PILLARS UNITED: Improving the initiation of cross-pillar projects

Abstract

Accenture Interactive, the marketing arm of international consultancy Accenture, has been created to address the evolving needs of their clients in the field of design and technology. As a result, Accenture Interactive now consists of several pillars that together can deliver a meaningful end-to-end experience. Delivering value to the client and the organization in projects by collaborating across pillars are called cross-pillar projects.

However, Accenture Interactive encounters that the current collaboration between the different pillars in client projects is not at the level they would like it to be. In line with this observation, the purpose of this thesis was to explore what goes wrong in the current cross-pillar projects, with the aim to reveal the influencing factors of these projects.

Therefore, this thesis aimed to improve the cross- pillar performance by defining the definition of cross- pillar working in the context of Accenture Interactive, and resolving the barriers towards the envisioned level of cross-pillar working. As a result, an integrated solution was created, consisting of improvements in existing communication channels and adding a proposition development approach to the existing initiation process.

This was examined by conducting twelve in-depth interviews with different pillars, from six completed cross-pillar projects. The interviews defined the context of cross-pillar work in Accenture Interactive and the elements that make up all the studied cross-pillar projects. Then, a deeper look was taken at differences emerged between the performance of the studied projects. This led to the problem statement that the performance of a cross-pillar project is influenced by the presence of awareness and willingness in the initiation of the projects.

A deeper study was conducted to determine which barriers are present during initiation preventing awareness and willingness. The design goal, was to develop means and approaches that could help employees to facilitate cross-pillar collaboration during the initiation of new projects. To facilitate implementation, it is proposed that existing activities, like Chapter Zero and Friday morning meetings, could help serve that purpose. The end goal of this approach is to learn to initiate cross-pillar projects by experiencing how to bring value to clients by collaborating between pillars.

Furthermore, a roadmap is created to guide Accenture Interactive in bridging the gap between the results of this project and the new practice of cross-pillar working. This roadmap aligns the different development processes within Accenture Interactive, reflects how this thesis’s outcomes fit within the intended timeline, and provides direction to Accenture Interactive’s vision.