Organisational clarity must become the top corporate priority if
trust is to be restored among customers in the post-economic
meltdown world, says SAP CEO Leo Apotheker.
As he opened the Sapphire user conference in Orlando. Apotheker
warned delegates that all organisations must re-examine their
strategies and corporate philosophies in order to rebuild customer
trust. This means placing a new emphasis on achieving clarity in
order to minimise risk in the future.
"The past ten months have been a turning point for all of us.
None of us could have imagined how the global economy would go into
downturn as it has" he said. "We all face a new reality that is not
just a bump in the road. Uncertainty is here to stay. The best run
companies will survive despite the uncertainty. The only antidote
against uncertainty is clarity. Our vision for the future is for
every enterprise to be a clear enterprise."
According to SAP's definition, a clear enterprise has "clarity
of purpose and of strategy" and can measure and manage the level of
risk in all decisions across the organisation. He cited the example
of Goldman Sachs as an organisation that demonstrates clarity in
its risk management strategy, delivering the right information to
the right people at the right time. "We have a duty to manage
risk," said Apotheker. "Risk exists in all organisations.
One challenge facing all organisations is that the growth of the
networked economy means that risk is now shared across a wider
landscape. "Business networks are here to stay and will determine
how we come out of this global downturn, but the have an inherent
risk," he said. "The interdependency of business networks combined
with real time technology have in some cases made things worse. One
bad decision has the ability to spread risk around the world."
