Technology has triggered fundamental changes in how value is created, delivered and consumed Changing paradigms and business models 3 The leadership challenge so far has been how to best utilize the human capital of the organization. The leadership challenge of the future will be how to best utilize the human capital of the ecosystem of: employees, consumers, partners, regulators A number of technologies have heavily impacted our lives, our organizations and our society in the last decade. To name a few: social networks and social media, smartphones, mobile applications, etc. Emerging ones are promising even bigger changes: big data, the Internet of things, wearable. Beneath the impressive technological advances lies a fundamental change in people’s behaviors and expectations. The democratizing power of technology has demolished the barriers to engagement and allows consumers to be more involved and make more informed decisions about themselves. Empowered consumers expect to take a more active role, not only in the decisions affecting themselves, but in the whole value creation process. People create, collaborate and share more than ever before. Power and trust is shifting from specialist and traditional information sources to peers and social media. Innovative organizations have spotted the tremendous potential opened by these changes and have created the platforms and channels to harness this potential, giving birth to things like: open innovation, crowd sourcing, crowd financing etc. Innocentive, an initiative spun off from Eli Lilly has created a platform which opens tough scientific challenges to the global community of brilliant minds. P&G through its “Connect and Develop” platform changed the product development mindset from “not invented here” into “ proudly found elsewhere”. Kickstarter.com allows individuals to fund creative projects for non-monetary rewards, while crowdcube.com dissintermediates traditional venture financing by allowing individuals to invest in start-ups. At selected Coca-Cola fountains, consumer can create their personal recipe, save it on their smartphone and share it with their friends. People increasingly buy personalized solutions and experiences not just products, and playing an active role becomes an important part of the experience. Successful companies of the future will be the ones that are able to effectively leverage the human capital of their consumers, employees, and partners in the value creation/delivery process. This will require the right initiatives, tools and platforms to engage with these stakeholders 4 While more active and empowered, people are bombarded by information and options. They need effective tools to help navigate the increased complexity of their lives. 2 Valcon, Sept 2013
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