Introduction
The company I have chosen to base my research paper on is the Tata Consultancy Services. I have chosen the company based on its splendid reputation in the technology and consultancy services it offers in the business world. Tata Consultancy Services has been recognized by leading journals as a market leader in offering outsourcing services to its clients, most notably by the Everest Group in February 2015. Chosen from a list of over one hundred business competitors in the field of consultancy services, TCS emerged the best firm in offering research and auditing services to clients. Aside from its glowing reputation, I have chosen the firm due to its wide presence across the world. The Tata Consultancy Services has its footprints in over 46 countries in the world (Goswami, 2017). Although call centers at Tata have been crucial to getting valuable customer feedback, the demand by global enterprises for higher level and more sophisticated consultancy services has compelled its management to divest the fast growing call center in favor of higher level, more strategic outsourced services.
The Challenge
Organizations in different industries have to grapple with environmental change and uncertainty of modern times. The challenge of not knowing what the future holds has been occasioned by the rise of innovative forms of organization management and intense modern competition. Traditional organizational concepts which have helped achieve stability in organizations in the past failed to prepare modern organizations for the increasingly dynamic and uncertain current way of conducting business. Consequently, it has become imperative that businesses derive new methods of staying afloat. Tata Consultancy Services is an example of a modern corporate entity which has obtained the services of an external firm to help manage its operations. The risks in the contemporary industry of consultative services have been occasioned by the need to provide quality services to beat competition. Outsourcing the services is important for TCS, since it allows the company to concentrate its endeavors in specific areas it has comparative advantage. Outsourcing will assist the company prepare for unforeseen calamities in the future.
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The Starting Point
Weak Signals of Change and Future Customers
Businesses entities in the modern times have to devise ways of accurately forecasting if they wish to remain competitive in the industry. Weak signals refer to the process of identifying the first signs that something will result in significant change (Day & Schoemaker, 2016). The TCS has invested significantly into Artificial Intelligence, a product hailed for its ability to increase employee productivity and drive efficiencies (Goswami, 2017). The future customers for the TCS include companies which seek to incorporate artificial intelligence into their investment portfolio. For the majority of companies in the United States and Europe, the concept of A.I is seen as an important cogwheel in remaining competitive introducing transformative change (Russell & Norvig, 2016). In the future, functions outside of IT, such as marketing and customer service, will be driven mainly by the artificial intelligence. For the TCS, the companies which will be its future customers are in various industries such as automobile, energy, healthcare, banking and financial services among others.
Disruptive innovations tend to open up new markets, disturb the incumbent firms and change the rules of competition. Disruptive technologies tend to dislodge the existing way of doing things, and very often cause a disturbance in a certain industry (Manyika & Chu, 2013). An example of a disruptive technology for the management consulting industry is the Artificial Intelligence, which will automate service delivery. Consequently, it is labor saving, which will lead to more profits for the TCS. Additionally, technology which democratizes information held as intellectual capital is potentially disruptive since such information is traditionally kept safely (Manyika & Chu, 2013). The effect is businesses will share information more, hence improving overall quality of services.
Aside from existing competition in management consulting industry, TCS will be competing against new entrants in the market in the future. The areas of competition in the near future will be in the field of recruitment of top human resource personnel. Other firms offering same services as TSC will aim for a slot in the market share in the industry, hence the need for the management to anticipate these challenges and provide lasting solutions. 3i Infotech and &Seas Entertainment have made significant strides in provision of quality services in the consulting industry. While the future looks laden with possibilities, adequate preparation is essential to keep the company’s profits afloat.
In future, the go to market for Tata Consulting Services will change. TCS relies on marketing, sales and distribution firms at the moment to form its clientele base. Introduction of artificial intelligence in the future will expand the market, hence changing its dynamics. Additionally, presence of disruptive technology in the industry will result into industry shifts and changes. For example, forced sharing of information through innovation of websites will contribute towards having client interested in safeguarding information as a priority. Tata Consulting Services needs to position itself to competently provide these services to generate significant profit levels.
Recommendations for Tata Consulting Services on the Way Forward
To profit from future planning and accurate forecasting of uncertain events, TSC has to use the information revealed through its weak signals identified. Analysis of the weak signals will most likely generate ideas on how best to gain entry into segments of the market which have been unattended (Govindarajan, 2016). Conversion of the ideas revealed by the weak signals requires resolving of the uncertainties, which is achieved through formulation of the hypothesis (Govindarajan, 2016). The hypothesis is best created using a cross functional team, since it offers ideas which are multi-faceted.
Hypotheses should reveal invaluable information on the profitability of the business if it is done correctly. For example, it would assess the ability of Tata Consulting to effectively handle the loads which come with the opportunities or risks interpreted from the weak signals. Implementation of the weak signals involves the actual implementation into business ideas of what the signals imply, then deducing the weak signals into hypothesis and testing them (Govindarajan, 2016). Testing the hypothesis should be an affair which is low risk and achieved at minimum costs. This is important to cushion the TCS against perils of the unknowns.
The second recommendation to TCS is to invest in the projects they actually have total control over. For the firm to competently deal with the existing non-linear challenges, it has to be steadfast in its resolve to work towards the future every single day. Tata Consulting has to formulate a way of exerting control over future events, as this is the essence of planned opportunism. While it is important to pay attention to the projects in the industry the firm cannot control, the dictates of planned opportunism demand that those responsible for making decisions focus on only what they can control (Govindarajan, 2016). Focusing on what can be controlled is effective when dealing with the destructive effect of the potential unknown.
Concentration on the projects which can directly be altered to manipulate the dynamics of the industry is the best way to adopt a proactive approach. The principles of planned opportunism demand that the business has to devise ways of predicting disruptive innovations and positioning itself on the best platform to profit from them (Govindarajan, 2016). It is the best way to deal with the harsh realities of the unpredictability of the future.
References
Day, G. S., & Schoemaker, P. J. (2016). Peripheral vision: Detecting the weak signals that will make or break your company . Harvard Business Press.
Goswami, S. (2017). TATA Consultancy Services.
Govindarajan, V. (2016). Planned opportunism. Harvard Business Review , 94 (5), 54-61.
Manyika, J., & Chui, M. (2013). Distruptive technologies: Advantages that will transform life, business and the global ecconomy.
Russell, S. J., & Norvig, P. (2016). Artificial intelligence: a modern approach . Malaysia; Pearson Education Limited,.
