The economy is changing. Markets are changing. Technology is fueling rapid changes in communications. Communications is the essence of any economy. Communications is the economy.
The 21st century business model is shifting to a focus on communications. Enterprise dynamics of people, business & the connected world are demanding a change in the traditional business models. It’s a communications revolution. The key to productivity is people collaborating together online and mobilizing to create a new economy driven by innovation.
The innovation of today’s economy is tied to increasing productivity. Productivity is driven by the element of time. To gain time a business must constantly improve productivity. Productivity is created by knowledge of innovation. Innovation is created from and by communications.
Andrew Carnegie said “The only irreplaceable capital an organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its people. The productivity of that capital depends on how effectively people share their competence with those who can use it.”
How Do You Share Competence?
Social media is the vehicle that’s democratizing communication, publishing and organizational behavior. It’s not just about the technology. It’s about how social media connects people, enables mass communications and when harnessed effectively the outcome in increased competence.
Even though there was a lot of hype and naysayers in the early stages of social media, the markets of conversations are now beyond the beta-testing phase and part of our daily routine. One of the best indicators is by the growth of organizations who have made social media the fabric of their communications with the markets. This is another indicator of a changing business model. However many have no idea how significant the change will be.
The markets for many new developments are driven by collaborative communications. Distance is dead. Value comes from the uniqueness and speed of the communications – and the result of that collaboration. A new culture is emerging from the propagation of conversations. This culture is open, encourages sharing, celebrates innovation – and it has a social conscience. It is leading to new business models that support open and transparent communication aimed at innovation.
The key to this new business model will be how well companies recognize the relationships required by the conversations that are happening around their brands. The success of your business depends on whether your model can align itself with the conversations. The future value lies within the conversations.
Peter Drucker said: “The most important contribution management needs to make is to increase the productivity of knowledge work and knowledge workers. It is on their productivity, above all, that the future prosperity — and indeed the future survival — of the developed economies will increasingly depend.”
Which business model needs to change? All of them but the first one is how you view the value of mainting a physical office. Go virtual and change with the times.
