As we move into the middle years of this decade, we can say for sure that it has been very turbulent so far. Businesses across the globe have been riding the waves of a pandemic, lockdowns, energy crises, political events and extreme weather, to name just a few highly disruptive forces.
While we don’t yet know how the rest of this decade will play out, businesses will need to stay agile. We can also be sure that there will be opportunities to grow. This will take change, even transformation, but challenges can and will be overcome, and business strategy will be more important than ever.
Here, we look at the latest global strategy management trends that are looking forwards and navigating challenging times.
These are the hot topics at the latest strategy management virtual events and are the talking points for business strategy experts. We’ll also show you the best way to stay up-to-date with the topic.
3 Key Trends: What Experts Are Talking About
First, let’s look at ideas that your colleagues are already using to best position their businesses for the next few years. They are making the most out of the prevailing conditions and maximizing opportunities out there now.
1. AI-driven business models
AI is now longer novel. It has been making itself at home in business for a while now and has proven to be essential to competitive, modern business systems. Current discussions revolve around how it can be further adopted into the business ecosystem. Thoughts are that it can improve human worker performance by freeing them to focus on complex tasks.
One innovation that is making this possible now is natural language processing (NLP) and the improvement of tone analysis. This can help businesses respond to customers sensitively and appropriately while using AI technology.
AI is a technology that is changing fast and being rapidly adopted across sectors. Make sure you stay abreast of how it is affecting the markets you are in and being used by your competitors. At the very least, you need to be leveraging data using AI-powered analytics for decision-making processes.
2. Enhanced communication channels through digitization
Digitizing all departments keeps relevant stakeholders in the loop by offering real-time updates. This way, the data and information they need are always available.
More transparency equals faster, more analytic and more effectively shared decision making. Non-digitized departments can be bogged down by complicated, outdated frameworks. Digitization frees more time for innovation and collaborative creativity.
Follow experts as they discuss how to transform various departments into digital frontrunners within your organization, plus the toolkit and implementation processes needed.
3. Company culture: driving open innovation
A culture of open innovation fosters entrepreneurship. We’ve seen that a collaborative culture is the backbone of disruptive organizations across all sectors. Look at Twitter, Facebook, Google as examples of companies that have revolutionized corporate culture and propelled themselves into the stratosphere. They have opened many strategist’s eyes to cultural reorganization and the benefits it can bring.
Innovation needs to be built into the fabric of your organization at every level. This may take a significant change in company culture from the bottom up. Consider how your business empowers all employees, especially career entrants and women of all ages. Consider how your organization provides a positive psychological space to promote creativity.
Thinking about knowledge and experience of business systems at every level can spark creativity from all corners of your organization.
How to Get Up to Speed on the Latest Trends
Want or need to know more about these trends and others? Then it’s all about making time and finding the right sources of information.
1. Dedicate regular time to learning
With a busy working week, it’s easy to prioritize the here-and-now tasks. However, if you don’t dedicate time to staying on board with the way your industry is moving, you are more likely to be spent treading water than swimming ahead. If you are involved in business strategy, it is crucial that you spend regular time on scoping trends and innovations.
Timetable learning into your working schedule and hit do not disturb at the same time every week. Just an hour or two spent diving into industry news, listening to podcasts, on-demand seminars or reading roundups will make a big difference.
2. Follow thought leaders on social media
Social media is fantastic for keeping up to date and getting inspired through micro-interactions. Follow a curated selection of thought leaders in your industry. Try logging in each morning over coffee or during your commute to get inspired for the rest of your day. Save longer pieces for your weekly roundup session.
3. Utilize conferences and events
Events have always been fantastic for networking, collaborative thinking and learning from the disruptive forces and thought leaders working on strategy management. Prioritize a few events each year to stay up to speed.
Bite-size virtual events mean the end of time-consuming and costly travel. Many virtual events are just a couple of hours long and fit conveniently into your working week. Being online, you’ll see that these events have a global reach, bringing together colleagues and experts from all over the world.
You can also experience on-demand events and watch thought leaders share their views on current trends at a time that works for you. Get inspired in a matter of just a few hours. Then put expert insights to use from the moment you log off.
Be Ready to Evolve
The three trends above are going to be driving forces in business strategy over the next few years. There’s more at play, however, such as the impact of blockchain, the platform-based economy and the relevance of macro strategy.
Making sure you receive regular insights from leading strategists will mean that you stay up-to-date with how these trends evolve and spot new ones as they emerge. This way, whatever disruptions come to challenge your business, you’ll be well-equipped to stay agile.
