The Virtual Enterprise: enterprise transformation enabled by strategic digital acceleration

Purpose The Virtual Enterprise model expands potential for extreme digitalization, extended value chains and intelligent workflows, along with new partnership and ecosystem approaches. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of a new survey of more than 7000 C-suite executives conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) provides new and striking insights into what operational, organizational and cultural environments are most conducive to effective and enduring digital transformation. Findings The Virtual Enterprise re-imagines how and where work is done, re-evaluating the necessity for physical assets, infrastructure and talent. Practical/implications The single most important characteristic of the Virtual Enterprise is “openness”, which brings value at three levels: inside the enterprise, with partners outside the enterprise and with the wider ecosystem. Originality/value The research found that the high technology adopters who focus on “openness” and “ecosystems” enjoy a 40 percent revenue growth performance premium over their advanced competitors.