Matt Codrington, Managing Director, Lenovo ANZ
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Technology: The Lifeblood of a Stronger SMB Community
By Matt Codrington
For a long time now, Australia’s economy has enjoyed an enviable track record, thanks to the industries we are best known for: mining, agriculture, services and manufacturing. Amidst our economic progress, innovation and technology may appear to have taken a backseat. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has shown that this is hardly the case.
While many Australians have unquestionably faced hardship amidst the uncertainty and challenges wrought by the pandemic, we have also seen first-hand the resilience and adaptability of our country – particularly the small and medium businesses (SMBs) who form the backbone of Australia’s economy.
Much of this is thanks to latest advancements in technology in an environment that has forced the almost immediate digitization of many aspects of our everyday lives. Business and Government roadmaps and strategies calling for 2 to 3 year timelines to implement the modernization of the workplace have been completed, almost overnight. This inflexion point has accelerated collaboration like never before. Prior to COVID-19, SMBs would often be hesitant to adopt new technologies or working arrangements, fearing loss of control. Now we see we flexibility actually promoting productivity.
Today, we are seeing far more willingness and an almost ardent desire by SMBs to explore technology and the value it can bring. The discovery that working remotely from our homes is entirely possible, and the ease and joy offered by modern technologies, have given rise to the realization that a job is a thing you do, not necessarily a place you go to. In fact, research has shown that many workers find work-from-home enjoyable and effective when given the tools they need. Video conferencing software, for example, has facilitated easy face-to-face interaction amongst all employees, irrespective of locations or timezones.
To ensure SMBs continue to benefit both economically and socially from what is a potent enabler, this foundation, including how SMBs ought to view and work with technology, must be built on. SMBs are facing an ever-more competitive landscape from this digitization of the marketplace. Borders have largely been removed – hence opening up the potential for competition in a global landscape. At the same time, SMBs’ exposure and access to a massive international market today is unprecedented. SMBs will continue to face constant pressure to drive better productivity and manage costs, but now and perhaps even more importantly, they must innovate with new business models, challenge contemporary thinking and be ready to change direction in the blink of an eye.
To maintain a strong SMB community in the nation’s digital future, Australia must invest even further into this pillar of our society that accounts for 45.7% of the total Australian workforce. This means engaging with our SMBs by listening to and understanding their challenges, unlocking their ideas and helping them optimize their scarce time, resources and limited budgets. And SMBs themselves need to be working on, as well as in, their businesses at the same time.
The good news is that much of this work is already underway, as Australia embarks on a cohesive, long-term national strategy to strengthen its technology and innovation capabilities. While the government will play a critical role in effecting change, however, it is equally important that the world’s technology providers are exercising their expertise in designing and creating the right products and services that will help SMBs thrive.
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In 2016 I published a blog article titled Moonshots for Australia: 7 For Now. It’s one of many I have posted on business and innovation in Australia. In that book, I highlighted a number of Industries of the Future among a number of proposed Moonshots. I self-published a book, Innovation in Australia – Creating prosperity for future generations, in 2019, with a follow-up COVID edition in 2020. There is no doubt COVID is causing massive disruption. Prior to COVID, there was little conversation about National Sovereignty or supply chains. Even now, these topics are fading, and we remain preoccupied with productivity and jobs! My motivation for this writing has been the absence of a coherent narrative for Australia’s business future. Over the past six years, little has changed. The Australian ‘psyche’ regarding our political and business systems is programmed to avoid taking a long-term perspective. The short-term nature of Government (3 to 4-year terms), the short-term horizon of the business system (driven by shareholder value), the media culture (infotainment and ‘gotcha’ games), the general Australian population’s cynical perspective and a preoccupation with a lifestyle all create a malaise of strategic thinking and conversation. Ultimately, it leads to a leadership vacuum at all levels. In recent years we have seen the leadership of some of our significant institutions failing to live up to the most basic standards, with Royal Commissions, Inquiries and investigations consuming excessive time and resources. · Catholic Church and other religious bodies · Trade Unions · Banks (and businesses generally, take casinos, for example) · the Australian Defence Force · the Australian cricket teams · our elected representatives and the staff of Parliament House As they say, “A fish rots from the head!” At best, the leadership behaviour in those institutions could be described as unethical and, at worst….just bankrupt! In the last decade, politicians have led us through a game of “leadership by musical chairs” – although, for now, it has stabilised. However, there is still an absence of a coherent narrative about business and wealth creation. It is a challenge. One attempt to provide such a narrative has been the Intergenerational Reports produced by our federal Government every few years since 2002. The shortcomings of the latest Intergenerational Report Each Intergenerational Report examines the long-term sustainability of current government policies and how demographic, technological, and other structural trends may affect the economy and the budget over the next 40 years. The fifth and most recent Intergenerational Report released in 2021 (preceded by Reports in 2002, 2007, 2010 and 2015) provides a narrative about Australia’s future – in essence, it is an extension of the status quo. The Report also highlights three key insights: 1. First, our population is growing slower and ageing faster than expected. 2. The Australian economy will continue to grow, but slower than previously thought. 3. While Australia’s debt is sustainable and low by international standards, the ageing of our population will pressure revenue and expenditure. However, its release came and went with a whimper. The recent Summit on (what was it, Jobs and Skills and productivity?) also seems to have made the difference of a ‘snowflake’ in hell in terms of identifying our long-term challenges and growth industries. Let’s look back to see how we got here and what we can learn. Australia over the last 40 years During Australia’s last period of significant economic reform (the late 1980s and early 1990s), there was a positive attempt at building an inclusive national narrative between Government and business. Multiple documents were published, including: · Australia Reconstructed (1987) – ACTU · Enterprise Bargaining a Better Way of Working (1989) – Business Council of Australia · Innovation in Australia (1991) – Boston Consulting Group · Australia 2010: Creating the Future Australia (1993) – Business Council of Australia · and others. There were workshops, consultations with industry leaders, and conferences across industries to pursue a national microeconomic reform agenda. Remember these concepts? · global competitiveness · benchmarking · best practice · award restructuring and enterprising bargaining · training, management education and multiskilling. This agenda was at the heart of the business conversation. During that time, the Government encouraged high levels of engagement with stakeholders. As a result, I worked with a small group of training professionals to contribute to the debate. Our contribution included events and publications over several years, including What Dawkins, Kelty and Howard All Agree On – Human Resources Strategies for Our Nation (published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development). Unfortunately, these long-term strategic discussions are nowhere near as prevalent among Government and industry today. The 1980s and 1990s were a time of radical change in Australia. It included: · floating the $A · deregulation · award restructuring · lowering/abolishing tariffs · Corporatisation and Commercialisation Ross Garnaut posits that the reforms enabled Australia to lead the developed world in productivity growth – given that it had spent most of the 20th century at the bottom of the developed country league table. However, in his work, The Great Reset, Garnaut says that over the next 20 years, our growth was attributable to the China mining boom, and from there, we settled into “The DOG days” – Australia moved to the back of a slow-moving pack! One unintended consequence of opening our economy to the world is the emasculation of the Australian manufacturing base. The manic pursuit of increased efficiency, lower costs, and shareholder value meant much of the labour-intensive work was outsourced. Manufacturing is now less than 6% of our GDP , less than half of what it was 30 years ago!
