NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Too many companies have one-dimensional business strategies for growth or driving profit, with little or no emphasis on sustainability and trust, and no integration of the three, according to Accenture (NYSE:ACN). A new and unique performance index – the Competitive Agility Index – identifies the corporate leaders of the future across nine industries, including automotive and industrial, consumer goods and services, retail, life sciences, communications, electronics and hi-tech, energy, insurance and utilities.

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Formula Won Infographic

Accenture Strategy conducted the analysis and built the Index from a set of nine separate performance measures to create a forward-looking view on potential future competitiveness. The analysis shows that the companies best positioned for competitiveness have an interdependent strategy focused equally on growth, profitability and sustainability and trust.

The opportunities uncovered in the Competitive Agility Index include the massive growth potential for automotive and industrial companies. The Index shows that companies in these sectors have a tremendous revenue growth opportunity – in the range of $1 billion per company – that can be achieved by an interdependent business strategy with equal focus on all three competitiveness dimensions.

Among the top automotive and industrial companies on the Index are:

• BMW, based in Munich, Germany
• Schneider Electric, based in Rueil-Malmaison, France
• Honeywell, based in New Jersey, U.S.
• Daikin, based in Osaka, Japan

“While these leaders each have unique business strategies, they’ve all prioritized the three competitiveness dimensions. They are investing for growth in new digital capabilities, focusing on cost and implementing tighter profitability measures, and exploiting their brands to position themselves as trusted suppliers in the digital age,” said Mark Pearson, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Strategy.

The Competitive Agility Index shows that this interdependent strategy can yield far greater revenue and EBITDA improvement than one that focuses on just one or two of the dimensions. For example, according to analysis of a sample set of 47 automotive/industrial companies, a $30 billion company that adopts this strategy could see revenues rise almost $1 billion and a two percent increase on EBITDA.

Take BMW for example, with a Competitive Agility Index score of 63.8 (compared to the industry average of 34.6), the company has adopted the interdependent strategy with equal emphasis on sustainability and trust – something that some automotive companies have neglected. BMW factors in consideration of the environment along the entire value chain, and has a clear commitment to the preservation of resources embedded in its approach.

Interestingly, the leaders identified by the analysis are in stark contrast to the leaders in market cap or total shareholder return – the more traditionally used metrics for success. “Traditional metrics are backward looking and only shed light on part of a company’s operations, failing to register how strong a company is in areas like sustainability and trust,” said Bill Theofilou, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Strategy. “Companies that don’t adopt an interdependent strategy that integrates the three competitiveness dimensions are at risk for being over estimated by the market or worse, succumbing to the competition. The good news is every company can start improving their performance immediately – the key is knowing where to start.”

Moreover, the competitiveness dimension that automotive and industrial companies need to put immediate emphasis on is growth. “The dramatically changing sales channel structures, as well as the emergence of whole new mobility business models like car and ride sharing and electrification of cars, will offer enormous opportunities for the automotive company of the future in terms of growth. And those that do not seize these opportunities on time will be simply left behind,” added Pearson.

About the Research

The Competitive Agility Index includes more than 350 companies across nine industry segments. To create the Index, Accenture Strategy analyzed a unique blend of publicly available data including historical and future consensus data and information on sustainability and trust efforts to determine company performance across three dimensions: growth, profitability and sustainability & trust. The Index gives each company a score on a scale of 1 to 100, based on performance across the three dimensions, relative to its industry peers.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 411,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business and technology. We bring together our capabilities in business, technology, operations and function strategy to help our clients envision and execute industry-specific strategies that support enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues related to digital disruption, competitiveness, global operating models, talent and leadership help drive both efficiencies and growth. For more information, follow @AccentureStrat or visit www.accenture.com/strategy.

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