Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

For a KRI framework to be successful, it is vital that KRIs are well selected so they can support the business and its objectives within the risk appetite. This Advisor explores some of the means by which KRIs can be established.

The pressure on telecom companies’ cash flow has never been so intense. Now more than ever, it has become imperative to unlock value through asset reconfiguration in order to finance growth and transformation via 5G and diversification.

Over the course of the pandemic, employees and managers have developed their knowledge and skill sets related to virtual work and now look to optimize the benefits of virtual work post-pandemic. This Advisor includes three steps for hybrid success that organizational leaders can consider as they iden­tify what adoption of — and reliance on — flexible, hybrid work may look like in the post-pandemic world.

As we explore in this Executive Update, there are tangible benefits to basing corporate purpose on sustainability drivers, and sustainable business models are gaining pace. Therefore, businesses should rethink their role in the context in which they operate and adapt their strategy, organization, resources, processes, and culture accordingly.

The value of a great team has never been questioned. What thriving teams have in common is a single vision, a customer on which they can focus, a coach or leader to help them focus, and the authority to work within guardrails without having to stop to get permission to make decisions.

The demonstration of human resilience may end up being more noteworthy than the disruption experienced through the COVID-19 pandemic. Managers, mentors, coaches, and colleagues who are able to identify moments of low resilience can be of the greatest help to the individual employee and overall workplace morale and productivity.

Simon Schillebeeckx proposes a focus on regeneration as a way for small carbon footprint firms (e.g., consulting, financial services firms) to make a positive sustainability impact. He highlights that service industry firms can proactively contribute to the regeneration of common pool resources, such as forests and lakes, which often become neglected or overused. What makes regeneration different compared to more traditional donations to a conservation nonprofit is the use of digital technology that enables an organization to lay claim to the eco­system benefits it generates through its support. The digitization of benefits claims provides a transparent accounting system for environmental benefits. Schillebeeckx explains how transparency and accountability can lay the foundation for firms to work together to preserve and restore common pool resources.

Rohit Nishant and Thompson S.H. Teo explore the environmental impact of AI and ML. Specifically, the applications where these technologies add the most value are those that require heterogenous data in complex settings (e.g., optimizing smart cities, modeling climate change). In the process of creating value, these large AI and ML models require energy-intensive computing, leaving a huge carbon foot­print. To counteract these concerns, Nishant and Teo offer the “Align, Reduce, Measure” (ARM) framework for mitigating the environmental impact of AI and ML algorithms. The framework encompasses the organiz­ational structure, addresses data heterogeneity, and measures results to create accountability.