Refining The
Place Of Technology In The 21st Century Business : A New Paradigm For Business Sustainability
By Ernest
Chefon Ndukong (the script of a presentation at the
Catholic University Institute of Buea, School of Business Conference held on
09/01/2023)
“When digital transformation is done right,
it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, but when done wrong, all you
have is a really fast caterpillar.” George Westerman.
Most
businesses which had enormous potential for exponential growth and expansion
are nothing but really fast caterpillars today because of failure to match up
with technological evolution. The consequence of technological obsolescence is
that the company is either overtaken on the market place or worst still they go
out of business resulting from declining performance. The one person
responsible for causing a business to experience declining performance or exit
the market is “The Boss”.
Some
worldwide examples of businesses that failed to adapt include;
Blockbuster,
a former provider of movies and video game rental services employed over 84.000
people worldwide at its peak. They failed to change their business model with
time and their demise came with Netflix and other on-demand streaming.
Blackberry at
a point had over 80 million users worldwide with the likes of former U.S
president, Barack Obama who got rid of his in 2016. They monopolized the market
in the 2000s as the primary mode of personal and business communication was
carried out on Blackberry messenger. They ignored upgrade until would be
overtaken by the likes of Apple with the iPhone just with touch screen base
technology.
Kodak used to
be leader in photographic film throughout the 20th century but
stayed in their comfort zone. They introduced the first digital camera in 1975
but dropped it due to fear of it dismantling their photographic film
steamroller. Digital eventually took over and Kodak’s failure to innovate
forced them to file for bankruptcy in 2012, re-emerging in 2013, much smaller
and focusing on serving commercial clients.
Locally,
several cases of business decline or exit are recorded for one reason or the
other. Some anonymous cases are illustrated with their history and experience;
There exists
a money transfer company which led the market and had mammoth potentials to
monopolize the money transfer market. They even had a powerful tool in
complaining customers which they could leverage on to skyrocket in the market
place. They failed to make use of Bill Gates quote; "Your most unhappy
customers are your greatest source of learning”, and today they are just a fast
moving caterpillar.
There exists
a road transport company who were “kings of the night”. Internal squabble and
failure to upgrade fist led to a split of the company before rendering them a
fast moving caterpillar
There exists
a mineral water company whose business and legal name actually meant “mineral
water” in the consumer’s mind. Failure to leverage on this powerful recognition
tool has forced them to be another fast moving caterpillar.
The prime
consequence of technological obsolescence is decline in the bottom-line and
eventually exit from the market place ad this happens when The Boss
changes taste and according to Sam Walton, “There is only one boss. The
customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman down,
simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
With The
Boss being the primary reason for business performance decline or market
exit, every technological tool must respond to a want in The Boss’
voice. Some wants in The Boss’ voice include; Comfort, Celerity,
Security, Self-service, Effective communication, Service personalization,
One-stop-shop.
Steve Jobs
puts it nicely; “You’ve got to start with the
customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way
around.”
