The fourth industrial revolution (4th IR), characterised by disruption on multiple levels, requires organisations to adapt their business practices to become more competitive, a report said.

The Business 4.x paper released by leading boutique consultancy Kinetic Consulting Services highlights ten essential principles that organisations should adopt to develop a new operating mode capable of successfully tackling the constant change brought about by disruption due to high technology.

Business 4.x is designed to highlight the importance of the X-factor in a high-performance organisation operating in a world shaped by the fourth industrial revolution. Technology has reached an evolutionary stage where almost anything is possible, and this is what makes the fourth industrial revolution so unique and dangerous for market incumbents.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, Internet of Things, augmented reality, and 3-D printing are some of the technologies enabling organisations to create products, services, and new business models that deliver greater value than previously offered in the third industrial revolution. Whilst many have written about the importance of having an agile organisation, the survey results highlight that most organisations are struggling with the concept of agility.

In a 2017 survey, only 4 per cent of respondents were able to claim an entirely agile organisation, and less than 25 per cent said their internal performance units were agile.

"Business 4.x proposes an operating model that captures the energy, know-how, and courage of cross-functional teams. The culture must enable self-regulatory management of team members, and empower team members to make customer-centric decisions without referring to multiple levels in a hierarchy," said Joe Tawfik, CEO of Kinetic Consulting Services.

The business practices in Business 4.x deliver speed, agility, focused execution, and self-regulated performance management of team members, leading to high performance. Many of the practices detailed in Business 4.x require organisations to challenge and abandon traditional thinking as to how businesses should operate.

It's only when they abandon traditional thinking, can they hope to create an X-factor that will enable them to differentiate themselves from the competition, and outperform in an environment where constant disruption is the norm. – TradeArabia News Service