Half of board members are wary of "uberization"

A new type of threat

There has been a sizeable increase in the number of CEO’s, CMO’s, CFO’s, CIO’s and other board members that expect outside influences to become competitors in their own industry. In merely 2 years, the amount grew from 43 to 54 %, according to a new study from IBM Institute for Business Value.

Companies’ biggest threat used to be a competitor that managed to produce something cheaper or better and it was relatively easy to counter by a strategy change. Start-ups like Uber and Airbnb and new “adaptable companies” like Facebook and even Alibaba, with their completely new business models, hugely worry the classic companies that are relatively rigid and have a sluggish infrastructure.

Decentralization considered to be solution

“Companies nowadays see a new type of threat – one that largely remains invisible, until it is too late”, IBM Global Business Services’ senior vice president Bridget van Kralingen said. “We see that efficient companies can tie into disruptive developments thanks to cognitive systems that can think and learn themselves.”

In order to be able to tie into disruptive development, 48 % of the board members in the study say there is a need for a decentralized decision process. 54 % is looking for more innovation from outside sources and 70 % intends to extend its range of partnerships.

The entire study is available here.