digital business design

Adapt or die. Sorry, but that's just about the way it is. Really. Can you think of an exception? One of the most effective adaptations that is trans-forming businesses today is digital business design. Digital business design is about using digital technology to make your business profitably unique.

FedEx, for example, changed the way we do business by creating one of the world's most innovative digital business designs. We not only take for granted that we can ship a package overnight, but now demand that we can to track our packages in-transit, and don't think twice about signing for our packages on a computerized tablet. And to stay on top, FedEx understands that they have to keep "pushing the envelope" (pardon the pun). Dell Computers became the world's largest direct seller of computer sys-tems not by producing better personal computers, nor through discounted pricing, or even better service. They created a business model that first and foremost put customers in control of the entire process of designing and customizing their own systems.

If you have not sought ways of empowering your customers with the ability to transact business with you 24x7 without requiring human intervention (at least 90% of the time), you'd better hope that your competition doesn't figure it out before you do-because they just might believe that it's "adapt or die."