Strategic Excellence in Post-Digital Ecosystems: A B2C Perspective

Abstract

Each and every day, enterprises are making business processes more efficient; this is possible because of revolutionary developments in information technologies. At the same time, however, these developments seriously threaten the economic order, reducing the demand for labor as existing jobs are taken over by machines. Developments in information technologies have also introduced more uncertainty in the economic environ ment. This new economic model is known as the digital economy. “Digitalization” refers to its use of information technology in all business processes. “Digital divides” occur between individuals who use information technolo gies and those who cannot. A digital divide may occur between countries or between individuals. The criteria for judging the digitalization of countries are internet penetration and speed of internet access; the criteria for assessing the digitalization of individuals are telephone subscription, computer ownership, access to broadband internet, and internet usage time. The basic produc tion of this digital economy is knowledge. The relative weight of the produc tion factors of classical economic theory has changed. The importance of knowledge and entrepreneurship has increased, while the importance of labor and capital is decreasing. Unemployment is rising in an unstoppable way, from the persistent loss of employment for production, and the conversion of labor to consump tion is becoming increasingly difficult.