Is Technology Changing the Way We Do Business?

Over the last ten years individuals, businesses and society have shifted.  The rapid technology changes have opened the door to change.  The way we socialise, how we shop, the way we search for information, the way we study, and the way we work have to some degree altered.

It is argued that fundamental shifts in technology are activating massive changes in business particularly around how information is accessed, captured, managed and shared.  These changes have implications for everyone in all aspects of our lives.  We are now wired 24 hours a day with everything at our finger tips.

The Internet connects us like never before.  E-commerce has become a hugely successful part of the internet.  Many online-only businesses have emerged where you can buy goods and services without leaving your home or while you are out and about on your mobile device.  Two industries which have been severely fragmented are the music industry (think iTunes) and retail clothing which has a number of online stores competing with bricks and mortar shop fronts.

Due to increased mobility, emails can be responded to from home or from the local coffee shop.  Information travels faster and workers are expected to respond in an instant.  We are so far away yet so close as barriers of distance disappear.

More businesses are setting up online so their target audience becomes global instead of local meaning that their market share can grow.  However, competition becomes increasingly more intense with additional competitors.

Hand held devices means we are constantly blurring the lines between personal and professional with social media both a positive and negative to business.  With it come enormous opportunities to connect and engage and at the same time a number of legal and reputational risks.  How individual businesses respond will determine their business success.

These are only a few of the disruptions and I haven’t even mentioned Skype, YouTube, and video conferencing to name a few.  Technology is constant, always changing and at times challenging to keep up with.  What does this mean now and for the future in a business sense?  How will business be different in five, ten or twenty years time?

How has technology affected you and your industry? Would love to hear your thoughts…..

Thanks for reading!

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Tags: Business & technology • Fragmentation of Industries • Internet • Technology shifts