Rotman Management — Spring 2017

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priority topics and customer populations and specializing in in-
novative methodologies. Functional leaders play executive roles,
such as head of strategy, analytics, or marketing, and they often
report directly to the CEO.
One senior marketer said that for a team to reach stage four,
the CI function must be truly embedded with business decision
makers, seen as a thought leader rather than only a project ex-
ecutor or data provider, and capable of providing world-class
strategy and guidance that is actionable.

How to Reach Stages 3 and 4
In our initial study, only 10 per cent of companies had CI func-
tions at the third and fourth stages. Despite participants’ talk of
‘vision’, ‘transformation’, ‘restructuring’, and long ‘journeys’—
and rising expectations—the pace of change has been glacial: Our
latest study found that only 20 per cent of companies are now at
stages 3 and 4.
Even when companies adopt new functions and capabilities
that incorporate Stage 3 elements — such as advanced analytics,
digital or social media monitoring — these groups seem to be
analogous to traditional market research groups: They lack execu-

tive support, report low in the company hierarchy, have limited in-

teraction with the line, are constrained by small budgets and little

budgetary control, are unmeasured in terms of return on invest-

ment, and offer narrow career paths to team members.

Companies with CI functions that do manage to reach Stage

3 or 4 often do well on externally-verifiable outcomes, such as cus-

tomer loyalty and growth rates. Generally, companies with such

functions are more likely to recognize CI’s effectiveness in busi-

ness decisions and to measure the return on these investments.

Specifically, executives we surveyed in companies with

Stage 3 functions were significantly more likely (by 15 percent-

age points) than executives in companies with less-mature CI

functions to think that these groups materially contribute to fi-

nancial performance, that they put their companies and BUs on

faster growth trajectories (by nine percentage points), and that

they enhance their companies’ competitive advantage (by 20

percentage points).

All senior executives we surveyed whose CI functions had

achieved Stage 4 agreed that CI puts companies and BUs on

faster growth trajectories, while 50 per cent said CI was ‘very

critical’ to growth. Furthermore, 50 per cent of Stage 3 and

The Top 10 Capability Development Areas

SOURCE: SOURCE: 2016 BCG survey of 45 cross-sector CEOs and other top executives.2016 BCG survey of 45 cross-sector CEOs and other top executives.

NOTE: NOTE: Only the top 10 capabilities are shown. The percentages in each column may not add up to the total shown because of rounding.Only the top 10 capabilities are shown. The percentages in each column may not add up to the total shown because of rounding.

FIGURE ONE

Customer

insight

0 4

20

40

60

(^4242)
9
2 44
(^49)
11 4 13
4
2
4
2
4 2
11 4 4
11
2
4
2 7
13 11 2 2
11
4
11
9
9 4
4
20
(^1818)
12
7
27
4
(^2724)
22
44
33
(^727)
1st priority
Respondents (%)
2nd priority 3rd priority 4th priority 5th priority
Business
development
Talent
development
Pricing
analytics
Brand
development
Big data and
customer
analytics
Customer
relationship
management
Strategic
planning
Performance
management
Talent
sourcing
Customer Insight Ranks at the Top of Senior Executives’ Priorities