RECENTLY, within the space of a week, we had three seemingly different discussions with CEOs from three industries across three cities in Asia. In Jakarta, the CEO of a telecommunications giant was worried about the impact of increasingly blurred lines between telecommunications and Internet companies. His pressing issue was to keep his organisation relevant and competitive. Across the Java Sea in Singapore, the CEO of a leading engineering company wanted to discuss his company's plan to integrate four highly autonomous operating units into a consolidated business housed in a new mega facility. In East Asia, the CEO of a leading airline wanted to discuss the pressure of rising operating costs. The airline had grown through a series of acquisitions in recent years and, through unstructured integration efforts, found itself operating less efficiently than its rivals. Despite seemingly distinctive issues, ranging from blurring industry boundaries and mega-scale relocation to subpar productivity, these conversations eventually led to discussions about the urgent need to change target operating models and organisation design.

From Mercer's observations, the top three drivers behind a recent surge of organisation review activities are technology and other disruptors, growing cost pressures and expansion beyond the home country.

Today's organisations are frequently disrupted by new technologies, which put significant pressure on CEOs to react with speed and magnitude. For businesses such as telecommunications or financial services, the threat of technology disruption has become an eminent business risk and, in some cases, opportunity. Such technological advancement sometimes even surpasses other major driving forces, such as regulatory changes and demographic shifts.