February Fast Company Article by Carol Thesing Are You on Digital Time? by Alan M. Webber, Feb/March, pages 114-118.

The article begins with this quote by George Stalk, Jr., senior vice-president at Boston Consulting Group. For any company in any industry, the key is not get stuck with a single simple notion of its source of advantage. Today time is the cutting edgeIn fact, as a weapon, time is the equivalent of money, productivity, quality, and even innovation.

When I started reading this article, I thought this couldnt be a good idea because when you hurry and rush through things, mistakes are made. But the article talks about the idea to cut wasted time, not necessarily trying to do things at a faster rate.

In many ways, this insight prefigures the reengineering movement. But according to Stalk, it needs the digital revolution to reach its fullest potential. At first Stalk thought organizing time and eliminating wasted time could be accomplished without technology. And though redesigning how you work can help move you in the right direction, Stalk, now acknowledges the need for work redesigning and digital speed are a must to meet todays competition.

 As the article continues, Stalk shares his six principles for digital companies that want to compete on speed.  Digital speed casts a stark shadow: The differences are described as quantum leaps instead of 20 % increase.  Digital speed appeals to a companys most profitable customers first. If you dont make the move to digital, your company ends up with customers that spend the least and cost the most.  Digital speed is infectious: Technology was first seen as a quality issue, now with the increase in quality, theres a demand for increase speed.  Digital speed simplifies complexity: Everything in our lives seems to be becoming more complex. Digital speed help shrink the distance between information and decision. You no longer are at the mercy of what someone else is telling you. You have the ability to compare, research and buy through your home computer. Findings have shown the consumer buys more and at a higher grade using their home computer.  Digital speed resegments segmentation. A group of consumers formed a segment in the market by waiting for prices to decline. Another group (segment) is willing to pay more to get their product sooner. Now digitization is collapsing those segments. One segment can get the best price and get it tomorrow and another segment can get a decent price and get it today. This type of segmentation changes typical consumer behavior. Companies need to be on top of these changes and to be aware that old market indicators are not reliable.  Digital speed is about de-averaging competitive advantage. Advantage performance is no longer a reliable way to gain on the competition because digital speed breaks apart markets, consumer segments and distribution channels. Digital speed is all about information. The key here is to gathering and analyzing the correct information.

I feel this article has a lot of validity to the way business is moving. I do believe we are in an information age and everyone wants it yesterday. The competition must be technological savvy to compete and that can be scary for smaller, independent businesses. I am concerned on where this type of competition will take us. I am also concerned about the lack of personal connection we have with businesses we deal. Frankly the lack of personal interaction, is scary to me. On the other hand, I believe anyone with computer intelligence can now be competitive in the Internet world. I think the time is perfect for anyone wanting to start their own business in a home based computer driven business. In some ways, it evens out the competition and in other ways as I mention in the prior paragraph, it widens it.

When talking with colleagues, technology has not made their work easier or faster. Often I was told it increased their workload. Although, a few people said they felt technology gave their work a more professional look. Some people said at times they could respond to issues faster with computer technology and at others it totally jammed up their workload. Another common response I got was the reduction of paper was a positive. As far as expense, people were divided.

-- Anonymous, April 06, 1999