The Collaborative Economy

Unlocking the power of the collaborative crowd is delivering major benefits for the national economy, and can help Australian businesses meet their productivity and innovation challenges. Google commissioned Deloitte Access Economics and Deloitte Digital to quantify the value of greater collaboration in Australian workplaces.

The report assesses collaboration in the Australian workplace and provides insights on how organisations can respond to emerging trends in collaboration. It also considers key aspects of the role collaboration plays in the modern economy, including its value to the economy, benefits for business and employees, as well as its barriers and difficulties.

Key findings

The value of greater workplace collaboration is big:

• $46 billion per year – the value of faster-growing, profitable businesses with collaboration at their core
• $9.3 billion per year – additional value if companies make the most of opportunities to collaborate more.

Companies that prioritise collaboration are:

• Five times more likely to experience a considerable increase in employment
• Twice as likely to be profitable
• Twice as likely to outgrow competitors.

Yet more than half of Australian businesses have no collaboration strategy. As a result they – as well as the national economy – are missing out on what are very significant benefits.