Change is in the Air: Senior Executives Focus on Growth in 2011Despite a 44 Percent Failure Rate, Companies are Using Change Management Initiatives to

Increase Revenue and Prepare for the Future

January 20, 2011 08:46 AM Eastern Standard Time

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Many experts agree that in 2011 a self-sustaining economic recovery will slowly continue to take hold. Meanwhile, executives and companies are looking to accelerate the process. According to new international research published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by Celerant Consulting, senior executives are shifting their priorities towards growth and the future and away from cost reduction and other survival mode strategies.

Of the 288 senior executives surveyed this year from around the world, the top two objectives for change management initiatives were increasing revenue (55 percent) and preparing their organizations for the future (52 percent). Last year, 66 percent of respondents cited cost reduction as the primary goal.

“Companies are now able to think ahead and more strategically look at how to best position themselves for top and bottom-line growth,” said Allen Friedman, president, Americas, Celerant Consulting. “Most companies and executives have realized that as much of the excess costs as possible have been squeezed out and future improvement is dependent on a return to growth now.”

To ensure success, companies are planning to increase both the amount of time and overall spending devoted to change management. 63 percent of respondents report that more senior executive time was devoted to change management initiatives this past year and 47 percent cited that their organizations increased spending on change management. Only 7 percent and 11 percent stated that executive time and spending decreased, respectively.

Shockingly, despite an increase in both time and resources, businesses are simply not that good at implementing change—failing nearly half of the time (44 percent) according to the survey.

“No two initiatives are the same. Companies need to realize that change programs differ from company to company and across market sectors,” said William Hendrickson, executive vice president, Celerant Consulting. “We believe that successful change management must be based on implementation and engagement—from the technical and logistical aspects all the way through winning the hearts and minds of everyone across the organization, from the C-suite to the front line worker.”

Why are companies emphasizing change now? A Celerant-commissioned report from the EIU entitled “Leaders of change: Companies prepare for a stronger future” and published today alongside the survey, reveals that companies are increasingly turning to change management initiatives to stay ahead of external pressures and challenges. 60 percent of the survey respondents stated that the main forces driving change at their company were competitive and cost pressures (60 percent) and customer demands for better quality and service or different products (36 percent).

About the Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through our global network of about 650 analysts, we continuously assess and forecast political, economic and business conditions in 200 countries. As the world's leading provider of country intelligence, we help executives make better business decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies.

For more information visit www.eiu.com.

About Celerant Consulting

Celerant is a global management consultancy that provides international strategy and business transformation consulting and delivers operational improvement that helps the world’s leading companies to achieve and sustain real gains in bottom-line performance.

Celerant’s difference is simple – we believe that once we have fixed a problem for a client, it should stay fixed.

First we spend time understanding the needs of an organization. Then we analyze the challenges faced before recommending a tailored change program designed to deliver measurable results, now and into the future. This involves our industry experienced consultants working side-by-side with people in the front line of your business – from the Boardroom to the shop floor – to ensure the delivery of sustainable and measurable benefits.

As a result, last year Celerant delivered over $1bn in annualized sustainable savings to its clients.