Digital Leadership Barometer shows companies' attempts to go digital
At the latest since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, Swiss companies have recognized that there is no way around digitization. However, only just over half of all affected companies are currently working on digital projects, and one fifth are not taking any organizational measures to manage digitization. This is the result of the "Digital Leadership Barometer" 2020 of the HWZ.
The Digital Leadership Barometer was founded in 2018 and will be conducted for the second time in 2020. It is supported by various partners. These include the Swiss Association of Master Builders (SBV), Raiffeisen Enterprise Center (RUZ), SUPSI's Dipartimento tecnologie innovative (DPI) or HWZ Alumni. 205 people completed the 2020 questionnaire in full. Almost 70% of the participants belonged to middle or upper management. Study authors are Dr. Urs Jäckli and Dr. Claude Meier (picture).
Gap between theory and practice
"The respondents rate the strategic importance of digitization as very high, with 81 out of a possible 100 points. However, companies see themselves as less advanced in the implementation of digitization," says Dr. Claude Meier, co-author of the study and Head of the Business Methodology Unit at the HWZ. His co-author, Dr. Urs Jäckli, study and project manager at the HWZ adds: "The current study shows a positive influence of digital training of employees on the progress of digitization in the companies."
The Digital Leadership Barometer rises...
As far as the structures for managing digital activities in Swiss companies are concerned, a marked increase with a focus on digital projects was observed in all areas. As recently as 2018, around 33% of the participating companies had no such structures at all, compared with around 22% today. 55% are now working on digital projects, an increase of 8 percentage points compared to 2018. Other structures for managing digital activity mentioned more frequently in the 2020 results include exchange groups across departments and committees.
The strategic importance of digitization in companies increased slightly from 2018 to 2020. This also applies to digital progress in companies. However, there is still a discrepancy between the perceived progress of digitization in one's own company and the strategic relevance attributed to the topic of digitization, although this gap is narrowing.
Progress thanks to digital education
The HWZ study on digital leadership found a statistically significant correlation between a company's progress in digitization and digital literacy. In particular, those companies that provide their employees with resources and further training, familiarize them with digital applications and working methods, and thus significantly increase their own level of digitization, develop positively.
Source: HWZ
