Technological innovations have driven the world more than any other factor in the past few centuries. The establishment of the modern-day civilisation was only possible because of the countless inventions that repeatedly transformed the way we live and work. It is only natural for the world of business and commerce to be influenced heavily by technological trends too.
We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution and if the past trends serve any indication, this one will be much bigger and more transformative than anything that has ever come before. It will not only change the outlook of businesses in regards to products and services but it will also change the very way they go about developing them. New market dynamics will be created as a result and various aspects of commerce will be completely reimagined.
Already there are changes in the way companies function, that deal specifically with developing new technologies. The way research and development are conducted has undergone a series of changes that underline the importance of adapting to the trends. One such trend that is becoming ever more prevalent is that of collaboration over competition.
Collaboration Over Competition
Never before in the history of the world has it happened that so many technologies were being worked upon at the same time. Groundbreaking innovations like autonomous vehicles, big data analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, 5G, virtual reality, long-distance wireless charging and so much more is being developed by different companies, that will revolutionise the human society once more.
The general trend is that the pace of innovation, and ultimately product cycles, are accelerating. Up until now, it was manageable at best, but things are quickly becoming a little too fast to handle. Therefore, companies are shifting strategy to collaborate with other companies rather than compete with them. This helps them deliver new innovations, capitalize on new opportunities while at the same time mitigate risks that a competitor would otherwise pose. It is truly a win-win situation for everyone involved.
In essence too, collaboration is more likely to produce results than competition. When two or more entities work together to solve problems, it leads to great synergies and the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Resources can be pooled and can be more efficiently focused on solving the problems at hand. Each party gets access to the other’s skills and expertise which can be fundamentally rewarding.
It can be argued that competition helps companies innovate at a faster pace, as they are motivated by fear of falling behind. This, however, is not always true and certainly not in the current global landscape. Trying to force innovations can have some really grave consequences as history stands proof. On the other hand, if the very competitors
become your collaborators, it gives rise to a new motivation entirely, one that is much more powerful – to want to impact human life and make the world a better place. Of course, as a corporation, profits and revenues will still remain one of the main priorities but those will happen automatically if the collaborating companies are able to
deliver cutting edge tech innovations that change lives. The current landscape of research and development is more akin to a jigsaw puzzle. A lot of the times, different companies work on different pieces of the puzzle. The magic really happens when those pieces come together. That is where the power of collaboration lies. From the consumer’s point of view, it doesn’t matter who developed the individual pieces. What they are concerned about is the whole picture. The example of the smartphone is perfect in this regards. Nobody cares about who invented the microprocessor, or the battery or the logic board. All anybody cares about is the smartphone as a whole. And it could have happened only because of collaboration.
A Global Trend
Companies that understand the trend and can quickly adapt to it remain at the forefront of things. Globally, companies are increasingly understanding the importance of remaining open to strategic alliances, especially one that opens up new geographical territories. Sometimes a fresh perspective from an entirely new region of the planet can be of prime importance.
There is a general agreement that it is better for everyone involved to focus on growing the size of the pie (customer base) rather than everybody struggling to get the bigger piece of it. And the size of the pie can only be increased if the products and services that companies offer are cutting edge and can woo the consumers.
As such, we are witnessing companies forming all sorts of partnerships that we don’t generally get to see. For example, traditional fintech companies are partnering with tech companies that have nothing to do with finance. A recent example is Apple teaming up with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard for their own credit card called “Apple Card”.
Another example is that of Ford collaborating with Mcity, an urban test facility for testing autonomous cars, on the University of Michigan campus. Ford is also teaming up with Lyft and Chariot as part of a strategy to test and deploy their systems. This is a good example of how companies are shifting their focus from competition to partnerships.
This is a sign of how the future of tech development will work – several companies with different core expertise, coming together to build the technology of tomorrow.
This will not only benefit the players involved but the world as a whole too. Tech innovations are accelerating at a blinding pace and this new global shift towards collaboration will make things even faster. As a result, more problems will be solved quickly and at scale. To battle some of the biggest challenges that humanity faces, this will be vital going forward into the 21st century. And it seems like we are on the right path already.