Does your company suffer from NIMI syndrome?

NIMI is an acronym that stands for “Not In My Industry”. CEOs of companies suffering from NIMI syndrome are usually both optimistic and in big trouble. They basically believe that any disruption affecting other industries will not apply to them. They think they exist in a bubble, immune from changes brought about the digital transformation.

Common beliefs run along the lines of “We are the market leader, we have the best products, our industry is too traditional”…

But, guess what, the business landscape is evolving dramatically for every company, regardless of what they do or where they operate. Change will come, like an hurricane, despite of what the CEO might like to believe.

Take one of the most traditional industries you can think of: your local groceries shop. What does this have to do with the digital transformation, machine learning or big data? Well, the good people at Amazon think it does. So they created Amazon Go, a fully automated shop in which you simply take the products from the shelves and leave the store. No lines, no check out. A consumer’s dream.

Of course, some CEOs realize a revolution is coming but still find it difficult to act on their knowledge. Reasons are usually that culture, skills, organization, technology and business models are hard to change overnight. Change is always challenging and in many cases, companies find they lack the energy to make provision for the coming hurricane; instead, they hope it will not arrive any time soon.

Take another example from Amazon. They recently bought 20,000 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans as part of their Delivery Service Partners Program. They are offering small business owners the opportunity to start their own companies to help Amazon deliver. This is a strong signal to their current large delivery partners: that Amazon wants to control that part of the supply chain too. Maybe that’s good news for small distribution companies but clearly bad news for the big players. Again, this move is only possible through strong digitalization and integration of the processes regarding last mile delivery.

There’s plenty of change waiting to happen in the logistics and transportation industry.

For one, truck makers want to stay competitive. They cannot afford to simply make commoditized hardware when they know that software intelligence and services will be the new differentiator, not cab interior design, as trucks head towards full autonomy. So truck makers will remove the boundary between their traditional activity and the ones of leasing companies, trucking companies and logistics operators. Just like Amazon did.

So what does the future look for your business? More importantly, what can you do at your company, to prepare it for digital transformation? Actually a lot.
 

• First, escape the NIMI syndrome. Yes, the hurricane is coming your way. Disruption is always dangerous for businesses, but digital disruptions are happening faster than ever.
• Second, because along with disruptions come opportunities, try to understand what your company must do to benefit from those and start repositioning your activities make the most of any change. Ideally, it would help if you were among the first in your industry to embrace new trends, to ensure you benefit from an early mover advantage.
• Finally, once you define your business goals, choose the right technologies and, most importantly, the right partners. Forget about your company doing it all by itself. Changes need to happen too quickly for that. It would be best if you had an ally with the capabilities to offer shortcuts to your goal. In that respect, you will find in Frotcom a partner to help you harness the winds of change.