Every business that exists for long enough, passed round after round of the market change and challenges will know regardless of the market change, and maintaining sustainable and inclusive growth is one the area that matters most.
For all the big giant empires that build and then fall, be it Kodak, Nokia or Yahoo, all face the same issue for proactive adapting the market changes and challenges, and choose to be the one stick to their past glory, and as a result, miss a lot of the next waves of big things.
New technology that is invented in the modern time is always better than the old one, and the market will adapt for the modern and future technology, due to it addressing what matters for them.
For the old generation of product based on the prototype customer at that time, how can you use it to compete with modern products based on current generation of technology and what it was invented to address? Continuous improvement in the product is one way to prolong the legacy product extinct in the market, but that is the most it can do.
Lot of the businesses that have the glory of the past in particular can not let go of the past, and as a result, rest-in-peace in the process.
Worry for mobilizing resources and creating something better for your existing core product, which eventually kill-off your existing core business. Or more importantly, the new product destination is unknown, the strategy risk is there to make the bold move, while you still remain market leader for the market you are in.
This is why we see it repeatedly in the market history from the past and modern times. A lot of strange things happen. While the whole world is accepting much smaller mirrorless DSLR, we said Canon, Nikkon continue to invest and roll out DSLR. And when the new market mirrorless is bigger enough, then DSLR leaders attempt to compete with it. Same we saw how the car producer reacted to the electric vehicle. While the entire market is known for the green energy and interest to drop the centuries old steam engine based traditional car, the entire infrastructure and ecosystem is simply not there to pick up, since only few new players are willing and see the opportunity offer.
It easy to saw the mistake from the others, but seldom have the great leader to self review their own approach, whether they are in the right direction, as the world transit toward fourth industrial revolution (4IR) industry 4.0, you like it or not, new emerging technologies will replace the legacy, as the world forward to yield higher productivity gain with modern technology.
A journey for the business enterprise that lasts for a couple of centuries, you expect each generation has the right leader to help navigate the sea for changes, and make the business sustainable along those years. Sustainable is the process for self renewal, in the objective eye, to let go of the past and focus on or mobilizing resources to compete in the future. Without letting go from the past to unlearn from the past, you can not learn to compete in the modern and future market.
One industry that I was surprised to see is banking and insurance, where we keep seeing from the new cross sector player to initial change and more willing to try out new business models. From fintech to Insurtech, the world is changing. Once the entire world is digitalized, the definition and roles we expect from each sector and player will be changed. You either proactive and attempt to shape that in your favor, or you passively depend on the market defined yours roles to play with. To be or not to be, we continue to see the same act repeat it in different times, because business collectively is still the by-product of the human mind. The management thinking, beliefs and strategies, shape the business culture, strategy and structure, so do people work inside for the one similar beliefs. This is why those big corporations fall, it is not about they do not have the talent, but what they lack is the visionary and forward thinking that make business sense.
E-SPIN Group in the enterprise ICT solution supply, consultancy, project management, training and maintenance for corporation and government agencies did business across the region and via the channel. Feel free to contact E-SPIN for your project requirement and inquiry.
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