INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP THROUGH THE PLATFORM STRATEGIES IN THE DIGITAL ERA
By
Course Title
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract:
The context of the research seeks to explore technology-driven entrepreneurship and how innovation plays a role in heading into the future. It aims at outlining the specific dynamics of the digital era in the business world such as financial aided technology systems, dynamic innovation supported by developing technological systems, platform strategies, and pricing that aid such forms of innovation, specific web analytics that is involved in the business, a series of decentralized ledger technologies, accurate computations in economics aided by technology, and many other related functions. Several aspects of business, such as marketing, banking of money, communication through different aspects of technology to engage business ideas, the overall supply chain management systems, and many others aided by technological innovation, are of great interest in the paper. A series of methods would be employed in the research, including the use of well customized online and offline surveys. A well-customized survey would ensure that the most relevant and consistent answers from respondents are captured to increase the accuracy of the final result that would be obtained. Finally, the research plays a vital role in the economic world, characterized by growing SMEs that need technology-driven financial decisions for a better outcome.
Background of the study:
The study lays a keen focus on concepts of blockchain and smart contracts. Smart contracts comprise a series of lines of codes stored on a blockchain system. The system automatically executes when the threshold and other predetermined terms and conditions are effectively executed. The benefits of executing smart contracts are widely seen with business collaborations where they are typically used to implement specific types of agreements so that all the participants involved can be confident of the outcome with the involvement of an intermediary. On the contrary, blockchain technology is shared and distributed as a ledger where the underlying transactions are recorded and documented digitally. Once the recording has been done, they are then linked together to provide provenance of a given history or, for that case, its entire history (Asharaf & Adarsh, 2017). When a transaction is done in business, it is added to the given blockchain system only after it has been validated with the use of a consensus protocol. This process ensures that it is the only existing version of the truth that can be presented before the parties involved in the given business. In essence, the concept of blockchain in the world of business today is described as “immutable” due to its ability to record digital content that cannot be changed. The system is transparent as it offers all the participants in a given business affair the opportunity to trade openly and have access to the same version of the truth.
Entrepreneurship is an intricate pattern that involves a detailed process of designing, launching, and running a business entity towards growth. In this case, it plays an essential and pivotal role in shaping the commercialization and development of new forms of technology. Innovation, on the other hand, translates existing ideas from different sources across the globe to invent a given product or service that creates value for customers. There are essential services that are needed daily, and for that reason, innovation will play a key role in ensuring that such amenities are accessed most efficiently and conveniently. Businesses need new forms of technologies daily to ensure that their functions are managed effectively. Some of the critical kinds of technology in the world today include computer systems which are highly applicable in multiple business functions. Computer systems are well equipped with different software systems that enable them to perform business tasks such as analysis of financial information, sending and receiving emails enabling communication between various business stakeholders, designing of sales presentations, and many others. The digital era also offers networking systems that are used to connect groups of people who need to share information and documents. These, among many other modes of technology such as accounting systems, telephone communication, inventory control channel, and customer relationship management systems, are part of the critical functions that play a role in the current world of business.
Technological innovation has played a crucial role in shaping platform strategies and pricing for most businesses across the globe. Some of the values that are generated from using such a platform are created for each other due to network platform trust-building. When using these forms of technologies, it is necessary to acknowledge the fact that pricing on one side impacts the other side of the platform as a result of cross-elasticity of demand across the entire platform (Corrales et al., 2019). Other critical areas of the study suggest that a large number of customers may be needed to make the given platforms valuable to other customers who are required to create value. It then becomes a significant concern for the business in question to come up with relevant strategies to ensure that enough traffic has been generated across the given technological platforms.
Statement of the Problem:
Determination of the current opportunities of entrepreneurship that have come as a result of technological innovation with the aid of systems such as smart contracts and blockchain.
The statement problem, in this case, lays keen focus on the management of information systems in business today. All businesses have certain functions ranging from financial-based, operations, marketing, promotions, communication, and many others that must be executed daily. Entities must keep track of their day-to-day operations and management of their supply chain system to keep the products and services at bay. It then becomes necessary to engage the right forms of technology to collect the essential components of data, store it in the right kinds of media, analyze it later for use, and effectively manage the given information (Dornberger, 2018). The store data would then be used as a great tool for strategic planning to make the relevant financial forecasts for the sake of sustainable business operations. It would also be used to ensure that businesses can keep track of their competitors. In the business world, it is necessary not only to gain the required competitive edge for the sake of sustainability. However, it’s essential to sustain the given competition for the longest time possible to thrive in the industry of interest.
Purpose/Significance of the study:
The study displays a great sense of relevance in the economies of the world today. First, companies are growing at a faster rate, and for that case, making business expansions even across the borders. It then becomes necessary to have some form of control oversight on all the business functions that are taking place. For companies that are growing internationally, it would be necessary to have systems that would ensure the interests of business partners across the spheres have been protected. Smart contracts and blockchain set in as some of the technological systems that have been devised to protect the interests of business participants. The world trade is also growing as countries across the globe merge to engage in import and export of products across the global sphere. Blockchains and smart contracts have been part of the truth meters devised to ensure that individual partners adhere to the agreements that have been set on board. For that reason, the value and influence of the research cannot be assumed as far as the modern economies of the world and technological development are concerned.
Research questions:
To come up with the right inferences and recommendations on future businesses, it would be necessary for the research to be guided by a set of research questions. The research questions, in this case, would be documented as.
- How are smart contracts customized as forms of modern technology to ensure secure transactions in the current business world?
- How is the blockchain technology functional in terms of keeping track of all the transactions that have been conducted in a given business engagement?
- How accurate are the two forms of technology in the digital error in securing the interests of business participants both locally and internationally?
Literature review:
There are simple customizations that have been made on both smart contracts and the blockchain system to ensure that every detail has been captured within a given business agreement. For instance, they have designed the following simple “if/when…then…” statements. The statements are well written into a standard code on a blockchain system. For a better impact, the customization sets a network of computer systems to execute the action. Some of the activities that are undertaken by the network onboard include releasing of funds based on a universal agreement between the parties, registering of vehicles, sending of the relevant notifications, and issuing of pertinent business tickets (Karabegović, 2019). It then becomes prudent that automation is a significant concern as far as the dynamics of business are concerned in the world of technology. While investors are pumping their hard-earned money into specific programs, they have certain expectations. Besides, all investors need some form of security before they make any critical financial decisions. The use of technology-aided systems such as blockchain that can be easily used to measure the level of truth or rather trust in a given transaction then becomes an issue of common interest. The use of such systems has seen great output is supply chain systems. For instance, if a buyer A wants to purchase a service or product from seller B, she may have to put money in an escrow account. The seller B will then have to use a shipper C to deliver the service or product in question to buyer A (Thielen, 2019). The money will only be released by the escrow system when buyer A receives the service or product and confirms that, indeed, it is the right product. This, together with many other systems, has secured trust and ensured that business is running in different sectors of the economy.
Research methodology:
The research makes use of well customized online and offline surveys to gather the most relevant information as far as business technology dynamics such as blockchain and smart contracts have been outlined. The online surveys will play a critical role in maintaining the accuracy of the final results that would be obtained. Customization of such studies would ensure that a set of online questions are presented to a randomly selected portion of participants. The system will track the nature of responses that would be obtained from the participants. In the event the system detects inconsistent responses, the response would be immediately rendered ineligible for the survey. This interface would then pick up the most relevant answers to the questions regarding the use of technology in different aspects of business in the digital era.
Limitations of the study:
While the study makes a compelling effort to generate specific opportunities for businesses as a result of modern forms of technology, and for that case justifies its relevance in the modern economy, certain limitations would be noted.
The random selection of online participants to offer possible responses to the use of technology and relevant opportunities that come with it may not be guaranteed. There is no safety measure to determine if, indeed, the person who is responding to the set of questions owns a business that would make use of different forms of technology. While strict customization has been made on the surveys to ensure that only accurate answers are obtained, we may not be sure of the ones who are considered legible for the questionnaires and studies conducted.
Major questions:
- What are the different forms of technology in business today?
- How is automation managed to ensure that the quality of functions is not compromised?
- How is artificial intelligence being managed against the human workforce?
- What is the future of businesses as far as blockchain and smart contracts are concerned?
References
Asharaf, S., & Adarsh, S. (2017). Decentralized computing using blockchain technologies and smart contracts: Emerging research and opportunities: Emerging research and opportunities. IGI Global.
Corrales, M., Fenwick, M., & Haapio, H. (2019). Legal tech, smart contracts, and blockchain. Springer.
Dornberger, R. (2018). Business information systems and technology 4.0: New trends in the age of digital change. Springer.
Karabegović, I. (2019). New technologies, development, and application II. Springer.
Thielen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and smart contracts. Application in the automotive industry. GRIN Verlag.