06 June 2018

SA management teams are changing their thinking to exploit digital disruption

Submitted by: Godfrey Parkin
SA management teams are changing their thinking to exploit digital disruption
  • Every commercial sector will change more in the next three years than in the past thirty. Digital disruption is undermining the viability of the business models of established companies at an accelerating pace, leading to worldwide closure of brands, companies, and even entire industries.
  • With the help of the Own the Future workshop, South African leadership teams are now identifying disruptive opportunities for their business models and brands, and crafting strategies to thrive in the expanding chaos.

Cape Town – South African companies are urgently rethinking how they do business in the digital era.  Digital marketing has produced a growing wave of startup companies who are challenging the overhead-heavy dominance of major established businesses. But, more radical than this, some of these startups are actually disrupting the established way in which whole industries do business. The best known are Uber, Airbnb and Netflix. These have fundamentally changed the very nature of global transportation, hotel accommodation and television as well as a range of related industries.

According to digital transformation expert Godfrey Parkin “Today, every industry has its radical innovators. Their impact is fundamental and unforgiving. To survive disruption and remain relevant, companies often have to rethink their business model and restructure their organisation – not once, but continuously. Company culture usually gets in the way, so getting all your team members and on the same page is absolutely vital to success.”

The CEO of Britefire has launched an initiative to help South African boards and management teams understand disruption, and learn how to actively exploit it. Named “Own the Future”, the one-day workshop demystifies digital, and clarifies scenarios for the immediate future of business. It provides methodologies for identifying disruptive opportunities in your business model, and for creating strategies to exploit them.

Built on work Britefire has done over recent years in a number of South African companies, Own the Future is a high-impact actionable experience which engages top team members across all the disciplines in a company. 

Parkin believes that many South African companies are currently at a point known as the edge of chaos, where the pace of innovation in the competitive environment accelerates upwards just as the company's ability to change plateaus. He says "To survive in this world, you have to be supremely agile. To thrive, you have to be the one creating the chaos.” 

The opportunities for success are tremendous, but without an explicit management commitment to continuous change, businesses are endangered. Own the Future provides business leadership teams with the frameworks, tools and inspiration to identify opportunities, and to manage change with confidence.

Britefire is a future-focused business strategy and digital marketing company based in Cape Town and operating worldwide.

For more information visit britefire.com or phone 021 794 7838.

Contact details
Godfrey Parkin, CEO, and workshop facilitator: 021 794 7838   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.