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February 12, 2013

Companies with High 'Digital IQs' Outperform Other Companies

By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

While the question, “What makes for a successful company?” has too many answers for a single article – or even a book – a new study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP has offered a little insight into how successful companies carry on their interdepartmental relationships. It turns out that the most successful companies are those in which the C-level executives have strong relationships with the IT department.



In fact, in its fifth annual Digital IQ survey, released this week, PwC US found that companies with strong, collaborative relationships between the CIO and other C-suite executives are four times as likely to be top performing companies as those with fragmented relationships.

A company’s “digital IQ” is defined as how well companies understand the value of technology and weave it into the fabric of their organization by consistently linking IT investments to business strategy to improve speed, agility and competitive advantage, says PwC. It’s about a lot more than a high technology budget or having the latest tools and software. 


Image via Shutterstock

“It is no wonder that those firms that have a better Digital IQ can deliver and innovate in a world where the rapid pace of technology is fundamentally reshaping global commerce,” said Chris Curran, a PwC principal and Chief Technologist.

“Digital IQ is about the CIO orchestrating rather than owning conversations. Social media, mobile channels and data analytics, along with the cloud, are making new business and operating models possible. Because enterprise responsibility lives across the C-suite for these issues, collaborative digital conversations are critical to bring it all together and evaluate and adopt these technologies,” added Curran.

Strong technology collaborators, said PwC, have a single multi-year roadmap for the company’s business strategy, and an explicit process to link the business strategy to the IT roadmap. They are more likely to operate on a mobile platform, have social media integration and have a more explicit approach to organizing, managing and measuring innovation. Ultimately, these “high digital IQ” organizations generate better results across the entire company.




Edited by Brooke Neuman
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