Mobility: Companies Riding the Wave

The digital economy’s double-edge means that, as information becomes increasingly mobile, people can stay put. This comes as apps gain sophistication, and the rising consumer generation does everything digitally, from getting a mortgage to starting a business – especially on smartphones.

BAC-Florida, Business Skills, Cisco Latin America

Navigating the new paradigm was the topic of WorldCity’s Global Connections event held July 29, 2016, in Coral Gables and featuring three executives who grapple with mobility close-hand: Dario Fuentes Alvarez, executive VP of U.S. Digital Banking for BAC Florida; Martin Fischetti, senior human resources partner at Business Skills; and Guillermo Uzcategui, director, Systems Engineering at Cisco.

To dramatize the intertwining of our phones with daily life, WorldCity CEO Ken Roberts asked how many audience members downloaded apps in the last month. A forest of hands raised. Roberts also asked how many attendees were more mobile now than five years ago, how many people traveled more, and how many decreased travel.

Wacom

“The paradox of mobility is we can be more mobile, but stationary at the same time,” said Roberts. That simple fact is creating challenges and possibilities across sectors, particularly in banking, where companies like BAC – an online bank with only one branch – is taking full advantage of the app world.

BAC’s Alvarez noted that most people slumber with their mobile devices close at hand. (“How many of you sleep with a phone within six feet?” Roberts asked, getting another nearly unanimous affirmative). And the number of people who prefer to bank solely online is growing: “Millennials don’t want to go to a branch,” said Alvarez. “We want to offer the best experience through mobile devices.”

Still, banking has yet to reach the promised land. In response to a question by Roberts, attendees noted that closing accounts, transferring funds online and some other processes can be difficult, expensive and trying.

Ferring-Pharmaceutical

It is no longer about online selling

As divisions between traditional and digital businesses dissolve, what makes one company stand out is not how much commerce is transacted online, but whether the firm innovates by harnessing technology.

“What is a digital company these days?” remarked Uzcategui. “It is a company that uses tech as a competitive advantage.” That would include employing analytics to improve customer relations, for example.

How the digital transformation flows through the economy should be noted too, he said, giving as an example how automakers are watching ride-sharing trends and correlating them with numbers of people getting driver’s licenses.

Another example: Shopping mall executives can track peoples’ wifi-enabled cell phones – even if the phone is not on – to see where people gather. The more popular areas, perhaps near the food court, might command higher rents.

Citrix

Mobility’s greatest effect may be on staffing and work flow. Fischetti relayed how, 15 years ago, he was brought to Miami from Argentina. In those days, companies traditionally picked up a host of expenses. “That is the old way of looking at tech in the workplace,” he said. “Being there is not necessary any more.”

Now, people can work on servers and platforms at any time of day or night, and from any country. That means companies increasingly say to employees: “I don’t need you to move, I need you to be available,” Fischetti said.

Added Roberts: “You can have a CFO in one country, and the head of the region over here.”

That ability spurs a different perspective, added Fischetti, who also noted training that used to require a day away from work is now increasingly done through teleconferencing or cloud-based apps. “Today you are expected to learn while you work, and share that with your team,” he said.

Still, wondered H. Frances Reaves, principal of the Latin America Connection who grew up and has lived in different nations from Peru to Singapore, “what is lost culturally?” when executives and managers don’t have the chance to be fully immersed in the diversity of foreign lands.

Re-defining the human, personal touch

As tech becomes more adept, the human angle can often be what separates digital approaches that succeed or fail.

Maria Andrea Ortiz, EWM Realty International

It must be remembered that today, “the mobile device is a reflection and extension of me as a human,” said Alvarez. “We want to project our own images on our devices.” And that isn’t just about tech. He said that studies show the “wow” effect of new apps wears off in about a day or so.

“Are we losing a personal touch, and is a personal touch necessary?” asked Maria Andrea Ortiz, Realtor with EWM Realty International.

Contact with the client and individualized service remains key, Alvarez said. However, as virtual customer service gets better, what “personalized” means will change. In five-to-10 years, he said, “artificial intelligence and big data tools are coming where you can feel connected with the customer.”

Added Uzcategui, “Keeping the personal touch can be done through technology. For the younger generation, that doesn’t need to be face-to-face.”

With all the changes in the workplace, “are you worried the best employees will burn out down the line?,” asked Gedma Estrada, a sales executive with C.H. Robinson Worldwide.

“We have to find another way to reflect what people are bringing to business,” Fischetti said. Companies increasingly evaluate by projects rather than focus on employees clocking in at a particular location.

The human resources tools that respond to the evolving workplace have yet to be perfected, he said.

Global Connections is one of four event series put on by WorldCity to bring together executives in greater Miami on international business topics. The Global Connections series is sponsored by Florida International University’s College of Business and Audicom Productions.

The next Global Connections session on “Media: Digital Strategies that are Working” is set for Sept. 30, 2016.