What can you expect from the business world in 2019? Professors and lecturers from MIT / Sloan discuss seven businesses to keep an eye on in the New Year. Here’s what they had to say.
Digital Transformation’s Impact on Human Capital
Senior lecturer Sharmila Chatterjee stated that she would be keeping an eye on the “continuing digital transformation of business and its impact on human capital.” She went on to talk about how with the help of technology, low-value-add activities can be streamlined, but human employees are still critical. “One of the biggest mistakes will be cutting human interface too quickly,” she said.
Upside in the B2B Pricing Markets
According to Chatterjee, there’s also a lot of potential in pricing in the B2B markets. While often treated as an afterthought, value-pricing due to custom expectations is important. The idea is for companies to quantify the value of their products and services in dollar amounts and communicate that value to customers. “Value-selling should be the goal,” she explained.
A Lack of Software Security
For lecturer Lou Shipley, in 2019 he’s concerned about software security, or the lack thereof. He urges people to watch the software security market for big innovations. As a whole, he expects software to dominate the market; specifically, startups focused on software development productivity. “I’m especially interested in companies focusing on ‘citizen developer,’ a term used to describe how software development impacts the entire organization—marketing, sales, finance, and, of course, engineering,” he said.
To a smaller degree, Shipley also encourages business leaders to focus on cost reduction and the procurement of “tail spend”—small purchases that typically miss management’s radar.
SEC Reforms & Tariff Policy
For MIT Sloan visiting professor of finance Chester Spatt, 2019 is all about international tariff policy and its impact on product demand. He sees these tariffs limiting investments domestically and internationally. As for the upcoming SEC reforms, there will be experiments looking to understand the impact and distortions of fees and rebates as well as a modernization of the proxy process. These reforms could improve the trading structure to “increase marketing liquidity, reduce the cost of capital, and improve capital formation.”
Brexit Leads to Economic Loss
In 2019, economist John Van Reenen sees continued fallout from Brexit leading to further economic loss, particularly for the poor and middle class. “The economics of Brexit are very simple. Being outside the EU inevitably means higher costs of doing business with our nearest neighbors — so there will be less trade, and less trade will make us poorer,” Van Reenen wrote. He thinks this could lead to a second vote on Brexit, but for now, businesses will have to find ways to adapt.
Additional 2019 Highlights
Other business highlights to look for in 2019 include:
- A more attractive retail workforce with higher wages and better worker schedules. According to professor of operations management Zeynep Ton, businesses that don’t adapt to workers expectations could find it hard to attract workers.
- The tech industry needs to find better ways to attract and retain top talent in AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics. Research scientist Kristine Dery sees hiring quality digital talent as a struggle for large tech companies in 2019.
- A need for health and retirement benefits for public sector employees. Executive director of the Golub Center for Finance and Policy Doug Criscitello sees financing for public policy as a major concern in 2019 as well as well as a potential economic downturn.
To gain deeper insight into what MIT Sloan experts have to say about business in 2019, read the original article here.
