Speed of BUSINESS:' A.K. Azad'

The human race has always been infatuated with speed. Significant leaps in development have come about, as we invented those things that increased our speed of travel and had a significant impact on our lifestyles. The airplane made another leap in speed, but its major impact was how it shrinks the world. The change from newspaper to the television they all increased the speed at which we communicated and learnt about actions across the globe shrinking the world even further. As we have progressed with these changes, we find that even the timeframe between these events and inventions have diminished, demonstrating that we must be going faster. It took 41 years, form the first gasoline-powered motor, to the powered flight. Yet, it took only 12 years form the first jet engine to the first supersonic flight, in the world of multimedia to, the pace has been hectic. It looks 80 years from the invention of the telephone, till the first mainframe computer. It took another 25 years to get to the personal computer, and then only 8 years from there, to the Internet.

The Internet or the World Wide Web is in its infancy, but the change in speed it can deliver is about to affect everyone. The Internet provides the means to increase speed.

Microsoft was established in 1976. Five years later, in 1981, the IBM PC was introduced with the windows operating system. In 1995, Bill Gates becomes the richest man in the world. That’s 19 years from oblivion, to being the world’s richest man. Never in history has any one achieved or created wealth so quickly. Bill Gates won, not because he developed an operating system in reality the operating system was pretty basic and rudimentary. He succeeded because he increased the speed at which software was developed. He also maintain his leadership by coming out with new versions of his operating system very quickly there are many companies who have increased the speed of their business, or who are fuelling the speed of the internet who now challenge Bill gates position as the richest man in the world.

Managing companies too will be different. Employees with access too much more information about the company and the industry will challenge management decisions. Decisions need to be made quickly, and implemented quicker, to increase the speed of an organization.

Sadly, most organizations think that the fact that they have a website means they are “e-ready”. E-business is not about the “e” or technology-it is about business. Unless companies have changed the speed at which they operate, and satisfy customers, they won’t survive.