SAP Research Report sample

In interviews, executives of companies in the Americas described their operational excellence strategies as works in progress. Many said that while they recognized the value of end-to-end visibility, they had not yet fully achieved it. Others pointed to cultural factors as impediments to rapidly rolling out their strategies. They provided frank insights into the obstacles they face -- and advice about how these hurdles might be overcome.

Taking an enterprise-wide approach
Operational excellence works best as a growth driver when it is implemented across the enterprise. But less than two-thirds of Americas survey respondents said that their companies are taking an enterprisewide approach to evaluating and improving business processes, compared with almost 80% in Asia-Pacific.

Recognizing the unique role of IT and finance
Enhancing visibility into the value chain often requires investments in building and integrating ERP, CRM other technologies. And establishing performance metrics requires expertise that often resides in the finance function. Yet functional specialists in IT and finance complain that organizational silos limit their scope, preventing them from pushing for innovations outside of their own turf.