In the midst of an economic downturn, when it is all too easy to fixate on cyclical events, there is real danger of losing sight of deeper trends. Short-term cyclical thinking risks discounting or even ignoring powerful forces of longer-term change.
Deloitte’s Center for the Edge has developed the Shift Index to provide a clear, comprehensive, and sustained view of the deep dynamics changing our world, and what companies can do to address them. The Shift Index consists of 3 indices and 25 metrics designed to make longer-term performance trends more visible and actionable.
Key themes in the 2011 Index include:
- ROA (Return on Assets) performance continues its long-term decline due to deteriorating firm performance
- Layoffs and other short-term measures taken by firms are not a sustainable solution to improving long-term firm performance
- Connected individuals, not companies, are the ones harnessing flows and have more power because of it
- Firms have untapped opportunities to reverse their declining performance by embracing pull
Connect the dots
From disruption in the music and entertainment industry to cleaning up oil spills using smart phone apps, these journalistic nuggets help bring to life the key metrics of change captured in the Shift Index.