Читать книгу End Of Competition, The: The Impact Of The Network Economy - C N A Molenaar - Страница 12

The first two industrial revolutions were primarily focused on the transition from human production capacity to machine production capacity, as well as on the automation and optimisation of processes. During the Third Industrial Revolution, the emerging possibilities of IT and electronics made a shift possible from a (mass) focus on products to a focus on product adaptations for a particular target group. This allowed more individualised options to be offered that could meet a specific demand. The Fourth Industrial Revolution makes use of the ubiquitous availability of data and communication, which allows customers (and consumers) full control of the production processes.

The customers and consumers are able to remotely control the production processes by sending data that are based on their individual wishes. In this way, a customer-oriented (specific) product can be generated in a series with a batch size of one.

• The old rules of competition were based on the old structures, the application of which is now an outdated technology.

• It is a battle between ‘doing digital’, whereby traditional processes are made more efficient through digital possibilities, and ‘being digital’, whereby the technology forms the basis for new structures and applications.

• The new businesses mentioned earlier are based on digital technology and make optimal use of the new possibilities of the network economy.

• It is a battle between traditional structures and new structures, a battle between old technological applications and new possibilities. This is similar to the battle we saw in the past between swords and gunpowder, between the horse and the train, then later the bicycle and the car.

• The old structures and technologies will increasingly lose strength and power. But what are the new structures and competitive relationships?

The changes to traditional systems, whereby the customers lead the way, are happening on the basis of these insights. Old physical boundaries are disappearing due to the possibilities offered by networks. A worldwide market is being created where businesses have to compete and customers are able to buy. You could compare this to a site that was initially enclosed by a fence, with a locked gate. Suddenly the lock disappeared, then the gate, and eventually the fence. The site is now freely accessible and merged with the surrounding area. So why would visitors still come to this particular site?