It is proving to be an influential document, which is being cited by numerous industry leaders, including Salesforce.com’s Chairman and CEO Mark Benioff who is referencing the report during his current “Customer Company” roadshow.

Benioff highlights this quote from the report: “for some time, businesses have been refining and optimizing their networks of suppliers and partners. But something just as revolutionary has been happening _ the sudden emergence of the cloud, social and mobile spheres _ connecting customers, employees and partners in new ways …”

IBM says the study “explores how CEOs are responding to the complexity of increasingly interconnected organizations, markets, societies and governments – what we call the connected economy”.

Three themes emerged from the interviews. Today’s CEOs must:

It is the first time since IBM began conducting its global CEO studies in 2004, that the phrase “market forces” has been toppled by “technology” as the most important external force impacting organizations.

When you think about it, “Biz-Tech” enabled front-end collaboration is a logical evolution from driving efficiency in the supply chain.

Connecting employees, customers and stakeholder partners to unlock value and differentiation is the way forward.