White Paper

Many major Australian organisations, and their leadership, will not survive the challenges post-COVID and the Supply Chain Inflation 

Findings of the controversial whitepaper on best practices for transformative boards & c-suites sponsored by WhitewaterTX

Sydney 10th April 2022 - A global research project has found that Australia’s Boards and CEOs are the most unprepared they have ever been to meet the challenges ahead – post COVID and current inflationary supply-chain upheavals.

“The corporate landscape has changed and is changing faster than most Australian corporate executives appreciate,” says Adam Salzer, key author of the report, and co-founder and executive chair of global transformation consultants WhitewaterTX.

“To survive they need to better prepare their organisations to change at a far greater speed than ever before. It is a matter of Transform or Die.” 

Mr Salzer cautions: “To be blunt, any organisation which fails to fully transform itself to become fit for the future, will be closed, taken over or deliver diminishing shareholder value. 

“Many Australian companies, public and private, are already being bypassed by global companies that are reinventing themselves at much greater speed.” 

He says Australian companies are responding much too slowly to global challenges and opportunities, with only few notable exceptions. 

“Chairs, boards, and CEOs are not being held sufficiently accountable for their long-term planning and associated milestone delivery by shareholders (large and small), the media and key stakeholders.”

“This failure in leadership is attributed to risk aversion, lack of courage and operational rather than transformational capabilities. Boards and CEOs also often wrestle with real transformation out of fear of possibly doing the wrong thing and by lack of capability at the most senior levels. This is a big mistake, maybe the biggest mistake being made by leaders today. Doing nothing or implementing digital operational improvement is NOT enough.”

Mr Salzer adds: “As the COVID survival struggle subsides and lockdowns end, agile businesses are sprinting to overtake laggards, those many organisations that seek to return to ‘before COVID’ with a work-from-home veneer.”
“There are organisations emerging from COVID at an extremely rapid pace, capturing opportunities and leaving many Australian competitors struggling to survive.”

“A group of mostly medium-sized and tech-driven organisations and their leaders have seen the opportunities that are opening up and made a conscious decision not to be frightened by them. They are embracing transformative change and putting their foot on the accelerator to capture the future.”

Mr Salzer suggested rapid and profound transformation is a necessity to deliver continual growth in today’s changing world. “Those innovative companies that are able to reinvent themselves at speed will thrive in the technology- driven turbulence.”

“Today’s leaders need to move beyond talking about, but do not deliver, the required reinvention. It is also apparent that they are not being held accountable by their investors to ensure their organisations adapt well enough and fast enough to survive and thrive. The old adage that it is bigger companies that eat the smaller ones has been replaced by it is the faster companies that eat the slower ones.”

“Effective chairs promote a culture of constant innovation and imaginative ideas throughout their company.”

He notes that “one in three public companies will cease to exist in their current form by 2025 — a rate six times higher than it was 40 years ago,” according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research.

The Transform or Die whitepaper provides topical insights and practical solutions as to how boards, C-suite and other business leaders can be better prepared for the unique challenges of the post-COVID decade. 

The contents reflect the views of experienced transformational business leaders, entrepreneurs, board members and C-Suite executives in Australia and around the world.

 

Download a copy: Transform Or Die   About WhitewaterTX WhitewaterTX (TX stands for transformation expertise) is a global alliance of over 20 successful former CEOs with extensive real-world experience in implementing sustainable transformations in major organisations. They use their unrivalled leadership experience and award-winning tools to enable transformational leaders to implement their vision and realise desired outcomes at speed - with a three times higher success rate than other approaches.