Executives around the world are convinced they can boost business performance by improving how well the organization can shift its strategic direction and how fast it can execute its operational objectives. But to achieve greater agility and speed, many are grappling with a wide range of organizational, behavioral, and attitudinal barriers—notably those that hamper quick decision making and clear accountability.
The findings, from a new McKinsey Quarterly survey,1 suggest that managers across all main regions and industry sectors acknowledge the increasing significance of agility and speed. Executives overwhelmingly agree that these related issues have become more urgent for business in the past five years. And a majority say they are taking steps to address them.
In the survey an organization's "agility" was defined as its ability to change tactics or direction quickly—that is, to anticipate, adapt to, and react decisively to events in the business environment. "Speed" was defined as a measure of how rapidly an organization executes an operational or strategic objective.
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