KPMG: e-commerce platforms identified as most disruptive over next three years

• Industries to experience greatest transformation include telcos, healthcare
• Amazon considered most disruptive company among business leaders

In KPMG’s recent Technology Industry Innovation Survey 2019, technology leaders around the world identified e-commerce platforms as the most disruptive business model over the next three years. 27% of tech leaders surveyed say that e-commerce platforms are the most disruptive.

This is followed by social networking platforms (22%), digital payment platforms (17%), entertainment platforms (14%), ride sharing platforms (9%), autonomous transportation platforms (7%) and lodging platforms (4%).

As for the five industries to experience the greatest transformation as a direct result of emerging technologies, the survey lists telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, healthcare/life sciences, aerospace and defence, and financial services.

“As the world becomes more connected and digitalized, we have seen a dramatic shift in the way we do business,” commented KPMG Malaysia managing partner Johan Idris (pic).

“We used to only associate the term ‘tech company’ with the likes of companies that deal with information technology or hardware. But with the growing popularity of e-commerce platforms, digital payments and even ride sharing platforms, this is no longer the case. Companies need to realise that technological and digital disruption is not a trend or passing phase. It is here to stay, and they should be seizing the opportunity to actively disrupt their respective sectors, and not just wait to be disrupted.”

Picks and recommendations

The survey asked business leaders on the company they worry most about disrupting their business. Amazon came out on top (16%), followed by Apple (16%) and Alibaba (15%).

The survey also found differences between what millennial and tech leaders see as leading innovation visionaries. Technology leaders picked Google CEO Sundar Pichai to top their list, while millennials within the technology industry chose Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

In the survey, KPMG says that disruption can create “significant opportunities for companies who are willing to take advantage of it.” They recommend several steps for business leaders seeking to reap the benefits of disruption:

• Regularly assess threats and opportunities emerging technologies and business models are creating in the market.
• Perform in-depth reviews of current strategies (including people, process, technology and third-party strategies) and assess its flexibility to adapt to disruption and maintain relevance to the future market.
• Stress test current strategies against competitive threats and market disruption.
• Conduct skills assessment to ensure the organization has the right expertise and agility to execute the business strategy.
• Re-envision a business model that harnesses new technologies, creates new value propositions, and gains competitive advantages.
• Prioritize the adoption of new technologies that will enable the company to capitalize on long-term value.
• Redesign the Board agenda to maintain ongoing focus on disruption, strategy recalibration, change management and execution.

Adding to this, Head of IT-enabled Transformation practice at KPMG in Malaysia Alvin Gan says: “It is about more than just having a digital strategy; companies should also increase the rate at which they are innovating. They should focus on implementing a business model that not only harnesses new technologies, but also creates new value propositions and competitive advantages.

“Companies should be carefully evaluating how new technologies can prove beneficial to their operations, rather than out of fear of being left behind.”

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