MGT 323 Changing Business Dynamics in the Digital Age

During the past decade, the internet has fundamentally changed the way business-to consumer (B2C) industries relate to their markets. Platforms already disrupt traditional business models and re-shape whole industries. The way business-to-business (B2B) operate will also be fundamentally altered in the future by the Industrial Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence - it will change manufacturing, energy, agriculture, transportation, health care - almost all sectors of the economy. Global manufacturing corporations will need to compete on different levels in different areas as suddenly powerful Silicon Valley companies like Google, Apple and other software and technology firms are challenging industry incumbents in their own playing fields. This latest wave of technology progress offers incredible opportunities along with new risks and ethical as well as legal challenges to business and society. The industrial internet will merge the global physical and digital world. What started mainly in consumer markets is moving towards a fundamental change which will affect all businesses and all our lives.

This course will not only explore the B2C strategies - the so-called Sharing Economy - focusing on peer-to-peer and on-demand multi-sided platforms. This will help to explain some of the main strategies, concepts and ideas on how platform based business models work. However, the focus will also be on the emerging digitalization strategies of MNCs, the impact of AI resp. algorithms, the evolution of ERP systems and how the Industrial Internet shapes innovative corporate strategy, business models and practices. It will also discuss the ethical issues involved. Challenges facing students of business, and young enterprises today have never been greater. The digital revolution has dovetailed with globalization, and created a dynamic and different new commercial paradigm. The largest hotel company in the world doesn?t own a single room and has very few employees. The largest taxi company in the world doesn?t own a single taxi. This course is designed to assist students to evaluate technological impact in an increasing digital and globalized environment. Ethical, legal, financial and commercial considerations are amongst the domains examined to provide the student with an overview to complement other studies undertaken in this program.