Page 32 - AeM_April_2020

BEST
PRACTICES
&
STRATEGIES

In times of Covid-19, the future is

more digital than ever

Throughout the ages, major extraneous circumstances movement and physical barriers to business, brought
and calamities have been the key factors that catalyzed about by the Covid-19 pandemic. App-based or online
rapid innovation, both in society and industry. video conferencing have become indispensable, being
fairly reliable, easy-to-use and accessible. The
The situation in the world today has businesses in workforce is organizing itself to be a ‘Work from Home’
Malaysia, like elsewhere, feeling the impact brought force.
about by the widening threat of Covid-19. The
Movement Control Order (MCO) is now firmly in effect In a previous report by Regus Global Economic Survey
to counter the pandemic, and businesses are Globally, 48% of execs said they have been working
innovating to deal with the disruption to how they remotely for at least half their working week; in
operate. Malaysia it is 53%, says DNA. The survey also said
that 65% of the respondents used video communication
The following trends are fast becoming mainstream. between managers and employees. In May 2018, Zug,
Switzerland-based serviced office provider IWG found
1. Internal teams are organizing around remote
that globally, 70% of professionals work remotely.
working apps
2. Businesses are hiring digital specialists
Digital meeting apps including Zoom, BlueJeans, Slack,
Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts have quickly Agility is now an imperative to survival; businesses who
grown into the world’s largest ‘work from home’ previously were inclined to postpone digital alternatives
experiment. The world seems to be working remotely. to routine business process and sourcing talent, find
Virtual client meetings and group discussions are themselves quickly transitioning to digitalize key
furiously being organized in an attempt to overcome business functions, including supply chain manage-

April 2020: Social Commerce & Influencer Marketing: social shopping as the future of commerce 32