Amidst rising competition, stricter regulations, and sustainability challenges, businesses are expecting more from their Corporate Services. To understand how they are meeting these demands, KPMG surveyed 250 senior executives spanning multiple industries and functions, from front office roles to the C-suite and beyond.
Corporate services defined
- Front office: Customer support operations, product development, and marketing/sales functions.
- Middle office: Research and development, risk and regulatory compliance, and quality assurance.
- Back office: HR, legal/risk, procurement, supply chain/logistics, IT, and finance.
Aligning to deliver value
The survey revealed that value is a major concern for executives, with fewer than one-third believing Corporate Services provide high-quality services. Misalignment between business strategy and operating models is a significant issue, as 73 percent report only “moderate alignment” between the goals of their function and those of the overall organization.
Over 1/2 say their function's priorities are only "somewhat" aligned with those of the wider organization.
4 out of 10 say their Corporate Services functions are siloed.
Half of key leaders including CEOs, chief strategy and, transformation officers, would reorganize Corporate Services to improve the delivery of services and value.
Nearly half of respondents point to unaligned goals as the main challenge in connecting back-office and other organizational units. Corporate Services often struggle with common data, processes, and practices, but technology now demands closer collaboration among functions for better service quality. This may require substantial changes for some organizations.
Embracing Gen AI
Not surprisingly, our survey shows that the top external factor driving Corporate Services transformation is rapidly advancing technology (23 percent). Businesses must also embrace the fact that generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) will eventually replace some business processes and capabilities currently performed by people.
Companies must rethink roles to leverage talent and automation, ensuring a collaborative Gen AI adoption approach for processes spanning multiple functions.
In summary
Corporate Services may not need a complete overhaul but rather fine-tuning. Leaders must balance stability and disruption to deliver essential services while evolving. This Global report explores how companies can enhance Corporate Services by addressing four strategic imperatives affecting productivity, structure, and culture:
- Focus on enterprise value — and design Corporate Services to support value creation.
- Harness the power of data to deliver more value for the business.
- Embrace Gen AI to fundamentally change Corporate Services including the workforce.
- Incentivize and enable change to advance Corporate Services.
By embracing these advancements and strategically integrating Gen AI, companies can unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation. The key lies in fostering a culture that embraces change while maintaining core values, ensuring that both employees and technology work synergistically towards common goals.
Read the full global report
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