Future viability is now measurable

Subsequently, Maier and his colleagues subjected their results to a reality check. They surveyed 67 companies that have already undergone a successful transformation to find out about their experiences. Many of the participants confirmed in their interviews that a lot of things had to come together effectively for change processes to be successful. Based on the discussions, the researchers created a benchmark against which companies can compare their performance in the index.

In addition, the team interviewed 500 companies on the topic of transformation in collaboration with the market research institute Forsa. The interviews revealed that around two out of five companies have no vision for their own transformation. “This is certainly a problem,” says Moritz Maier. “After all, the vision is the starting point for a successful transformation, and that’s what makes it so important.” It is equally alarming that only one in two companies cooperate with universities, start-ups or other businesses. Maier states: “New ideas require an outside perspective, which can be obtained through partnerships, for example.”

In the publication “Transformation wirksam steuern: Daten und Instrumente für die Transformationsfähigkeit von Organisationen” (Managing transformation effectively: Data and instruments for the transformation capacity of organizations), companies can find detailed information on the transformation index. Companies wishing to test it are invited to contact the Fraunhofer team at the Research and Innovation Center Transformation & Governance. The consultation includes a preliminary discussion and a workshop during which data is collected and the results analyzed.