When companies yearn for The competitive advantage, or get ready to serve new markets, they have to consider how inevitable technological change is likely to disrupt their existing business. At this point, one can recognize real industrial strategists.

At a time when the market was abuzz with the launch of Apple TV, the company former COO – now CEO - Tim Cook had announced investments in its Apple TV set-top box "hobby", despite its relatively low popularity. The reason: "We're continuing to invest in it because our gut tells us there's something there," Cook had said.

"...There's people -- and I'm one of those -- that they're avid Apple TV users, and so, because their gut says something there, we're continuing to invest in this. But today it's just a hobby."

It was a time when the online television boom was yet to begin and the technology was still relatively untested. Yet Apple decided to continue to invest in the project despite some dampening figures one year from the launch.

"Today, the go-to-market model for Apple TV is very difficult. Because it would seem that that go-to-market model would lead to the TV. And we have no interest in being in the TV market." This was Cook’s response on questions about the tech giant venturing into TV content.

The strategy was finally very clear from Apple – the company did not want to venture into a territory that it was not experienced in or not comfortable in.

This is also an example where leaders of companies leverage technology and know-how with strategies for the future that are often decided by the larger objectives and goals. The strategy was followed up by Apple by sound and clear decisions about not to venture in to TV content but to remain in the sphere it was experienced in and had a ready strategy.

However farther more important for company leaders is to anticipate and integrate technological changes into strategy and decision to make full use of the change. Failing which companies lag behind and eventually lose market shares.

“A powerful means of coping with today’s more volatile environment is increasing the time a company’s top team spends on strategy. Involving more senior leaders in strategic dialogue makes it easier to stay ahead of emerging opportunities, respond quickly to unexpected threats, and make timely decisions,” says Michael Birshan and Jayanti Kar in an article titled: “Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive” in the quarterly journal publication of consultancy firm McKinsey.

Anticipating and adapting to changes in industry-specific technologies is a talent that business leaders require possess and results of not possessing such skills can be catastrophic for business.

Thomas Savare is the CEO of Oberthur Fiduciaire, a French company founded in 1842 that successfully entered the worldwide trio heading the security printing industry. In spite of the very craft aspect of the business, printing banknotes has become a rather complicated process due to security stakes. “The technology has obviously changed”, states Thomas Savare.

Thereby, technological change at Oberthur Fiduciaire is also at the heart of HR policies. “The qualifications of our employees has changed along with that evolution… So when it comes to strategy, we have to master the printing techniques themselves, but we also have to master the job of integrating different technologies…”, says Thomas Savare. “We have to do that within an environment that is highly industrial, because we’re supplying billions of individuals with products that are numbered and personalized.

On the other hand, one of the greatest examples of failure to adapt to and strategically use technological change through sound decisions lies in the decline and ultimate withering away of Nokia.
The Finnish company and once the largest producer of mobile phone failed to anticipate the impact of smart phone technology – a disruptive technology, and failed to decide on changing strategy of business by sticking to the analog technology used. The result was the decline to the company to the extent that it is now almost out of the mobile phone production industry.

Hence while anticipating technological change is very critical, adapting to that change through appropriate strategies is crucial. One of the means of constantly keeping up with technology is development of a culture of innovation in companies and pursuing a flexible and adaptable strategy for business.

“Innovative decision making is critical for creating the kind of adaptive and responsive strategies that are essential for survival and success. A currently good set of products, markets, policies and practices, past and present business achievements are no guarantee of future effectiveness,” says Neo Boon Siong, a former dean of the Nanyang business school, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The ability to rejuvenate and renew products, policies and practices are parts of an effective strategy taken by a business leader in the face of business environmental change, Siong adds. This, he says, is necessary to serve current customers and reach new markets.

“Careful strategic planning must be integrated with the ongoing capabilities to learn, innovate and adapt when the environment becomes volatile and unpredictable. In short, companies need to develop innovative decision making capabilities” says Neo Boon Siong.

“A key contribution of management to innovation performance is good decision-making. Managers must make decisions related to resources, organization, risk, culture, supply and manufacturing processes, quality assurance processes, sales, customer services, and other aspects of innovation and commercialization,” says researchers Daniel Munro and Jessica Edge in the field of Industry and Business Strategy at The Conference Board of Canada.

Thus managers and business leaders are the primary gents in business who anticipate technological changes, formulate strategies and take business decisions to suit the objective of the company.

Many academics and researchers consider that this strategic decision making ability in the wake of technological change can be acquired from “a rich and specialized literature on strategy in particular industries” and off-site strategy focus setting exercises by many company, many others believe that it can only be gained through experience.

McKinsey experts Michael Birshan and Jayanti Kar conclude: “Because strategy is a journey, executives need to study, understand, and internalize the economics, psychology, and laws of their industries, so that context can guide them continually.”