IBM Case Study Sample

Many midmarket CEOs also report that they are struggling to keep up. They feel that consumers are now dictating the pace of change, whereas formerly they were the ones in control. “Change in the organization is not happening fast enough…The gap is widening,” one Dutch midmarket CEO told us.

This may seem surprising, since people often assume that smaller companies are more agile than large ones. But midsize organizations typically have fewer resources and thus less “bandwidth” for handling unexpected or disruptive external influences. They also operate in fewer countries and offer fewer products or services, so they have less experience in managing such turbulent, global change.

Moreover, the sheer breadth of the changes midmarket CEOs face is increasing. In 2004, market factors (such as variations in customer purchasing patterns, growing competition and industry consolidation) dominated the boardroom agenda. Today, however, midmarket CEOs have to focus on a much broader range of concerns. Market factors remain their top priority, but access to people with the skills they need, regulatory compliance, technological factors and globalization also weigh heavily on their minds. Regulation is a source of particular anxiety; 37 percent of midmarket CEOs think it will bring major changes, compared with just 30 percent of the total survey population.