Key Words for Businesses in 2020

Dec 20-2019   

The business environment in 2020 will see digitization extending from consumer end to industrial end, thanks to ever-improving digital infrastructure and computing power, says Prof. Chen Chunhua in her latest article. Some industries such as finance, education and medical care are seeing ever-clearer directions forward as digital technology rapidly integrates with industrial value.

A renowned management scholar, Prof. Chen is the Dean of BiMBA Business School. Her other takes of the business environment in 2020 include: customer value creation remains the linchpin for enterprises, making market segmentation a less important concept; value chains are becoming value nets consisting of symbiotic enterprises; and companies will be expected to generate not just business values but also contribute to the environment and communities.

Recognizing such changes in business environment, companies should first and foremost be focused on customer value creation so as to drive corporate growth. Capitalizing on short videos, ByteDance has managed to rock the BAT-dominated Chinese mobile Internet, proving the magic of value creation.

Another key word for businesses is “collaborative symbiosis”, i.e. more partners for more values, as customers increasingly demand a closed loop of value delivery. The third word is “balancing act between growing core businesses while investing in new ones.” To pull this off, new organization models might be needed. The fourth word is “interactivity and trust”, which recognizes communication and trust as productive factors in a world of social media and digitization.