by Herman Manson (@marklives) Added Value Saffron Hill recently released results from a study, commissioned by MEC and CNBC, looking at digital technology adoption by Asia’s CEOs. The study found that “Top executives are taking up digital technology, but the extent of the embrace appears to be tempered by their need to remain in control of their business ecosystem.” It goes on to reveal interesting insights on the relationship between technology and senior executives – including how the iPad has emerged as a game changer that makes execs, in the words of one, feel less like a salesman hidden behind a laptop. We caught up with the authors of the report.
MarkLives: What kinds of technology have been embraced by the CEOs in your study?
Saffron Hill: Anything to do with information and communication technology is valued as they are seen to be business performance enhancers. If you are talking about specific devices, these would include laptops, phones (BB and iPhone) and iPads.
MarkLives: What do they want to get out of technology?
Saffron Hill: Efficiency first and foremost. Also knowledge and, now more than before, entertainment.
MarkLives: An interesting aspect of your research centres on how distracting technology can be and how well CEOs recognise this – which is why they for example hand their mobile phones over to secretaries during meetings.
Saffron Hill: Yes the philosophy of these C Suites is that technology (as with other resources) should enable not dictate their lives. They are very conscious of not being enslaved by gadgets and very much value human interaction. They are still gentlemen in that sense, they feel it is most rude to place more importance/focus on a device than a real live person in front of them
MarkLives: Some comments in your research suggest CEOs prefer iPads to say laptops which make them feel like ‘sales people?’ So is the iPad a status symbol as much as a useful tool even in CEO circles?
Saffron Hill: I wouldn’t say the iPad is seen as a status symbol by these senior and very affluent people (it doesn’t cost much more than a phone). What is has though is more ‘cool factor’ compared to a laptop because of its aesthetics (typically with a nice cover) but also because of its novelty and the fact that it is embraced by young people. When a CEO whips out his iPad for a presentation, it is a subtle signal that he is forward looking and he is in tune with the latest developments. The CIO of Standard Chartered Bank was very proud to say that the bank was the first to issue iPads to all their senior people. For him, this move shows that the bank is technologically savvy but also open minded, willing to try new things.
