Key questions

The project seeks to answer the following questions:

• What is driving the trend toward more customer-centric operations?
• How are companies thinking about and approaching this issue?
• How well do marketing and IT work together to better reach the customer?
• How do these two groups divide responsibilities in areas such as the company Web site, Business Intelligence and CRM?
• What sort of problems and challenges tend to emerge?
• What will be the impact of new technologies such as mobility and Web 2.0?

Focus industries

We plan to interview about 25 organizations in the US and Europe, focusing on industries where IT is becoming a key element of the offering. These will include:

• Advanced, high tech products (for example, machine tools, autos, telecoms).
• Healthcare products and services.
• Retail.
• Financial services (banking, insurance, investment management).
• Pharmaceuticals.
• Media.
• Technology-intermediated professional services.

Multiple, non-competing, firms will be interviewed in each sector, providing interesting comparisons and insights.

Interviews

We would like to interview senior business and IT executives in large organizations in these industries. No preparation for the interview is required; we are interested in executives' 'front of mind' reactions. We generally need about 90 minutes to explore all the issues.

Benefits to participants

Participating executives will gain a much better understanding of how advanced product and service offerings are developed and marketed in other leading firms, and how improved customer centricity is being achieved. In addition to receiving copies of the final report, they will also be invited to a major project workshop to be held in London towards the end of the project. Here, they will have a chance to discuss project issues directly with other participating executives, as well as comment on the research findings from the LEF Executive Programme.