We live in a fast-paced world where sudden and radical changes in the business environment have become commonplace. As a result, not only is the survival of businesses challenged overnight, but also individuals have to reinvent themselves rapidly to protect and advance their career prospects. This session - delivered by me at Goa Business School, Goa University in July 2019 - examines the underlying patterns to these changes and identifies the underlying principles that have remained constant, such that individuals can accordingly equip themselves appropriately to deal with these changes. In particular, this session highlights the importance of understanding underlying business models as a key to dealing with these changes. As illustrations, a few examples of disruptive startups have been chosen to both, understand the importance of business models and to highlight how they changed the game in their respective domains.

1. The Economics and
Culture of Change
Staying Relevant in the
Age of Disruptions
Goa Business School
July 2019
Suhas M Mallya
Emco Goa Private Limited
sm@mallyas.com

2. Business
Employment, Taxes,
Economy,
Development,
Infrastructure
Perception/allegationsof
Cheating, Greed, Evil,
Nexus, Pollution…
Earnings, Profits,
Surplus, Wealth,
Financial
Security…
Challenge, Risk,
Compliance,
Competition
Stature, Recognition,
Power, Networking,
Satisfaction…
Ancillary services,
professionals,
domain expertise…

3. Contents
• The Changing Face of Change
• The Economics of Change
• The Culture of Change
• Dealing with Change
• “Follow the Money”
• Business Models

4. Telex, b. 1933
~ 40 years: 1958-1998
Cyclostyle, b. 1890
~ 100 years: 1900-2000
Punched Tape, b. 1850
~100 years: 1890-1990
Peak use: 1950s-1970s
Cassette, b. 1964
Walkman, b. 1984
~15-30 years: till 2000
Floppy Disks, b. 1960s
~30 years: 1971-2000
Doordarshan, b. 1949
~20 years: 1970s-1990s
PCO, b. ~1990
~10 years: ~2000
Fax machine, b. 1960s
~30 years: 1980-2010

5. The Changing Face of Change
• Shorter cycles
• Faster propagation
• Wider user-base
• Lower costs, greater power (Moore’s Law)
• Greater awareness, greater expectation
• Compelling value-proposition
• Faster, greater, regular disruptionFaster, greater, regular disruption

6. The Changing Face of Change
Faster, greater, regular
disruption

7. The Changing Face of Change
DISRUPTION
DisruptorDisruptee

8. Causes & Enablers of Disruption
• Technology & Technology Proliferation
▫ E.g., IRCTC, E-Commerce
• Legislation
▫ E.g., Liberalization, Demonetisation, GST
• Demographic/Socio-cultural
▫ E.g., Swiggy, Ola/Uber

9. Staying “Relevant”

10. The Economics of (sustainable) Change
• Business – NOT technology – drives technology
▫ Technology is the means to an end
 Only solutions are sustainable; not technical hacks & thrills
 COBOL
▫ Location-specific appropriateness
 Google Ad for gender detection
▫ Right-time, right-place
 Microsoft Tablet, EX NGN
• There is a “business problem” out there
▫ “Business” can also be “technology” – e.g., LDAP, MVC
▫ Problems evolve

11. Dealing with Change
• Fundamentals first
• Be hands-on
• Homework
• Activate the right-brain
• “Follow the money”: understand the
business problem

12. The Culture of Change
Cultural nuances that influence
how we are (adversely) impacted by change
Internal
• Fear of failure
• Lack of a product-oriented mindset
• Unwillingness to question (status quo)
• Courage of conviction vs. stubbornness
External
• Inconducive socio/techno/political environment
• Absence of a startup ecosystem
• Cheap labour
• Lack of a capitalist outlook

13. “Follow the Money”:
The Economics of Change
• Business Models
• “Secret sauce”
▫ Technology
▫ Information asymmetry
▫ Domain expertise
▫ High barrier-to-entry (implicit/constructed)
• Adapting to change
▫ As an entrepreneur
▫ As a professional/employee

14. Business Models
• Describes what it is that a business does to earn
money
▫ what it sells, how it sells, who buys/pays, what they
buy/pay for
• Describes the profitability of the business
• Embodies the “secret sauce” of the business
• Indicates barriers-to-entry

15. Business Models Potential for
Wealth Generation
Complexity
Airlines
Mutual Funds
Small
Grocery Store
Telecom
Financial
Services
Real
Estate
IT & ITeS
Roadside/
travelling vendor
Multi-brand
Retail Chains
Infrastructure
Projects
Media &
Entertainment
Wholesale &
Distribution
Scam
Solar & Energy
Sectors
Illustrative plotting in quadrants; will vary by market cycles and over time.
Not an ideal comparison because it mixes industry verticals with business models
Pharma
Aggregators
Industries/businesses than run
on information asymmetry Event
Management
NBFCs
Manufacturing
Bankruptcy
Middlemen

16. The Changing Face of Change
DISRUPTION
DisruptorDisruptee

17. Business Models: Discussion
• Middlemen
• RuPay, UPI
• PayTM
• Travel Aggregators (MMT, Yatra, Expedia…)
• Swiggy
• Loyalty Rewards Platforms

18. Conclusion
• Align with and embrace change
• Equip yourself:
▫ Technology Fundamentals
▫ Domain knowledge
▫ Business model insights
• Cultivate the right mindset
▫ Cultural aspects of dealing with change

19. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, FEEDBACK
Suhas M Mallya
Emco Goa Private Limited
sm@mallyas.com
THANK YOU!