For this article, I want to present a few cases of different types of technology used in corporations to catapult their operations. This will essentially be a tribute to different case studies that have impressed me throughout my academic career. The modern business landscape is marked by the relentless pace of technological innovation, with corporations across the globe harnessing new technologies to refine and redefine their business model, whether they aim to revamp customer experiences, enhance their supply chain, or raise revenue.

For this article, we broaden our horizon to discuss three revolutionary technologies that are redefining today’s business models: Virtual Reality (VR), The Internet of Things (IoT), and the transformative use of blockchain in supply chains. While VR offers immersive experiences, changing how consumers interact with products and services, the blockchain promises to deliver transparency and security in supply chains, ensuring every product’s journey can be tracked, authenticated, and trusted. Finally, The Internet of Things grants businesses the ability to extract, analyze, and act on data in much more innovative ways.

In the upcoming sections, we will dive deep into how specific companies have adopted these technologies in order to be better strategically positioned, and gain a competitive edge. The use of these technologies is a testament to how innovation, when effectively harnessed, can revolutionize industries, redefine business models, and pave the way for a profitable future.

Virtual Reality - Enhancing customer experience

To start, Virtual Reality has been an innovative technology on the rise that presents a simulated environment. Through Virtual Reality, users engage with three-dimensional spaces, being able to interact and experience with this environment as if they were physically present.

Let’s look into how IKEA implemented this technology to face an issue that they have been facing.

IKEA has faced unique challenges in regions such as Jordan, Morocco or Kuwait, where their showrooms were predominantly located in the outskirts, making it a unique challenge for customers to attend the showrooms and purchase at IKEA. Additionally, this posed another challenge where potential customers were ignorant of IKEA’s business model and product offerings. IKEA is a Do-It-Yourself business, which can hurt the company if customers aren’t able to get to their stores with ease.

In order to fix this issue, IKEA partnered with TakeLeap, a Dubai-based technology agency to harness virtual reality to fix their problems.

The solution was to open up pop-up stores around malls and shops that are much more accessible to customers. This virtual reality retail experience would permit the customers to choose their home layout, furnish it and generate a list of items that they may buy on the Ikea site if they are later satisfied. By wearing a headset, the customer is able to experience and play with all of IKEA’s products as if they were in front of them while scaling up to their own home dimensions.

The use of VR has permitted IKEA to solve one of its major customer retention issues in the middle east. Additionally, it has increased its sales by 20% and strengthened its image as a more inclusive brand. IKEA has properly harnessed this technology for their own sake, and their customers.

Blockchain - Refining operations with trust and transparency

Blockchain has been an incredibly popular term that arises with crypto-currency, however, it is also used as a record of transitions across computers to increase transparency and adopt a decentralized nature.

However, no matter what, this term could still be difficult to understand, let’s use an analogy to understand the implications of blockchain.

Let’s imagine that you're holding a diary and that you occasionally make notes and update it. However, instead of this diary being personal to you, everyone has access to a copy of it and receives exactly the same updates. EVERYONE is updated, and the process is as transparent as it gets.

Translating that to a corporate context, this diary is the “block” used to record entries. In the context that we will follow, we can say that it will record diamonds that are dug up, sold, refined, or more. The important thing to know is that the supply chain is made transparent for ALL stakeholders, to know the diamond’s trajectory from A-Z.

De Beers Group, a diamond company, has released Tracr, which is a blockchain platform that ensures the origin and journey of their diamonds, from the mines to the store, using blockchain technology. Tracr has used a mix of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced security measures to ensure that every De Beers Diamond is properly documented, to gain the trust of all parties in the supply chain, but also has a way to ensure that the diamonds are ethically sourced out.

By being fully transparent with the process, companies can ensure that they are being accountable if any ethical obligations are violated. The usage of blockchain also permits the process to be much more scalable as a decentralized platform doesn’t go through the same silos as a centralized program.

Internet of all things - Optimization with Data-driven decisions

The Internet of Things is a personal favorite technology used is the Internet of Things. The best way is understanding the concept of objects communicating to each other, and using data proactively to make better decisions.

A good analogy to understand is being able to change the color of a light bulb using your phone, with a smart lamp. The information is communicated between two “things”, being between the phone, and the lamp.

A great example of a company making use of IoT is Jain Irrigation. They have developed devices that made farming much more efficient, often called “ Smart Farming”. Jane has developed different products such as the SmartBox, HermitCrab, and C3, which are devices acting like brains that tell when, where, and how much to water plans.

These products are able to adequately transfer information to the farmer and make decisions based on various variables, such as the weather, inventory, type of crops grown, and more. The system is made much more efficient and brings many benefits, such as efficient usage of resources and saving on capital.

In this case, we’ve witnessed how IoT can help farmers thrive, which can open up roads for future and greater innovation.

Conclusion

We have observed how these different technologies have paved the way for corporations to enhance their operational activities. These innovations, when combined, create a web of possibilities that touch every aspect of our daily lives, from furniture housing to major industrial operations.

Virtual Reality can transport us to an immersive 3D experience, allowing us to experience, learn and understand in a digital view environment previously deemed inconceivable. From allowing customers to test furniture, to potential advancements such as training surgeons in simulations, the realm of virtual reality is revolutionizing the way we perceive the world.

Blockchain ensures trust, providing a secure and transparent ledger for transactions. Companies like De Beers utilize blockchain to trace the lineage of diamonds, ensuring authenticity and ethical sourcing. This level of trust has implications across industries, from finance to supply chain management, enabling transparent operations and building consumer confidence.

The Internet of Things enables everyday objects to communicate, share data, and make proactive decisions. Jain Irrigation’s ventures demonstrate the sheer power of IoT in optimizing resource usage in agriculture, offering a glimpse of its transformative potential in various sectors, from health to home automation.

On the way to innovation, the convergence of emerging technologies promises to reshape the contours of our everyday activities. We are already witnessing basic interactions that are interlaced with different technological touchpoints, exemplified by the many cases mentioned in this article. Over the next few years, as these technologies mature and intertwine, we will witness how these corporations reimagine their business models to make the best use of the different technologies available out there.

References

De Beers Group introduces world’s first blockchain-backed diamond. (n.d.). https://www.debeersgroup.com/media/company-news/2022/de-beers-group-introduces-worlds-first-blockchain-backed-diamond-source-platform-at-scale

IKEA partners with Takeleap for VR shopping. The Free Library. (n.d.). https://www.thefreelibrary.com/IKEA+partners+with+TAKELEAP+for+VR+shopping.-a0515663671

Jain irrigation provides connected solutions for precision agriculture and smarter landscaping. Jain Irrigation Provides Connected Solutions for Precision Agriculture and Smarter Landscaping | Digi International. (n.d.). https://www.digi.com/resources/customer-stories/jain-irrigation-precision-agriculture-solutions