Georgia Durham

It’s funny to study how the digital world has changed aspects of business in the way that this module has shown. I’ve spent my entire conscious life in the throes of the internet, and I barely remember life even pre-smartphone let alone before the time of the Dotcom bubble. However what’s interesting is the speed of the effects the internet has had, the rate of innovation and invention is snowballing - it took a lot longer to create the smartphone after the invention of the computer, but the time between the smartphone and the smartwatch was only a few years. I think that this shows that as people have begun to rely on the internet for more and more things, we can see ways that it will fit into our lives much clearer and easier. We assume, now, that the internet can do everything for us and if we find a niche area that it can’t, that’s when people innovate. The fact that, generationally, most people born since the invention of the internet are Digital Natives means tha...

Argos is a household name and a regular high street centrepiece. The Argos business model has always been closer to IKEA than that of normal retail stores, with its rows of catalogs which allow customers to write down ID numbers of items and receive a ticket on purchase which tells you when your order is ready for ‘collection’. Despite the unique layout of the store its wide variety of goods make it comparable to Wilko’s, Woolworths and Amazon. The latter has caused a fierce level of competition for Argos, despite not having a physical presence, Amazon’s digital business model was able to excel in the 4th industrial revolution. However back in 2012 Argos decided to implement a forward-thinking 5 year digital strategy, aiming to reinvent itself as a leading digital retailer using an omnichannel approach. Argos developed a number of ways to digitise itself using concept stores while keeping the core components of what customers liked about them. ‘Welcome walls...

I am intrigued by WeWork as a concept because technology is enabling people to work nomadically and separately but maintain the illusion of close physicality by connecting us instantaneously with each other. Social platforms, WiFi and businesses such as Skype, GoToWebinar, Viber and WhatsApp are just some of the ways technology has increased our availability which enables us to work in our own terms, but if more people are trying to be Digital Nomads, shouldn’t WeWork not have worked?Why open static offices? WeWork’s founder answers this question (Turk, 2018), saying WeWork products are “community driven” and “attached to the physical world”. WeWork use digital to improve physical access to others instead of replacing it. The community factor is a strong area for WeWork; they have found that enticing enterprises through the door for a month often means they will stay for life (Turk, 2018). WeWork are not valued as a real estate company, but rather as a technology company. ...