It is apparent that a the economy has changed in fundamental ways, and those changes largely result from the shift from the industrial economy into the knowledge-based economy. The most virulent part of it is the digital economy, where the development and the application of technology linked to the knowledge management are leading to leaps ahead in several parts of the economy. The changes in the next years ahead of us will be even more dramatic and will occur more rapidly. There is no turning back.
We can see a real “gold rush” in the area of the digital economy in form of innumerable star-up dot. com’s and the transformation of classic companies into digital ones. This has happened in the last three years in the USA and is swapping over to Europe and Asia since one year.
Several new rules are driving this development:
• Speed. In the digital economy the speed of development is at least four times higher, than in the classic economy, i.e. one month equals one week.
• Start from scratch. Most of the experience and the management knowledge from the previous era is not applicable. This means everything has to be reinvented.
• Need for new business models.
• Lots of technology. Technology is part of the business strategy and the business itself.
• Lots of information. Never in the human history it was so easy to spread and to get information, but it was never so difficult to follow the development.
• Low entry barriers. It is quite easy to start a new business venture and if it makes sense it is quite easy to find the necessary funding.
• The competition is ferocious: “If something is possible, somebody is already doing it. If it is impossible many people are working on it!”
The key problems of the start-ups are the following:
• The speed of development and implementation: be first is often a precondition of success.
• Focus on a single target. The possibilities seem to be unlimited.
• Management and expertise. A qualified management team makes the difference and only the availability of the best experts ensures the implementation of the business idea.
• Finding and retaining the best strategic partners.
• The balance of five management areas: people, finance, technology, marketing and communication.
The start-ups of the new economy will lead to the creation of a new industry where we will find elements of the “classic consulting”, of the executive search, the “classic education” and the know-how of the venture capitalists.
So far the emerging industry has no name, but it is a kind of “integral business accelerator”.
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