With the recent crises of capitalism and the arrival of millennials to the labour market, many traditional values of society are beginning to change and this change is reflected in the business world. The innovations generated by technological advances has intensified this process. Connectivity between people has increased, freeing information, making it easier for data to be accessed through the cloud.
The changes are invaluable.
Among all the changes discussed at the moment, the internet of things and the sharing economy are the main trends recently, and they somewhat complete each other.
The internet of things has developed due to the popularization of the combination of software, hardware, sensors, data storage systems, microprocessors and connectivity. This allows for products and services to be “smart, connected products,” as the Harvard Business School professor, Michael Porter, states in this Harvard Business Review article. This enables a new category of products that store their data on the Internet without the need for a system for such storage, as well as making it possible to monitor and control these services remotely.
Sharing economy assumes that products and services can be shared to utilize maximum efficiency and capacity, which can reduce the cost to consumers. This principle is not new, people have been doing this at various points throughout history.
The development of technology, especially through the internet of things, allows users to connect without intermediaries, the so-called peer-to-peer connection. These business model features a change in interpersonal relationships and the way people see business, creating what Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms call “New Power.”
These trends have changed the way companies fit into society. So these new companies now have a need to adapt to the new reality in order to thrive in the new era of global technology. Automated and connected machines, products based on connectivity and internet, high presence in social networks and online support through digital interfaces are some of the aspects that must be observed when thinking about going deeper in this new world.
What about your company? Is it connected?
