What is your 21st Century’s Competitive Strategy?—Would it Pass the Strategy Stress Test?

What is your 21st Century’s Competitive Strategy?—Would it Pass the Strategy Stress Test?

Since predictions about the future are inherently difficult, is it an over exaggeration or “extreme” pessimism to predict that by 2025 the global competitive landscape will be dramatically stiffer and divorced from anything businesses across the globe have experienced so far in the first seventeen years of the 21^st century? Should senior management really start sleeping like babies (i.e. wake up every two hours crying) or is this a false alarm and/or “crying wolf”? Well, just speaking for myself I am jumping out of my clothes in fear, but the fear is moderated by the deliberate effort to embrace and plan for the ginormous disruptive forces being unleashed by the all-encompassing industry 4.0. inclusive of but not limited to digitization, digitalization, digital transformation, digital disruption, artificial intelligence, intelligent machines, augmented reality, big data/data analytics, quantum computing, additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing), mass customization, just to name a few.

In light of this mind-boggling, yet positive technological and economic developments and the new competitive realities of the 21^st century, how can forward-thinking 21st-century transformative leaders and learning organizations maximize the utility of these evolutionary and revolutionary changes to create/gain/retain competitive advantage? The challenges these forces present will inevitably demand the development and adoption of select “new” 21^st competitive strategies. What is drastically different today and going forward in the global business environment which might trip the tried-and-true competitive strategies of the 20^th century and/or may be less optimal in addressing?.

The question/concern may seem ambiguous and/or generic so let me contextualize the perspective.  During the past several years Amazon, Google, and other high profile U.S. multinationals but in particular Amazon has morphed from an online purveyor of books into a multi-business entity or rather a “conglomerate” with operations spanning many far-flung (disparate) industries/sectors. One may ponder as to why diversification beyond the core or conglomeration as a corporate level strategy which was/is frowned upon may be an effective/successful grand strategy to achieve Amazon’s long run objectives  in the 21^st century.

Could disappearing/rupturing industry boundaries partially enabled by digital transformation and other disruptive/breakthrough innovations stated above and in tandem with internally driven organizational capabilities be credited for Amazon’s enviable competitive position?

Now, which specific business strategy (ies) is Amazon implementing to create/gain/retain its 21st century competitive advantage? Is it a singular generic strategy, integrated/ambidextrous strategy, strategy segmentation, etc, etc?  I doubt if the plausible response is that obvious.  What can be learned from the argument presented herein to shape an entity’s competitive strategy to facilitate sustainable profitable growth in the 21^stcentury’s VUCA global competitive environment?