Disruptive Technology in the Adoption of New Business Strategy

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The fourth industrial revolution introduces a system whereby there is a convergence of Information Technology and Operational Technology. Automation and cyber-physical features are greatly improved, which propagates an era of entirely new forms of industrial processes. A successful transition to this industrial era can be reached through following a series of strategic processes rather than sudden change (Jazdi, 67). The paper will consider disruptive technology in the adoption of new business strategy (Wang, Shiyong, et al. 163). The term disruptive technology was introduced by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen and it refers to the disruptive nature of technology to strategy (Christensen, 12)

Transitioning to Industry 4.0

For an easy adjustment into industry 4.0, an organization has to integrate changes into its operations. The first step is the definition of a strategic roadmap, which sets out the priorities of the transformations (Johnson, 2). This roadmap acts as a point of reference in the course of the implementation of new strategic processes in the organization (Barney, 12). One of the strategic processes that enable a frictionless changeover into the new technological era for businesses includes strategic digitization of operations. This has to be implemented both vertically and horizontally (Peters, 5). The advances make it easier and cheaper to bring new products to the market. Building cyber resilience is also very crucial in order to control disruptive technology (Grant, 56). Another strategy is the redesigning of products and services in order to customize them with the changing market needs (Spender, 13). It includes organizations tracking their own activities and monitoring the responsiveness of the consumers (Fonseca, 85). The proposal will analyse the best strategic processes for a business to adopt in order to retain its competitiveness while progressing into the fourth industrial revolution

The EFQM Model for Transition

Additionally, for a smooth transition in an organization, the EFQM model can be implemented to contribute in showing a holistic view of the organization (Matthies-Baraibar, Carmen, et al. 468). It can also be used to analyse how different strategic practices fit together and complement each other. This model allows people to understand the cause and effect relationships in the organization thus enabling an informed strategy choice, which leads to the best possible results (Fonseca, 85). The proposal will analyse whether and how the implementation of the EFQM model enables a business to succeed in the shift and adoption of the fourth industrial revolution.

Works Cited

Barney, Jay B. Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Pearson higher ed, 2014.

Christensen, Clayton. The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.

Fonseca, Luis Miguel. “Relationship between ISO 9001 certification maturity and EFQM business excellence model results.” Quality Innovation Prosperity= Kvalita Inovacia Prosperita 19.1 (2015): 85.

Grant, Robert M. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

Jazdi, Nasser. ”Cyber physical systems in the context of Industry 4.0.” Automation, Quality and Testing, Robotics, 2014 IEEE International Conference on. IEEE, 2014.

Johnson, Gerry. Exploring strategy: text and cases. Pearson Education, 2016.

Matthies-Baraibar, Carmen, et al. ”Is organizational progress in the EFQM model related to employee satisfaction?” BMC health services research 14.1 (2014): 468.

Peters, Michael A. ”Technological unemployment: Educating for the fourth industrial revolution.” (2017): 1-6.

Spender, J-C. Business strategy: Managing uncertainty, opportunity, and enterprise. OUP Oxford, 2014.

Wang, Shiyong, et al. ”Towards smart factory for industry 4.0: a self-organized multi-agent system with big data based feedback and coordination.” Computer Networks 101 (2016): 158-168.