Published on the 06/11/2015 | Written by Beverley Head
A growing number of CEOs now recognise that they may not see the competition coming because of the speed of technology fuelled digital invaders…
A survey of 5,200 C-suite executives in 70 countries, commissioned by IBM, has revealed a competitively chastened cohort. Analysis of their responses reveals that competition is often proving “invisible until it is too late.”
The survey found that while 29 percent of respondents felt that their greatest competitors would emerge from the same industry, 54 percent now believed competition was more likely to come from outside the sector.
According to IBM; “The biggest risk to businesses used to be a new rival with a better or cheaper offering, making it relatively simple to alter strategies. Today, entrenched players are being threatened by new entrants with completely different business models, as well as smaller, more agile players unencumbered by legacy infrastructure.”
The competitive effect of new technology is now also more widely appreciated. While for the last three years CEOs quizzed by IBM have said that technology was the most significant factor buffeting that business, that is now accepted by all C-suite executives with the impact of cloud computing, mobile technologies, the internet of things and cognitive computing singled out for particular mention.
Technology has also shifted the corporate risk profile with IT security now identified as the most significant enterprise risk.
The report suggests that to prosper organisations need to prepare for digital invaders, create a “panoramic” perspective to give them a broader view of what is emerging in different sectors, and understand that they can “be first, be best or be nowhere.”
Australian organisations which want to understand the rise of the new disruptors have the opportunity to learn more at a Trans-Tasman Business Circle event being held in Sydney later this month.
That event brings together Tim Fung, founder and CEO or Airtasker and David Rohrsheim, general manager of Uber in ANZ – both of whom work for enterprises which have disrupted conventional business models. The counter view will be presented by Peter Harmer, former CIO and newly appointed CEO of insurance business IAG and its innovation arm IAG Labs which is intent on internal innovation to ensure it can compete more effectively with IBM’s so called “digital invaders”.
