For China’s coronavirus-hit companies, the internet can be much more than just a lifeline
- Beyond selling through the internet or developing internet-based products, visionaries are using it as a testing ground for novel ideas and improvements, including ‘employee sharing’ to direct resources to where they are most needed
Some firms see the internet as a mere substitute for offline sales and distribution channels. More farsighted firms develop internet-based products and services, carving out a niche on the back of a new business model that they hope will thrive in the post-pandemic world.
Better still, a few corporate visionaries see the outbreak as a blessing in disguise, in line with the Chinese idea that every crisis presents an opportunity.
What sets these three types apart is how they treat the internet: as a mere substitute, a new market frontier or, ultimately, a platform enabling fundamental changes to the business model and organisational design.
After the pandemic struck, many public hospitals responded by launching a flurry of online medical service platforms. This is in stark contrast to the old days when a “digital transition” at such institutions meant little more than adding online registration, report checks and payment options. Few had the incentive or the capacity to add online diagnosis to their portfolios.
As Covid-19 spread, they stepped to the fore, offering services such as free diagnoses, rumour busting and an updated tally of infections and fatalities. Their in-house doctors handle patient inquiries 24 hours a day.
If there is anything public hospitals can learn from the two internet health care powerhouses, it is that they should carry on exploring digitalisation and online diagnoses.
In this pandemic, the catering industry is one of the biggest losers. But firms resourceful enough to take their business online have at least managed to stem their losses.
These new products and services, born to fill unmet needs amid the coronavirus contagion, have every reason to continue and grow into a new sphere of business.
What appeared to be a well-meaning gesture to share labour costs in times of great financial distress has far-reaching implications in terms of management and corporate social responsibility.
In extending a helping hand, Hema served as an online platform for allocating excess economic resources, becoming a middleman directing idle resources to where there is critical need.
These corporations are using the internet as a testing ground for novel notions and practices in human resource management.
These social networking services can be capitalised upon by using data analytics to gauge the dynamics of user behaviour and monitor changing public moods to support policymaking.
Another way for firms to monetise the social networking fervour is to develop gadgets that broaden social media applications. Home appliance maker Hisense generated a buzz among heavy social media users and couch potatoes when it debuted S7, its social TV, at last year's CES Asia. The device doubles as a portal allowing viewers to interact in much the same way they do on weibo or WeChat.
For investors, the coronavirus is also a reminder that innovations that break the boundaries of time and space have timeless appeal.
Technology can allow the show to go on
Some tech start-ups have also prospered by bringing museums, galleries and scenic spots to customers through a mix of internet and virtual reality technology.
Brands courting ethically minded consumers will increasingly have to address this penchant for self-actualisation. One common and proven way is to pair marketing with charitable causes.
He Jiaxun is head of the Institute for Nation(al) Branding Strategy at East China Normal University and the Chinese dean of the university’s Asia Europe Business School
