The myth of the dot.com company manager – young, lacking experience, trying to rapidly accumulate gains, playing with the money offered by venture capital funds – is not as real as it appears to be, as shown by the latest survey conducted by KPMG Consulting in the e-business domain.
The average age of an IT company leader stands at 38 years. A dot.com executive is willing to give up a traditional career in order to start a completely new business, in a very dynamic sector, like information technology. He is quite unlikely to have his own office or a personal assistant and he prefers to fly economic class.
In contradiction with well-known clichés, he is not necessarily a rebel when it comes to observing business traditional rules – 88% of the people interviewed by KPMG Consulting believe that casual clothes are not appropriate for important business meetings. At the same time, most respondents say that they have to work late, therefore they have little time left for “social life.”
“In spite of the failures registered by certain IT companies, which have been extremely exploited by the media, it would be a mistake to ignore the “new economy,” says Alan Buckle, executive manager of the British division of KPMG Consulting.
“This survey shows that a dot.com manager has tremendous energy, he is a very determined person, who understands very well the way in which Internet changes the business world. Traditional leaders have a lot to learn from the new generation of businessmen and a lot to lose if they ignore it,” Buckle adds.
Not necessarily “young wolves”
A dot.com manager is not necessarily “a young, brilliant, strange guy” – the average age in the domain stands at 38 years. This image was created by the media over many years. Most articles on the companies that help building the new economy keep featuring people in their twenties, who launched their own business in the domain of Internet shortly after graduation. The KPMG survey shows that those who have managing positions within a dot.com company are older people.
On the other hand, the executive manager of a traditional company is not at all a “technophobe” who is about to retire. The classic image is as phony as in the first case and reveals the profile of a grey-haired wise man who worked in the same sector all his life and who needed 30 years to climb all hierarchic steps, finally making it to the Management Board.
In fact, the average age of this category stands at 46 years. 42% of the respondents are aged between 40-49 years, while 28% are aged between 30 and 39 years.
However, it is true that 20% of IT managers have not turned 30 yet, against only 2% in the case of traditional companies, while the age of 25% of traditional managers exceeds 50 years. The survey also points out that in the dot.com sector there are more women than in other domains.
The way to glory
There are important differences between the education of a dot.com executive and that of a traditional company executive, which is also explained by the age of the respondents.
As to higher education, “traditional” managers are more likely to have a college degree, their number standing at 84%, against only 66% in the case of dot.com executives.
Traditional company managers are interested in studying economy, while IT company executives having college degrees go for management studies.
Traditional managers generally have a finance background, while dot.com executives are in most cases IT or marketing specialists.
The results of the KPMG survey confirms the idea that IT specialists are more opened to novelty, to the challenge of building a new business from nothing. 78% of dot.com managers used to run at least one previous business, against only 59% traditional managers who changed their domain of activity.
Anyway, the way to success was “paved” with many obstacles for both categories of managers. 24% of respondents from each category were fired during their careers, and one out of ten respondents admitted having been unemployed for at least three months. However, traditional managers have a better situation: only 2% experienced bankruptcy and only 27% were prevented from promoting by a dismissal.
Motivation
What makes people choosing to launch a new business in the high-tech domain, instead of joining a sound organisation enjoying with widely acknowledged reputation?
Those who made this choice can also explain it: the opportunity to develop, in a short period of time, a business built from nothing. One of the strongest motivations mentioned by respondents is also the challenge to establish a new company that has to find its place in a young, dynamic environment.
Those who choose the IT domain are also attracted by the perspective of getting rid of the burden of bureaucratic jobs and by the fact that they can take chances more freely.
If he had to choose the dot.com sector, a traditional manager would first consider the spectacular stock exchange performances posted by the shares of such companies.
The key to success
When asked which was their secret formula to achieve success, IT managers mentioned their own efforts, their commitment and loyalty towards the enterprise. At the same time, they also referred to their personal ability to run a business and their willingness to take risks.
Taking risks does not appear to be an important aspect for traditional managers, who believe that the most important element that led them to success was their personal leading abilities, followed by hard work and loyalty towards the company.
Working overtime
Most executives whose answers were included in the KPMG Consulting survey say that they spend most of their time working. More than a half of respondents belonging to both categories work over 56 hours a week.
22% of IT managers work even more than 71 hours a week, while only 12% of traditional managers have similar work hours.
Almost half of dot.com mangers admitted that they worked too hard, as long as 26% of them work seven days a week and 25% work are still working at eight o’clock in the evening. One manager out of five even works after nine o’clock p.m. every day.
Their traditional counterparts have “classic” work hours: 22% of them begin their workday between 7.30 and 8.00 in the morning. Most traditional mangers leave their office earlier than their IT counterparts, namely before 6.15 p.m.
Daydreaming
If a dot.com executive could leave their desks to take up their dream job – what would it be?
32% would be pilots or formula one racing drivers – double the number for traditional business leaders. The favourite option for traditional executives is to be a doctor or novelist (18%).
A film director or actor was a popular choice, with 14% for both groups opting for a career on either side of the camera.
Given that dot.com entrepreneurs like speed, it was not surprising that the Audi TT was their favourite car (26% as compared to 4%). On the other hand, the Jaguar XK8 was the top choice of traditional managers. The second choice for traditional business leaders was BMW Z3.