There are millions of varying sizes business houses around the globe. Nearly all of them are in a state of flux. Such state of continuous evolution and re-evolution is not just a passing phase; it is here to stay. The model of business keeps on changing though one aspect remains a constant; Selling. Management needs to align itself constantly in this age where disruption has become a norm.
What is the management supposed to do?
The business management has no option but to adopt the change or perish. The old school of management will need to adjust it’s sails to be in the direction of the wind and not against it. The following is the need of the hour.
All routine processes are better left to technology, not only will it be more efficient, it also saves costs. What if the technology adopted now becomes obsolete sooner rather than later? Yes, this is a risk which the management needs to address wherein ideally businesses should choose a flexible and scalable automation platform. What about investments in technology? Yes, there will be investments required; such can be done on a piece meal basis or on a gradual basis.
Resources both humans and machines require learning on a continuous basis. They have to accept that keeping themselves abreast on the market scene and adopting the required change is the need of the hour. Formal learning and university degrees will face a challenge as practical and unstructured learning will gain greater importance.
Nearly every business sector would need to consider their personnel as their most valuable resource. Automation and technology will take care of menial and repetitive work yet even with AI and machine learning, creative skills of the personnel shall prevail. Flexibility will dawn the new era of technology superseding the existing traditional workplace custom, wherein work would be in consonance with the time and location of the employee as well as channelization of flexible working conditions among multiple employers. Physical placement of the employee at the employer’s premise is likely to be become a thing of the past. Global hiring will become common in a few years with the help of high connectivity and digitization.
There is a gradual shift from asset ownership to uberization. There is a good chance that entities will choose pay per use asset rather than a full ownership asset. Asset ownership will be left to specialized companies.
Business entities will have to be on a constant look out for any new disruption in their sector. Disruptions often start at a small level and work their way upwards. Progressive companies are now investing into new startups to have a pulse on what is forthcoming. By such investment they get a seat on the board of a new startup and thus can be hands on what could be expected in the near future. Such investment into a startup is not made with an intention to have a positive return on the investment but only to secure that disruption can be known at its early stage and necessary adjustments be done.
With the advent of the digital and connected age nearly all machines will talk to each other. This will also open doors for cyber-attacks. Business houses would need to gear themselves for better cyber security to avert this risk albeit at an additional investment.
With digitization the documentation will break free from its paper roots and nearly all documents will be digitized. Even the authorities are aligning themselves to accept digital evidence. Invoices, contracts, delivery orders, shipment documents will all exist in the soft version and hence paper documents are likely to become a thing of the past.
We cannot be certain about the future however being prepared for its challenges is the only way to ensure reasonable chance of success.