Blog #1: Analyzing the External Strategic Environment and Evaluating Industry Dynamics

As the technology available in our world rapidly becomes smarter and more efficient, society plays a volatile game in deciding how to implement all of the resources it has at its fingertips. This power has two sides, however. The first is that many technologies being produced have made life much more productive for its users, while even being conscious of the environment. For example, the rise of electric cars allows for less expenditure of fossil fuels and less carbon emissions while still providing a quick method of transportation. However, the other side of this scenario is the fact that society is moving towards a shift in its foundation that it may not be prepared for. As more and more technology replaces human occupations and data replaces intuition, new dangers arise. Among these are digital criminals, the instability of cryptocurrency, and the potential for artificial intelligence to replace human interaction entirely.

In "The Global Forces Inspiring a New Narrative of Progress" (McKinsey Quarterly, April 2017), the authors provide more detail into this issue, discussing empirical manifestations of how technology has rapidly emerged and continues to grow in specific areas of the world. For example, the article cites the fact that over a decade ago in 2008, the number of internet connected devices surpassed the world population. Now, the number of devices has more than tripled the population, at 26.3 billion connected devices for 7.8 billion people. This, as mentioned, points to the massive expansion of technology, which has in some cases brought about positive change.

Though technology allows for many tasks to be expedited and processes to be streamlined, the article recognizes the downfalls of this shift to a technology-based world as well. The authors present a graphic detailing that if currently demonstrated technologies were fully implemented, approximately $14.6 billion in wages would be replaced by technology. While this appears cost effective, this translates to approximately 1.2 billion jobs being filled by technology rather than humans, which in turn could introduce higher poverty levels almost immediately.

In this way, the way society prioritizes human interaction over technological interfaces could play a huge role in whether this trend remains positive or turns negative. The more humans prioritize retaining human jobs, the less room there may be for unemployment rates to grow, the less opportunities cybercriminals may have to strike, and the more the growing knowledge of technology is dedicated towards productive purposes like environmental friendliness. Society is at a pivotal point currently as it decides how to traverse the emergence of technology, and how it decides to move forward is critical to how technology will be implemented in the future.