VIEWPOINTS FROM THE DEAN
Disruption and innovation
MARK MUSHET
This edition of Viewpoints presents observations on the future of business from the students, alumni and faculty of the UBC Sauder School of Business. You will hear about the aspirations of our amazing students—where they see themselves in 10 years and how they hope their careers will unfold in a highly connected business environment. You will hear the voice of experience from our alumni, and some inspiring words of wisdom about the importance of values, culture and collaboration in businesses of any era. Our faculty members bring insights from their current research, and offer thoughts on “what’s next” on issues ranging from internet security and the sharing economy to dark pools in financial markets and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. THESE OBSERVATIONS SHOW THAT we stand at a fascinating point in time for business and society. It is obvious that both the speed and scope of technical change are increasing rapidly. However, this is not really a new phenomenon—science and technology have been advancing rapidly since at least the beginning of the industrial revolution. What does seem new, and important, is the widespread adoption and use of connected mobile devices. This has led to previously unimaginable access to processing power, data storage and knowledge at very low cost for a sizable fraction of the world’s population. It has also, I believe, created strong network scale economies, and led to the dominance of a few, very large platform providers (e.g., Google, Baidu, Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat). Finally, and perhaps most important for incumbent businesses, it has diminished the importance of intermediaries between buyers and sellers in many markets. Many transactions now occur directly between buyers and sellers on Facebook, WeChat, Uber, Airbnb and other platforms. This has, in turn, led to the disruption of many intermediary institutions—from taxi companies and housing rental agencies, to financial institutions and, perhaps soon, 2
SPRING/SUMMER 2016 VIEWPOINTS
even universities. As Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, notes in his recent book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, “The question for all industries and companies, without exception, is no longer ‘Am I going to be disrupted?’ but ‘When is disruption coming, what form will it take and how will it affect me and my organization?’” Of course, the other side of disruption is innovation and entrepreneurship—the creation of the new ventures that leverage technology to bring new products and services to market, produce value for investors, and build new jobs and careers for the knowledge economy. A passion for innovation is certainly present in the aspirations of our students, the experiences of our alumni, and the research of our faculty. Perhaps that is where the future of business lies. I hope you enjoy this edition of Viewpoints. Please stay in touch. n
Sincerely,
Robert Helsley, Dean GROSVENOR PROFESSOR OF CITIES, BUSINESS ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY
robert.helsley@sauder.ubc.ca