1) Based on these readings, describe the five most important trends that have developed
and/or been accelerated by the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic served as an accelerant in multiple ways. The global disruption of the
labor markets during 2020 would determine the need for development which marked the beginning
of a new technological era. The pandemic overturned the competitive landscape among industries,
particularly the impact it had in consumption patterns resulted in an obvious change in market
share and opened the possibility of replacing existing services to new and more convenient ones.
COVID-19 effects were mainly seen in customer behavior and the way supply chains
merchandised their products. Some of these effects showed the companies their immediate need
to make fundamental changes in their work policies.
Supply Chain
The immediate isolation, need of everyday products, travel restrictions, and many other customer
needs disrupted activity in all parts of the economy. 93% of service providers reported that they
were constantly trying to make their supply chains more flexible and resilient by combining
increases in the inventory with efforts to diversify supply bases while localizing supply and
production networks. A further 59% of companies noted that they have adopted new supply chain
risk management practices over the last year while many other companies were not prepared for
such short notice changes in the economy. Companies with little or no risk-management
experience tended to invest in new software tools, which was strongly linked to the use of modern
digital tools, especially advanced analytics. Over the past year, supply-chain leaders have taken
decisive action in response to the challenges of the pandemic: adapting effectively to new ways of
working, boosting inventories, and ramping their digital and risk-management capabilities.
Labor Market (Smart Work)
The pandemic forced companies, employees and consumers to adapt new behaviors and create
new working systems which made working remotely en masse an important facilitator. Some
significant activities such as negotiations, critical business decisions, brainstorming sessions,
providing sensitive feedback, and onboarding new employees that are significant in the successful
ongoing process of working collectively lost productivity in distance. Despite the variety of new
occupations that will be introduced after the pandemic, it is also expected to see a negative impact
on employees in food service, customer sales and service roles, etc. On the other hand 88% of
employees stated that accomplishing their personal or collective tasks had a slight/major increase
in productivity while working remotely. The pandemic tested to which extent employees can be
effective without proximity and demonstrated that relational complementarities depend much
more on purposeful, coherent connectedness than on proximity.
Ecommerce and other virtual transactions are booming.
Ecommerce was one of the most important assets that helped going through the pandemic. Only
in 2020 e-commerce grew two to five times the rate before covid. E-commerce was a service in
development pre-pandemic but the need for the online services influenced a faster and greater
development during 2020 and further. Roughly three-quarters of people that used digital channels
for the first time during the pandemic say they will continue using them when things return to
“normal,” according to McKinsey Consumer Pulse surveys conducted around the world. The
digital transactions involved the growth of delivery services, transportation, warehouse jobs,
telemedicine, online banking, manufacturing, etc. The deployment of automation and AI in these
services reduced the need of employees in the workspace and helped in providing with the surges
in demand.
Change on customer demand or customers behavior
To analyze the change on customer demand and behavior there are three main trends that are
characterized by essential shifts in value: people avoiding public spaces, flying less, and spending
differently. Being able to work from home has been a great benefit to employees in keeping the
same jobs and incomes but also being able to spend less in public services. Many of these services
which were made available through e-commerce have regenerated their spending values during
the pandemic and it is expected to go back to the same patterns of behavior after the
pandemic.Online shopping has increased promptly on the other hand, travel spending has declined
by 56%, and live entertainment and apparel purchases have declined by more than 30%. Where
and how they spend it will highlight which companies are best prepared to capture consumers’
future share of wallet.
Digitalization
As many might think, digitalization was one of the greatest life facilitators that helped get
through the immediate isolation during the pandemic. The quick digital adoption emphasized the
need of customers to have faster, safer and better online services such as grocery shopping,
medical counseling and most importantly being able to keep working in disadvantaged
situations. Telemedicine and customer health apps hastened and improved health services such
as use of e-prescriptions, health data exchange, and use of electronic health records. An
important aspect in which AI- powered sales tools such as Gong helped, was establishing
connections and converting the content of sales calls, video conferences, and emails into data
that algorithms can analyze. The extensive use of videoconferencing, the inability to provide
physical contents, etc, has ushered in a new acceptance of virtual meetings and other aspects of
work.
2) Describe which two of these trends you believe will likely impact startups the most and
how startup strategies will be impacted going forward.
Based on the research, I believe that Digitalization and changes in the Label Market are more likely
to impact the startup ecosystem.
To begin, most businesses had to deal with digitalization in order to adjust and gain new
capabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. We saw how many companies in various industries
used new technology in novel ways to collaborate with the new environment. AI and machine
learning assist pharmaceutical companies in producing the first vaccine in record time.
Furthermore, we saw how IKEA used augmented reality to attract new customers who couldn't
physically visit the stores, how the entire music industry relied on streaming services, and Traviss
Score's first VR concert. Furthermore, we have seen how analytical tools can help Supply Chain
improve visibility, gain real-time visibility into operations, and increase flexibility. As a result,
digitalization represents a golden opportunity for all startups to revise their strategy and accelerate
the process of providing their services or products as B2B or B2C. On the other hand, demand for
digitalization is increasing, and people are eager to invest in new technology that will help them
better serve their objectives. One example is the technological behemoth Facebook, which
introduced Metaverse, which is expected to be game-changing and used as a platform for all
startups to jump in with creative ideas.
Furthermore, because most people were unable to go to their office and interact with their
colleagues face to face, this unusual situation altered the entire label market. As a result, we as
humans working had to adapt quickly by using new tools such as Zoom or Teams to continue
working remotely. According to the findings of the study, productivity has remained constant or
increased, and as a result, an increasing number of people are working remotely from different
parts of the world. In terms of startups, this provides an excellent opportunity to find human
resources from all over the world because distance is no longer an issue, and giving flexibility to
all employers has the potential to change the label market by bringing diversity into the companies.