The Boiling-Frog Trap

If a frog is placed in boiling water then it will jump out. However if it is placed in cold water which then the heat is slowly turned up it does not realize the danger and gets boiled…even to death. Similarly changes that happen gradually in the environment, industry or within the business, are not recognized by managements/owners until it becomes significant and show up threateningly. Conventional wisdom is that if something has worked for you well and delivered, just stick to it.

Digital Ecosystems – How Is It Going To Play Out?

Digital Ecosystem? This resource explains the concept in a very easy to appreciate manner.

“A natural life ecosystem is defined as a biological community of interacting organisms plus their physical environment.

In the same way, a business ecosystem is “the network of buyers, suppliers and makers of related products or services” plus the socio-economic environment, including the institutional and regulatory framework.

A digital ecosystem is a self-organizing digital infrastructure aimed at creating a digital environment for networked organizations that supports the cooperation, the knowledge sharing, the development of open and adaptive technologies and evolutionary business models.

The digital ecosystem approach transposes the concepts to the digital world, reproducing the desirable mechanisms of natural ecosystems. As several interacting natural ecosystems exist, several digital ecosystems exists due to differentiation and the development of endemic product and services tailored to specific local needs.”

Let us get a even more better picture of what it means.

Where Will India’s Next Technology Revolution (Tech 2) Come from?

Beyond $100 Billion

• The start ups of the 1980s in Indian technology industry have grown now to a strong $100 billion industry primarily riding the outsourcing wave they invented, if I may.
• It created jobs for over 3 million and created another 10 million collateral jobs.
• It led to India’s balance of payment position improving which had almost become bankrupt in early 1990s.
• Not only Indian firms but many multinationals now operate their outsourcing and technology operations from India.
• The cultural change brought by the IT companies has rubbed off on other industries which also have become increasingly export competitive and many noted overseas acquisitions have happened.
• The boom in the Indian real estate industry is largely attributed to the IT industry which has seen wealth of many individuals including those of farmers improving substantially (although in a country like India this has its own flip sides too).
• The wage cost advantage over this period has shrunk and there are greater barriers being set up on outsourcing, which moves jobs out of the respective countries from where these contracts originate.
• The margins have shrunk, business shift to other locations like Philippines etc. have also happened. Business in its original form is more a commodity now.
• Changes in technology and efforts to move up the value chain have kept the excitement going, but has not been good enough.

To step up the industry growth and the resultant rub off on the economy, the impact of which can be as large as outsourcing, India needs a Tech 2 revolution producing new generation of large tech firms.

So what would be the next accelerator?

Business With China – Leadership Lessons

Look Beyond The Obvious

China is a market which no large global company can afford to ignore. There are some fixed notions about China which generally drives China strategy. As an example Caterpillar‘s foray into China,..”“we’re going to play offense” was based on the fact that it was the largest construction market in the world.  Its experience provided four key insights. What were these?

Google’s Mobile Revenue Model

According to reports

“Mobile searches have increased 200% year over year in 2012, and it’s predicted that within the next year, mobile will become the primary way people access Google’s services.”

“The major factor supporting Google’s rising valuation is the weakening of the mobile bear thesis, which indicated the growth of mobile usage, and thus advertising, would eat into the search giant’s core business.”

“Its impressive run since mid-November, with shares gaining nearly 30%, is “justified and sustainable,” …”expects the stock to hit $950 over the next 12 months and possibly break the $1,000 mark if conditions are right.”

With mobile becoming the key access point  how is Google’s strategy emerging on this front?