Governments don’t really get the idea of competition
Customer service consultancy, The Leadership LaunchPad, says that companies are continually evolving to offer products and services to meet their needs, even when there seems to be market resistance by government.
“Our rulers now shun people-friendly positioning in favour of the apartheid era attitude that we know what’s best,” said managing partner at The Leadership LaunchPad, Aki Kalliatakis.
“They might deny they’re control freaks, but they sure look like control enthusiasts. These enthusiasts now want to control social media.”
He said that under ‘nonsensical’ government proposals, host sites will need to set up filters to block content deemed objectionable. Anyone hoping to share an opinion or information will have to apply to become a digital publisher, pay a subscription fee, submit content and wait for the censor’s go-ahead.
“Our control-minded rulers can’t even control the spending of easily identified rogue municipalities. How can they control the worldwide web,” he asked.
“The thinking seems to be: if something seems threatening, gag it or ban it. Violence and intimidation are more direct forms of disapproval and we’ve already seen some members of our taxi-industry apply these ‘controls’ to Uber-empowered motorists and their passengers … while police stand and watch.”
He said that adaptation rather than mindless resistance makes more sense. Kalliatakis noted the following:
- Travel agencies faced by online bookings … leading to new business models;
- The music industry faced by music downloads … leading to plummeting shop-based sales followed by a new-look music industry;
- Retailing faced by Amazon and online shopping … leading to retail co-existence.
Takeaways have had to adapt to Mr Delivery and others, while hotels must cope with Couchsurfers.com and AirBnb.com – formats that enable guests to ‘crash’ on a sofa or in a spare bedroom.
“For a fee, wannabe chefs can now practise cooking for the neighbours at their own home via ShareYourMeal.com, CasseroleClub.com and Cookisto.co.uk, a hint of big catering industry changes.
“And, of course, auctioneers deal with online competition from eBay, OLX, et al,” Kalliatakis said.
He added that banks also face the spectre of real competition, thanks to the Net and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. P2P is driven by pioneers like ZOPA.com, with Virgin Money eager to move in.
The hope is that banks will react by cutting fees, the consultant said.
“Governments don’t really get the idea of competition. But they do study history. Our authorities should therefore look back at the Arab Spring. As social media-driven protests spread, many governments tried to ban Facebook, Twitter and similar But the people loved techno-empowerment and the media and the messages proved too powerful to stop.”
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