Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/697149
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 II Business & Finance Disrupt or be disrupted. Are you ready? DISRUPTION is fundamen- tally changing the way the world works. Today's businesses, governments and individuals are responding to shifts that would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago. Unless you are one of just a handful of companies that have survived hundreds of years – a mix of competitive threats and failure to understand new oppor- tunities will already be impacting your business. Incumbent companies typically fall victim to disruption. Incum- bents dismiss the initial disrup- tion of their industry because it appears inconsequential relative to established products/services and fails to meet the needs of existing customers. However, a small core of cus- tomers embrace the disruptive offering, giving market entrants a toehold, and the offering im- proves more quickly than incum- bents expect. Its capabilities soon surpass those of the prevailing product or service – at which point existing customers, who have so far resisted the offering, adopt it en masse. Artificial intelligence and robot- ics are reinventing the workforce. Drones and driverless cars are transforming supply chains and logistics, and challenging policymakers to rethink existing approaches to infrastructure and regulation. Changing preferences and expectations – most notably in the millennial generation – are altering consumption patterns and demand for everything from cars to real estate, driven in no small part by the rise of the shar- ing economy. We see the future of work evolv- ing in two stages: The gig economy The rise of platforms such as Airbnb and Uber has already spawned a gig economy in which non-employee freelanc- ers provide labour in temporary assignments. The machine economy The next stage of disruption will be driven by AI and robotics: the mass disruption of labour and the rise of the machine economy. We are in the early stages of these shifts, and it's hard to know exactly how they will play out. History shows that automation surprises us with new sectors and forms of employment. Just as digital disruption spawned jobs for web designers and app devel- opers, the machine economy is likely to generate jobs, compa- nies and even entire sectors that we are unable to envision today. Responding to these forces is one of the biggest strategic im- peratives facing business leaders and policymakers. This challenge includes the potentially negative impacts on job availability and employment. Governments and businesses have to work together to strategically redeploy people to new roles and offer retraining and education to growing sectors. Throughout this process, they must figure out how to bear the resulting costs while maintaining social stability. Today's disruptive environment is ripe for new market opportuni- ties. EY is helping governments and organisations seize the upside of disruption. We gener- ate new insights by bringing together business, the public sector and academia to chal- lenge entrenched thinking, shift perceptions and help catalyse change. By asking better ques- tions around megatrends and other disruptive forces impacting the global economy, we tease out more creative answers. EY's latest report, The upside of disruption: Megatrends shaping 2016 and beyond identifies eight global megatrends that are shap- ing the future. These are large, transformative trends that define the present and shape the future by their impact on businesses, economies, industries, societies and individual lives. For more articles with insights on how to adapt to these chang- es, log on to: ey.com/megatrends Find out how EY's 7 Drivers of Growth can help your business grow from challenger to leader. ey.com/acceleratinggrowth #BetterQuestions Are you brave enough to take on a giant? © 2016 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. ED None. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K EY's latest report, The upside of disruption: Megatrends shaping 2016 and beyond identifies eight global megatrends that are shaping the future Artificial intelligence and robotics are reinventing the workforce