Good Read djf 2009 Shift Index through the Center for the Edge at Deloitte.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "John Seely Brown" <jsb () johnseelybrown com>
Date: July 12, 2009 7:30:15 PM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>
Cc: "Hagel, John (US - San Jose)" <jhagel () deloitte com>
Subject: Reconnecting regarding a new report



Dave

A few weeks ago, John Hagel and I released our 2009 Shift Index  
through the Center for the Edge at Deloitte.  I wanted to touch base  
with you regarding the Shift Index as I thought you might find it  
interesting.  The Shift Index suggests the current recession is  
masking long-term competitive challenges for U.S. businesses that have  
been largely obscured by an excessive focus on short-term results.   
While the Shift Index covers a lot of ground, below are some findings  
I thought would be of particular interest to you:
1.       While information technology has helped to improve labor  
productivity, financial performance of companies has significantly  
deteriorated over the period since 1965, with return on assets of all  
US public companies dropping by more than 75% and even the “winners”  
barely hanging on (pg. 92 and 95 – Shift Index Report).

2.       Information technology, in the form of ever more powerful  
digital infrastructures, has been a key driver of intensifying  
competition, leading to growing economic pressure – the overall impact  
of information technology on firm performance has been a negative one  
(pg. 20 – Shift Index Report).

3.       Even though information technology has helped to spawn much  
richer and more diverse knowledge flows on a global scale, driving us  
inexorably into a world of ubiquitous connectivity, companies have yet  
to figure out how to harness these knowledge flows to reverse the  
deteriorating performance trends of the past four decades. The  
opportunities created by information technology remain largely  
uncaptured by companies (pg. 41 – Shift Index Report).

The underlying questions around these findings may be of relevance to  
your readers.  For example:
1.       What can technology providers do to help enterprise customers  
more effectively harness the existing capabilities of information  
technology?

2.       Given the growing importance of knowledge flows to  
competitive performance, what new technology innovations can help to  
support scalable generation of, and participation in, knowledge flows  
for both individuals and enterprises?

3.       What can technology providers do to more effectively harness  
these knowledge flows to enhance their own performance?

These are also some of the questions that led us to begin developing  
the Shift Index two years ago.  It all began on the sixth floor of the  
Deloitte offices in San Jose, where we began outlining a new framework  
on a whiteboard.  We were trying to get our heads around the long-term  
transformation we saw happening to the global business environment as  
a result of digital technology and, to a lesser extent, public policy  
changes. We later came to call this transformation the Big Shift.

About that time we also began gathering examples and illustrations of  
the Big Shift as it played out in diverse arenas from open-source  
software to online gaming. Yet stories and theory only go so far.  
Wouldn't it be better, we asked ourselves, if we could somehow  
quantify this Big Shift, and find a way to measure the rate and  
magnitude of the long-term changes happening in this epochal time?   
And so began the pursuit of developing the 2009 Shift Index.  This new  
set of economic indicators built for the digital world is a  
culmination of months of effort working with a broad array of  
individuals from different perspectives and experiences.

I have attached the Executive Summary to the Shift Index, as well as  
select exhibits and a link to the full index (http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_tmt_ce_ShiftIndex_0620092_1344%283%29.pdf 
).  There is also a Harvard Business Review article that just came out  
summarizing the key findings of the Shift Index and a longer working  
paper that explores the conceptual framework behind the Shift Index –  
if you  are interested in these, let me know and I will send you them  
as well.

John and I hope you view these findings sufficiently interesting to  
share this information with your vast network.  In addition, given  
that this initial launch reflects a work in progress we would love to  
get your feedback.

jsb

-ps a pointer to a short paper that articulates the logic of our  
framework might also be of interest:

http://www.johnseelybrown.com/shiftindexabstract.pdf



www.johnseelybrown.com
 


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