Doing business after Covid-19

From the Middle Ages when the first forms of business were identified and in 1836 when the first Societe Anonyme in Greece was founded (it was a maritime insurance company), entrepreneurship is constantly changing. Following the requirements of each era, the demand for products and services and of course the legislation, companies changed orientation and organization. When one has the opportunity to go through the history, all this is obvious, while as long as we live the intense of our daily life we ​​feel that everything remains the same.

The application of technology
Already, several years before the start of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the application of technology was strong in the operation of enterprises, starting from the industries and the renewal of production equipment and reaching the “computerization” of financial services in the early 80’s. The developments over the last 40 years have been really rapid. In the last 10, however, the pace of change has been dizzying. The impact of Covid-19 in the last difficult twelve months has been even greater.

Where we are today
Today, more and more, man is combined with machines in order to ensure the continuity of the activity. Yes. The change did not arise as a result of planning, but as we all know, as a necessary solution. All over the world the operating model is more or less the same and all companies find that there are changes in productivity, operating costs and customer service. In fact, most have begun to consider which of these changes should be permanent. The changes of the last twelve months have been brutal, they have been accepted and their optimization is already being sought.

What else can change
Artificial intelligence applications are already part of everyday life for pioneers, the Internet of Things is even more widespread, and of course robotics with the development of high-speed “mobile connectivity” have applications that are advertised to the general consumer public. . The evolution of the ranking of the largest companies in the world in recent decades highlights the power that technology has gained in everyday business and beyond. Of course, everything is done on the basis of choosing the strategic direction of the company. The reason why it exists. The gap that covers. What will change for a company without a strategic direction is its size and not for the better…

After Lockdowns
In the post-Covid-19 era, the obstacle will not be technology, but the appropriate business redesign, in order to incorporate the experiences of the business “theft war” of the pandemic and to unleash the power of technology that a company owns or can acquire. . In the near future, more and more companies will pursue organizational reforms based on the models of large technology companies and / or modern – successful start-ups. The combination of technology with data, human talents with machines, offering a personalized customer experience with flexibility and social networks with privacy, must be integrated into the “genetic code” of business in the new era.

The digital transformation, the connectivity, the provision of 24×7 services, the integrated service “from phone to house”, are already here and will remain. The aim is to realize it in time and to transform our structures in order to take advantage of the “new present”. The different industries are at different points on this road. Some have traveled most of the way during the pandemic and some still have a long way to go. Companies today “communicate” with their prospective customer at the right time and in the right way. This alone requires a different operating model. If we stay in the old we will make two findings: First, that it is not attractive to our customers and second, that it cannot meet the challenges of the rising age.