DNA.

11. Learn more about how selecting the right digital operating models
can help overcome disruption and create value with our full report:
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Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
Mind the gap: Can your
digital operating model
support your digital strategy?
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