Question

4. Technology is developing at an overwhelming pace to most managers, who will ultimately make the decision to invest on them or not. Take one of those new technological developments and discuss it in terms of future opportunities and challenges for established companies & business models, and ultimately established business fields (e.g., accounting, HR, Marketing).

Answer 1

For many companies in the manufacturing sector, leveraging exponential technologies will be a key feature that distinguishes them from competitors. Exponential technologies are, by definition, technologies that follow an exponential growth pattern. Moore’s Law, which predicts that the performance of microchips, bandwidth and computers doubles every 18 months and is therefore based on exponential growth, also applies to many other areas of technological development. Sensor technology, additive manufacturing/3D printing, artificial intelligence, robotics, drones and nanotechnology are just a few examples of such exponentially growing technologies. These can accelerate, decentralise and introduce flexibility to industrial processes across value chains in a variety of ways. Many of these technologies are not new – in fact, many were invented 20 or 30 years ago – and it is only the massive increase in computing performance (Moore’s law), the reduction in cost and miniaturisation (particularly of sensors) that has enabled their broader roll-out across the manufacturing sector. Because of their slow development curve, new t echnologies are often initially over-estimated and can cause concern. However, once exponential development takes off, the influence of these technologies tends to be under- estimated, with companies missing out on disruptive changes in the market. Over the next few years, many exponential technologies will be leaving their initial linear growth paths and will grow exponentially.