Apple, Google Face Disruption

Meanings of disruption unclear, both are acquiring some key technologies.   Same with Microsoft.

Apple and Google are both at their biggest risk of disruption in over a decade   By Matt Weinberger Jan 13, 2023, 3:44 PM  in BusinessInsider

This year, Apple and Google will both face their first real tests in a very long time.

Apple could finally open its walled garden, potentially disrupting the App Store juggernaut.

The rise of ChatGPT threatens Google's stranglehold over search — and its ad business. 

Over the last few years, it's often felt like the tech industry was on cruise control.

Each innovation — folding screens, 5G, even the blockchain and cryptocurrency — failed to shake a sense that the future of tech is moving forward incrementally rather than exponentially. Google has spent the last decade-plus guarding its advertising business; Apple has built as many moats around its all-important iPhone business as possible, happily collecting App Store fees and Apple Music subscriptions.

Now, though, both businesses are about to face what are arguably their most existential threats to date. And while it's far too soon to write a eulogy for either company, you will see Apple and Google swiftly move to play defense in a way neither has had to in recent memory. 

For Apple, regulatory pressure worldwide seems to have finally cracked its infamous walled garden, as new rules threaten to undermine its App Store hegemony. The timing is especially interesting, as Apple is said to be preparing to launch a new set of smart glasses poised to extend the App Store's hold over consumers and developers alike for a new generation of computing. ... ' 

Five Ways to Conquer Supply Chain Disruption With S&OP Technologies

Have recently looked at analyzing disruption scenarios.  

Five Ways to Conquer Supply Chain Disruption With S&OP Technologies

November 18, 2022 Sponsored by Logility  in SupplyChainBrain

Supply chains large and small are under siege by constant disruption. Companies find themselves struggling to serve customers, source materials, manage costs, handle supply constraints and shortages and, above all, gain visibility into what’s next. 

Thanks to technology, however, the headlines aren’t all bad. The latest generation of sales and operations planning (S&OP) applications are providing better tools for managing supply chains internally. And they’re enabling companies to plan collaboratively beyond the four walls of the enterprise. These new S&OP platforms utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to support better, faster and more inclusive decision-making. 

Following are five emerging areas of rapid development in S&OP, underscoring how companies today are using the technology, what they’re getting out of it, and why this new inclusive ecosystem approach to what was once a status process can be transformational. 

 Functional collaboration is essential. 

The chaos of the last few years has been unprecedented. But for supply chain, there’s some good news coming out of the current environment. As a corporate function, supply chain is now front and center in the C-suite, no longer a secondary player in the boardroom. 

At the same time, the C-suite is morphing to include more parties at the table — a greater cross-functional mix of players from all walks of the organization. Sales, finance, operations, marketing and supply chain are working together more closely than ever, ushering in the development of next-generation S&OP technology platforms. 

The C-suite is investing in S&OP platforms that are capable of covering the supply chain end to end — designed, in essence, to work the fragility out of their operations and build in more real-time resiliency. Indeed, all internal and external resources must be coordinated and integrated for a successful aggregate plan. 

 Technology is increasingly in focus. 

To operate in this new environment, enterprises now recognize the criticality of having a single data set — one version of the truth, designed with different “views” and supported by AI, ML, scenario planning and analytics, probability analytics and other smart decision and analytics tools. 

Decision-making gets smarter when it’s augmented by powerful analytics, ML and AI. As Gartner analyst Amber Salley observed, “With the capabilities we have today, we can solve problems in a matter of seconds. We’ve come a long way.” Now S&OP platforms are hardwired with AI and ML, as well as gamification, pattern-recognition algorithms and scenario-building and assessment capabilities. 

The bottom line: Managing with five disparate systems cobbled together through data translation layers and application interfaces is no longer sufficient to operate a world-class supply chain. And forget spreadsheets; they’re not integrated databases but rather reside on individual desktops and the like. As one consultant commented, “Why do people keep using them? Because spreadsheets are easy, and everybody knows how to use them.”  

 Process decision points are becoming more frequent. 

Planning and process decision points are moving from, at best, a once-a-month schedule to a continuous flow. A set, rigid periodic planning cadence schedule is no longer sufficient. 

The process of S&OP is rapidly transforming to a far more dynamic, real-time capability. Early versions of S&OP were about balancing supply and demand on an almost entirely tactical basis and, as noted earlier, reliant on spreadsheets. Spreadsheets were the tools most people used to muscle their way through this onerous tactical process.  

Today’s S&OP platforms provide sense-and-respond intelligence analytics on both the supply and demand sides of the equation. As Gartner explains in a framework for designing a supply chain strategy and process matrix, this enables companies to gather data and transactions and plan, forecast, measure, decide, collaborate, design, simulate and execute operations.  

 These better processes, which consider longer-term, strategic goals as well as shorter-term tactical ones, can be much more focused on generating profitable growth. Advanced S&OP technology also empowers supply chain executives to look at the level of risk and take steps to mitigate it.  

 Scenario planning is becoming vital. 

Today’s S&OP technologies enable effective scenario planning. Companies can “game” different strategic scenarios and, using AI and ML, see how these myriad scenarios will play out in their supply chains. They can operationalize scenarios and aggregate or disaggregate them to see how they might impact performance and profitability throughout the enterprise. This eliminates or greatly reduces the risk factors involved in making strategic business decisions. 

Scenario planning creates a proactive means of managing risk and results. Adoption of scenario-based planning moves businesses away from the old paradigm of waiting for something to happen and then responding — hopefully successfully — but always at a cost in the form of lost sales, market share, or business opportunity.   ...  ' 

Transform Through Disruption

How to transform through disruption

September 17, 2022

In the face of persistent disruption, what does it take for an organization to undergo a successful transformation? For Andy Penn, CEO of Australian telecommunications company Telstra, it’s all about speed: “The advice I’d give a CEO beginning a reinvention is this: always go to where the puck is going. It’s the same dynamic with technology: figure out where it’s going, and let’s get there faster,” he told senior partner Wesley Walden in a recent interview. Learn more about how Penn transformed the organization to meet the moment while maintaining an innovative spirit and employee engagement, and explore other interviews with CEOs for more insights on transformation.

You can’t move too fast: A conversation with Andy Penn  

Disruption Examined

Via Irving Wladawsky-Berger

A collection of his observations, news and resources on the changing nature of innovation, technology, leadership, and other subjects.... 

Disruptive Forces Necessitate Bold Decisions

In January of 2021 I attended Predictions 21, an online event organized by Forrester Research.  “Faced with the pandemic, firms did things that once seemed impossible - sometimes overnight,” said Forrester last year, adding that “2021 will be the year that every company - not just the 15% of firms that were already digitally savvy - doubles down on technology-fueled experiences, operations, products, and ecosystems.”

Earlier this year I attended Predictions 22, and was particularly curious to see how things had changed in the intervening year. “Disruptive Forces Necessitate Bold Decisions,” was the overriding message in this year’s event guide.  “The old ways of working no longer work. The future is up for grabs. Leading firms will use the crucibles of 2020 and 2021 to forge a path to an agile, creative, and resilient tomorrow.”

Let me summarize some of Forrester’s key predictions in three areas: technology, customer experience, and industry trends.  ... ' 

AI Market Disruptions

Good overview, prediction piece on AI markets from MarketsandMarkets with lots of visuals.

DISRUPTION - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE OPENED US$ 50+ BILLION OPPORTUNITIES FOR AI COMPANIES, WHICH IS GOING TO BECOME US$ 300+ BILLION BY 2026

With innovations in AI impacting a multitude of industries, incremental $250 billion of potential opportunities are expected to open by 2026 in adjacent and interconnected markets.

Download the whitepaper →   ... 

McKinsey: No Ordinary Disruption

Of interest, brought to my attention.

How our 2015 book on disruptive forces set sail again

No Ordinary Disruption, a McKinsey book written in 2015, was chosen for the U.S. Navy’s 2021 reading list, which is curated to help the organization develop leaders.

Sent from McKinsey Insights, available in the App Store and Play Store.

Hybrid Work Disrupting

Microsoft writes on the Next Great Disruption, interesting stats and more, at the link;

The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready?

Over the past year, no area has undergone more rapid transformation than the way we work, and as the world recovers, there’s no going back.

Our recently released 2021 Work Trend Index contains exclusive research and expert insights into a year of work like no other, and reveals urgent trends leaders should consider as hybrid work unfolds.

Check out the top 7 trends that are emerging, plus 5 strategies for navigating this new world of work. .... " 

Book: Transforming Supply Chains in Disruption

Brought to my attention, not clear that this specifically considers the rare condition of pandemics and other disruption.  Have not read as yet,  via Informs/Analytics.

New book addresses digital supply network challenges in the coronavirus era

COVID-19 has underscored vulnerabilities and bottlenecks in global supply networks. Hence, executives and leadership teams have been focusing on adjusting the configuration of their value chain. Whatever shape an organization’s supply systems take, the pandemic has made clear that in order to be successful, it has to be digitally enabled moving forward. The new book, “Digital Supply Networks: Transform Your Supply Chain and Gain Competitive Advantage with Disruptive Technology and Reimagined Processes,” addresses this timely issue through a structured and hands-on approach augmented by industry-inspired examples. It discusses how organizations can leverage disruptive digital technology to reimagine processes and build a more resilient supply network. As disturbing as the current global pandemic has been, disruptive crises have grown in frequency and scope. Therefore, digital supply networks can help organizations prepare for future scenarios while also increasing their competitiveness. However, the digitalization process is not straightforward.

The book examines the impact of disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, on supply chain management processes and practices. Drawing from real-world experience and problem-driven academic research, the authors provide an in-depth account of the move toward digitally connected supply networks. The book discusses the limitations of traditional supply chains in today’s digital and connected world, and derives the underlying capabilities and potential of digitally enabled supply flows. The chapters are filled with expert insights and real-life use cases, consisting of an essential guide to developing digital supply networks (DSN) for maximum competitive advantage. The book discusses the critical enabling technologies, provides guidance on their deployment and their context, as well as illustrates their application in designing and building the core DSN capabilities for your organization. The authors also offer a hands-on playbook and several industrial use cases to guide organizations, executives, leaders and operational personnel in their transformation process.

Decision-makers will find provocative and stimulating insights and knowledge to successfully navigate the confusion and develop their own unique strategy and digital transformation journey. The authors wrote the book in an accessible and nontechnical format that will cater to a broad audience, including executives, managers, leaders, academics and students involved or interested in developing a solid foundation on this exciting and impactful topic. Professionals contemplating the journey or already in its midst will benefit from the insights and hands-on guidance. Organizations and innovative leaders seeking external assistance to jump-start their digital transformation journeys will find the material in the book essential for a fruitful engagement. The content applies to all business sectors and industries, with a particular focus to supply chain and manufacturing.

Keywords: Book Review digital supply networks supply chain artificial intelligence AI blockchain
 https://doi.org/10.1287/LYTX.2020.04.18n

Can Tech Disrupt the Virus?

Here is a challenge:  Can AI and Tech confront and disrupt evolved biology in new ways?  Can we think beyond methods that currently exist? 

Tech's Next Disruption Target: The Coronavirus
The Wall Street Journal
Asa Fitch; Rolfe Winkler; Deepa Seetharaman
March 25, 2020

Silicon Valley technology experts are pursuing various projects to combat the coronavirus, with thousands of volunteers contributing to hundreds of hastily organized initiatives in their spare time. Projects range from developing applications to deliver groceries to vulnerable seniors to simulating the virus' spread and sharing findings with specialists. Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom built a model that predicts virus propagation and publishing it online. Alphabet enlisted its DeepMind artificial intelligence unit to find a vaccine, and its Verily life-sciences research unit to develop virus-detection techniques. Alphabet's Brian McClendon sees the pandemic as an opportunity to design a smartphone app for tracking health status, using blockchain to protect privacy; he hopes it will give people confidence to return to normal life after the crisis passes..... " 

Defending Retail Against the Coronavirus

Useful approaches outlined.

Defending Retail against the Coronavirus
Companies can brace themselves for lasting changes to the sector even as they grapple with short-term disruption..... 

By Marc-André Kamel and Joëlle de Montgolfier in Bain ...

Why Digital Transformations Fail

Currently reading, the author is a former colleague who is on top of this problem for the complex enterprise.  Advanced methods emerging today, like AI need data, and thus need the enterprise to be acting digitally to make it available.  This book is a great start.

Why Digital Transformations Fail: The Surprising Disciplines of How to Take Off and Stay Ahead Hardcover – July 23, 2019     by Tony Saldanha  (Author), Robert A. McDonald (Foreword)

5.0 out of 5 stars    4 customer reviews

Former Procter & Gamble Vice President for IT and Shared Services, Tony Saldanha gives you the keys to a successful digital transformation: a proven five-stage model and a disciplined process for executing it.

Digital transformation is more important than ever now that we're in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds are becoming ever more blurred. But fully 70 percent of digital transformations fail.

Why? Tony Saldanha, a globally awarded industry thought-leader who led operations around the world and major digital changes at Procter & Gamble, discovered it's not due to innovation or technological problems. Rather, the devil is in the details: a lack of clear goals and a disciplined process for achieving them. In this book, Saldanha lays out a five-stage process for moving from digitally automating processes here and there to making digital technology the very backbone of your company. For each of these five stages, Saldanha describes two associated disciplines vital to the success of that stage and a checklist of questions to keep you on track.

You want to disrupt before you are disrupted--be the next Netflix, not the next Blockbuster. Using dozens of case studies and his own considerable experience, Saldanha shows how digital transformation can be made routinely successful, and instead of representing an existential threat, it will become the opportunity of a lifetime.   .... " 

McKinsey on Automating Logistics

Good description of the space and the large opportunities.

Automation in Logistics: Big Opportunity, Bigger uncertainty     Via McKinsey by Ashutosh Dekhne, Greg Hastings, John Murnane, and Florian Neuhaus

As e-commerce volumes soar, many logistics and parcel companies hope that automation is the answer. But as this second article in our series on disruption explains, things are not so simple.

The history of logistics is also a history of automation, from the steam engine to the forklift to today’s robotic pickers and packers. So today’s fevered interest in new machinery, after a lull of several years, has plenty of precedent. Many trends are thrusting automation toward the top of the logistics CEO’s agenda, not least these three: a growing shortage of labor, an explosion in demand from online retailers, and some intriguing technical advances. Put it all together, and McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the transportation-and-warehousing industry has the third-highest automation potential of any sector1 . Contract logistics and parcel companies (which, for sake of convenience, we will call simply “logistics companies”) particularly stand to benefit. (Automation is also on the table at other transport companies, such as trucking companies and port operators. See sidebar “Automating freight flows: Changes for every sector”.)

Yet for all the excitement, most logistics companies have not yet taken the plunge. For every force pushing companies to automate, countervailing factors suggest they should go slowly. We see five reasons companies are hesitating: the unusual competitive dynamics of e-commerce, a lack of clarity about which technologies will triumph, problems obtaining the new gizmos, uncertainties arising from shippers’ new omnichannel-distribution schemes, and an asymmetry between the length of contracts with shippers and the much-longer lifetimes of automation equipment and distribution centers.

This is the second in a series of five articles on disruption in transport and logistics. In the first, we examined the implications of autonomous trucks. Automation is no less potent a force. In this article, we will review the reasons automation is coming to the fore, examine the five factors that are hindering investment, and lay out strategies that can position contract logistics companies to prepare for an uncertain future. .... " 

Podcast: Business, Disruption and Technology

Harvard professor Thales Teixeira explains why customer behavior, not technology, ultimately drives disruption.

The emergence of a new technology is often cited as what drives the disruption of an industry or business. But that’s not true in most cases, according to Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira. Instead, startups disrupt established companies by decoupling the customer value chain — picking one aspect of the business and doing it better than the incumbent.

His findings, based on eight years of researching startups, tech companies and incumbents, are explained in his new book, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption. Teixeira joined the Knowledge@Wharton show on SiriusXM to talk about his book. (Listen to the podcast at the top of this page.)

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.
Knowledge@Wharton: Why do we believe that technology has enabled so much disruption in business?

Thales Teixeira: Pure and simple, because it is sexy and interesting to hear about new technologies. The media fuels all of our needs for figuring out what are the new tools and new technologies, and it just creates momentum in the market. The companies are developing these things, so there are a lot of PR agents out there. We do have a few very prototypical examples of actual technologies being game changers. The mobile phone is one of them.

I visited many startups, and I also visited the incumbents that said they were being disrupted by these startups. I started realizing that there are very few technologies that are really game changers and disruptors in that sense. In the vast majority of the cases, these startups have the same technologies as the incumbents that they are fighting. So, this idea that technology is disrupting markets is not really [true in] the majority of the cases.

Knowledge@Wharton: Can you explain this idea of decoupling? .... " 

Wharton, MIT and BC Aim to Disrupt Global Supply Chain

Another example of verification and validation applications of Blockchain infrastructure, here in supply chain.   Such applications are an ideal experimental first step.   Useful details at the link. 

How a New Technology Can Disrupt the Global Supply Chain
Operations Management  In Knowledge@Wharton

An interdisciplinary team from MIT, Wharton and Boston College has created a new blockchain-based system that has the potential to disrupt the global supply chain. Called ‘b_verify,’ the system is designed to help small and medium-size enterprises — especially those in developing nations — get financing from lenders at potentially better terms while mitigating warehouse deposit fraud. The system brings greater transparency to a key part of the supply chain, which can have a big impact on global trade financing. B_verify introduces a series of blockchain technology innovations tailored to facilitate supply chain finance and operations management.

“The potential benefits are vast and global in scale,” said Gerry Tsoukalas, Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions, who was part of the team. Small and medium-size enterprises, he said, represent the backbone of many economies in the world, and they account for more than half of the jobs as well as a third of global GDP. But despite their scope and impact, these companies have a harder time getting financing than larger established firms. He said the World Bank estimates their global financing shortfall to be $2.6 trillion.

Small and medium-sized firms also find it difficult to get financing on terms as favorable as the ones big companies get because they usually lack the latter’s track record and reputation. Banks typically would charge higher interest rates or put more restrictions on loans to smaller enterprises because they are less certain of repayment. Add to the mix the propensity for fraud, especially in the developing world, and smaller firms get the worse end of the proverbial stick. “Obtaining loans at reasonable rates can be very challenging for small firms,” Tsoukalas said.   .... "