Two-Thirds of Corporate Executives Say Lack of Business Skills Inhibits Strategy Execution

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BTS, a world leading strategy implementation consulting firm, is pleased to announce the release of a research report entitled Skills Mismatch: Business Acumen and Strategy Execution. Based on a survey of over 300 senior corporate leaders conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the report explores the relationship between business acumen and strategy execution, the critical skills required at various levels of leadership, and the trends in business acumen development.

“Leading companies recognize strategy execution as a critical challenge. This study confirms that many organizations are constrained by a business acumen skills gap”

The research revealed that a vast majority of surveyed senior leaders believe that a lack of business acumen inhibits their organization’s ability to realize strategic goals. Challenged to develop critical business skills, companies have traditionally focused on building skills on the job, but are now turning to innovative, experiential learning methods that reduce risk and accelerate results.

Key research findings include:

External skill shortages were considered to have a greater impact on execution than global competition, regulatory constraints, political uncertainty and technological changes.
Two-thirds of senior leaders agreed that a lack of business skills limits their organization’s ability to realize strategic goals to a strong extent. However, high-performing organizations, in terms of revenue growth, are less constrained by a skills gap than low-performing organizations.
Considered minimally effective by survey respondents, on-the-job experience, the common approach to developing business skills, is expected to decline by nearly 40 percent over the next five years. In comparison, learning and development initiatives designed to build business acumen are expected to grow 47 percent, based on a composite score.
Eleven percent of senior leaders say business simulations are used within their organization today, and 26 percent anticipate their use in 5 years’ time— a 140 percent increase. Meanwhile, expert-led lectures are perceived as ineffective and are expected to decline by 32 percent.

“Leading companies recognize strategy execution as a critical challenge. This study confirms that many organizations are constrained by a business acumen skills gap,” said Rommin Adl, EVP BTS. “To bridge this gap, business simulations and experiential learning are becoming increasingly widespread, outpacing other formal learning approaches to business skill development. More and more companies are taking notice and investing in this area because they recognize that it is a powerful way to generate better results, faster.”

Based on a global survey designed and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research report incorporates responses from 336 corporate senior leaders across a diverse range of geographies, 16 industries and 13 business functions.

Download the full report.

About BTS Group

BTS is a world leading strategy implementation firm that accelerates execution by building the alignment, mindset and capability needed to deliver superior business impact. The company leverages customized business simulations and experiential learning initiatives to help clients achieve better results, faster.

For more information, please visit www.bts.com.