Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Business in Digital Era

Vivek Tripathi, Suprita Raha

Abstract:- In today's era, it has become very crucial for initiative is further supported by the Government of India
businesses to stay on par with evolving technologies. The through the “Digital India” initiative which aims to provide
emergence of Digitalization has caused significant shifts services like the “Public Internet Access Programme”, “e-
in business operations. As a result, various industries Governance”, etc. to improve overall infrastructure.
have started reshaping their sectors at an astonishing
rate, to keep up with the evolving digital transformations Also, the world saw an increment of digital
of this time. Advancements in Digital connectedness (e.g., transformation in businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic,
through social media, networking by 4G, 5G networks, which has not only accelerated this pace but also embraced a
etc.) have enabled us to operate businesses on a large new makeshift of digital businesses, thus, presenting us with
scale, clearly making way for the Digital era from the infinite growth potential (Kashyap Vyas, 2022).
industrial age. The idea of digital transformation doesn’t
imply the substitution of old methodologies with the According to a survey by Research and markets,
newly digitalized ones. Instead, it entails changes Global digital transformation markets are expected to grow
regarding both technology and thoughts about to USD 1247.5 billion, in 2026, from USD521.5 billion in
leveraging the technology. This study aims to explore the 2021(Research & Market, 2022), thus creating more
numerous digitalization in various business sectors as opportunities than ever before.
well as the impact of the digital era on businesses, and at II. TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS SECTORS IN
last, navigate the areas of concern of the digital era. THE DIGITAL ERA
I. INTRODUCTION Earlier Globalization was achievable for large
A. History multinational companies, but with digital platforms being
Although Digitalization currently is known widely in the accessible globally at ease, transactions, communications,
business domains, the process of its transformation of this and connectivity have become economical for small-scale
idea through various organizations dates back to the late businesses or entrepreneurs as well as consumers. As a
1990s and again in the mid-2000s. Over the span of some result, new competitors worldwide are emerging rapidly,
good 20 to 30 years, the implementation of digitalization increasing the pressure and surging the competition levels
can be seen through these organizations. (Auriga, 2016) for incumbent and emerging businesses. (Mckinsey global
institute, 2016)
This shift took off with the expansion of the “internet''
and with the gradually evolving “WEB 1.0”. At this point, With fast developments in technology, it has become
the business leaders were still unsure of their new marketing important for these emerging businesses to adopt a digitized
strategies. But as the number of computers increased, the way to ease their entry into the market and for incumbent
digital channels, and websites increased, and thus a new entrepreneurs to transit their businesses to avail services for
connection was set up between the companies and the customers as well as work for employees digitally.
customers. This trend saw its first gradual surge in 2006 A. Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)
when combined traffic on the search engine was found to The finance industry went through major shifts and
have grown massively to about 6.4 billion. transformations since digital technologies had helped
The advent of “WEB 2.0”(2004 - present), extensively reshape payments, loans, transactions, insurance, crypto-
allowed customers to reach out to other users and assets, etc. Owing to the evolving demands for personalized
businesses. This age saw a drastic change in the increase of services and products financial service companies are down
Smart devices and Social Media Networking Platforms, to leverage Artificial intelligence. Usage of cloud, online
(Facebook, Youtube, Google, etc.) giving birth to a diverse platforms, automated service, etc helps organizations to
variety of “E-businesses” or “Online Businesses”. provide a customized and personalized line of services to
(Avantika Monakka, 2022) meet the demands of the consumers.
B. Present and Emerging Technology a) Fintech
Almost all digital transformation innovations of today’s Fintech, one of the sectors of the financial industry
world are being built on some technology platforms which which depended most on human operators and
include Smart devices such as Mobile phones, cloud person-to-person contact, has transformed massively.
computing, and social technologies. The current business Fintech is a cluster of different parts or a variety of
leaders are now focussing on “Data-driven” technology. As services that up until now used to be offered as one
Clive Humby quoted“Data is the new oil”, businesses are whole part under traditional banking activities.
advancing to the “Data first, Data Anywhere” Model. By Therefore, fintech consists of various financial
combining the data with new digital transformative activities such as money transfers, investments, loans
techniques, Organizations can build Secure, Scalable, from finance corporations (apart from banks), crypto
Agile, and Flexible Models. (Dell, 2022). In India, this

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1307

Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
apps, open banking, insurance, payment or wallet only viable but also more scalable and portable
apps, consumer-oriented services, etc. compared to the conventional methodologies. With
the insurance companies going digital, it has cut
Fintech uses specialized software and algorithms, down the time incision between insurance companies
new technologies such as artificial intelligence and their customers through various new services
interfaces, data-driven technologies, machine such as using Artificial Intelligence Bots (AI-bots) for
learning, predictive behavioral analytics, automated various queries and improving better customer
service technology, and chatbots. (Saurabh engagement, using machine-learning algorithms for
Singh,2022) predictive analysis, automated claim settlements,
buying of insurances easily without any hassle and
b) Cryptocurrency thus, saving tedious paperwork. Using IoT
Crypto assets are one of the modern technological technologies like Drones, Wearable tech, etc. is yet
innovations which have gained popularity and another instance of several innovations used in the
momentum recently. They are digital currency or InsureTech Sector. (T. Radhakrishna, 2021)
virtual money values around 100 billion dollars. They
are also recognized as a means of payment in many B. Entrepreneurship
countries across the world. Virtual currencies are Entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in today's time.
regulated and controlled by those who issue them as With more and more opportunities, it has become a hot topic
they form a decentralized network. As of yet, among individuals. Governments across the globe have
governments don’t have control over the regulation of started bringing in policies to support blooming
cryptocurrencies because of which traditional entrepreneurs and promote youth entrepreneurship. Youth
banking and payment systems will be affected by entrepreneur competitions and seminars are being held with
these digital currencies. (Jake Frankenfield,2022) the motive to promote and provide opportunities to
individuals with great ideas and mindsets.
c) Banking
Digitization in the banking sector has made the Although, entrepreneurship is broadly classified into
banking process or services easier and more two types: product-based and service based. Digitalization
accessible to customers in the comfort of their homes. has vastly changed the structure as well as impacted
It has also made the process altogether cost-effective, upcoming businesses or entrepreneurs. The pandemic has
less time-consuming, and less complex for the banks accelerated digital innovations and ideas. Due to lockdowns
and the customers. Digitization helps store the all over the world, businesses started operating from offline
documents or information regarding each customer mode to online i.e., digitally. This gave birth to digital
digitally and that further makes the complex process entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ventures in digital form.
of storing hard copies of files or documents simple. Even the workplace for employees turned digital. The
internet became a hotspot marketplace as services and
The banking sector of India started its products were now available digitally. Digital products and
digitalization journey in the late 1980s when a services created an ease of doing business for new
committee was set up by the Reserve Bank of India to entrepreneurs. Manufacturing, storing, and shipping in the
understand or work towards the computerization of digital form required less time, was free of manual
Banks. ATMs marked the start of digitalization in the dependency as well as fulfilled the requirement of flexibility
banking sector. Later developments such as in innovation. This gave entrepreneurs space to make radical
telebanking, Electronic Funds Transfer system, or innovative changes without seriously disrupting the
MICR, RTGS, etc took place. manufacturing or selling of their products or
In 2014, after the demonetization, the services.(Alexandra Ungureanu,2021)
government along with Central Bank took various In India, the number of start-ups recognized by the
measures and incentives to digitize and turn the government has increased from 726 in 2016-17 to 65,861 in
Indian economy into a cashless economy. The the 2021-22 fiscal year. The recognized start-ups were
introduction of USSD, NEFT, E-Wallets, UPI, spread across 640 districts and 56 diversified sectors such as
internet banking, mobile banking, Micro ATMs, and financial technology, artificial technology, nanotechnology,
other banking applications have made payments IT services, etc. All these sectors can be further termed as
easier, with no time restrictions and at the comfort of ‘digital’.(Press Trust of India,2022)
the customer. (Harshit Bhimrajka,2020)
India’s got its first unicorn state-up in 2011. India’s
d) Insurance start-up ecosystem started rising in 2016 as a result of
With technological advancement, the insurance sector digitization making its way through the sectors of the Indian
is not far behind in harnessing the power of economy. Within 5 years, more than 50% of the start-ups
digitization. Digitization has particularly changed the received their unicorn status. In 2021, India added 44
conventional model of “Agent-Service Provider” to a unicorns and 14 in the first four months of 2022.
more customer-friendly digital platform, which is not

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1308

Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig. 1: Cumulative Unicorn Count In India as of May, 2022

(Source: Asia Briefing Ltd.)

The sector-wise breakup of India’s unicorn start-ups shows the e-commerce sector has 23 unicorn start-ups while the fintech
sector follows closely with 21 unicorns. Reports suggest the fintech sector will pick up and bypass the e-commerce sector with a
maximum number of unicorn start-ups in India.

Fig. 2: Sector-wise Breakdown of Unicorns in India

(Source: Asia Briefing Ltd.)

C. Supply Chain Management solely rely on pallets or truckloads to provide deliveries in

Traditionally supply chains had a linear structure the minimum amount of time possible.(Knut Alicke,
consisting of a typical flow of goods starting from suppliers, Andreas Seyfert,Jürgen Rachor,2016)
bypassing manufacturers, and distributors, and finally
reaching the consumers. Today as digitization has hit the Planning, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing,
sectors, traditional methods of the supply chain have been transportation, and customer services traditionally
replaced with more cost-effective ideas and modern functioned separately and manually which often resulted in
strategies. communication gaps. To fill the gaps and increase
efficiency, companies started transforming their supply
With e-commerce and omnichannel in the picture, the chains, which ultimately gave birth to digital supply chain
traditional structure is no longer sufficient to meet the needs management. The digital supply chain is a concept that
of consumers as the old way is simply time taking, costly, integrates all business processes starting from product
and inefficient while a faster, more flexible, and more design and planning to customer service.
efficient way is the need for the hour. E-commerce logistics

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1309

Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The digital supply chain provides improved E. Human Resource Management
forecasting accuracy by analyzing orders and sale data, In any organization, Human Resource
predictive algorithms as well as machine learning. Improved Management(HRM) is perceived as the core part since it
forecasting further creates a flexible environment for manages employee engagement, onboarding, recruitment,
businesses to keep up with changing demand and supply and various other tasks. The widespread use of Digital
making planning a continuous process. This enables most e- technologies has now changed the concepts of HRM.
commerce businesses to avail their customers an option to Digitization in Human Resources continues to show its
change the delivery address as per their convenience. It also holdings followed by its counterparts ( that of Finance,
removes the burden on manual work and lessens the number marketing, IT services, and other functionings in an
of errors or mistakes. (Hans Thalbauer,2018) organization ). This paradigm change has witnessed a
remarkable surge in the last few years. Technology has
Since evolving technologies have shaped the supply influenced HR industries, as well as its practices, have also
chain area of businesses by making it easy and digital, new witnessed changes. That being said, Digital shift in HR does
business models are emerging which provide supply chain the purpose of restructuring the strategies, operations, and
services or logistics services. Small businesses don’t have innovations, embracing digital leadership, and improving
much means or capital to invest in a logistics department of the overall customer experience through technologies. New
their own. That’s where these separate logistics companies Information technologies are used on the industrial level to
play their role by providing logistics services to small reshape their work (i.e. virtual work, networking, etc.).
businesses. Newly developed scalable and agile Human resources
information systems (HRIS) help us to store, analyze, and
Migrating from traditional to digital businesses now deliver the processed information to most aspects of human
are required to adopt smarter automated systems. Automated resource functions. Artificial Intelligence and machine
systems don’t require any human operators as they are learning are now a part of the HRM ecosystem working on
programmed to work automatically. New technologies such enhancing analytics, and paving way for HR
as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, 3d Analytics.(Alexandra-Paraskevi Chytiri, 2019)
printing along with next generation user interfaces, etc are
arising from digitization as well. III. AREAS OF CONCERN
D. Marketing Digital transformation has made the way of business
Since the inception of digitalization in the marketing easier and more efficient. Adopting new software,
sector, it has replaced the old traditional way of marketing, technologies and processes has taken the burden off manual
branding, and advertising. For example, with the work. But is the transformation process in reality as easy as
conventional way of marketing (i.e mass marketing), the it is being portrayed?
organizations are also inclined more toward “Customized
Marketing”, i.e using special analytical methodologies and A report from Digital Transformation Statistics stated
tools to boost their products’ sales, and hence the marketers that 70% of digital transformation programs failed as a
are now leveraging the use of tools and focussing more on result of resistance from employees and a lack of support
digital professionals and experts instead of traditional from management. Only 16% of the employees reported
salesmen. (Gouranga Patra,2022) improvement in their performance to be at par with their
company’s digital transformation efforts.
In recent years, the advancement of digital marketing
via social networking platforms has not only expanded but Most businesses have a rigid or structured
also evolved as a major technology that establishes management culture. In a dynamic business environment, an
communication between buyer and seller almost instantly. old-schooled mentality or cultural mindset may act as a
Undoubtedly, Several benefits of digital marketing, which hindrance. The transformation process can take a long time
include potentially a high return on investment (ROI) have as the businesses are not ready to deliver a quick response,
made this subsystem the most prominent and favorable as a result of a lack of flexibility in the management
among consumers. In every aspect of digital businesses, the strategy. Digital transformation is a long process and might
emergence of new tools and technologies has created a take years of effort to accomplish. The continuous evolution
major shift in the paradigm in the area of branding and of customer needs may hinder the efforts, therefore
marketing, and thus, promoted a host variety of innovations businesses should be prepared with a flexible management
and research in this field. (Tat-Huei Cham, Jun-Hwa strategy to be prepared for the changes that may arise in the
Cheah, Mumtaz Ali Memon, Kim-Shyan Fam & Józsa evolving environment.
László,2022)
One of the biggest challenges in digital transformation
Some of the most popularly used strategies for Digital is the emergence of new technologies. Adaption of new
Marketing are Online Marketing, Search Engine processes and technologies can be challenging, especially
Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), for long-tenured employees who may face difficulty
Search Media Marketing (SMM), Display Advertising, E- understanding a whole new process. Challenges could
mail Marketing,In Application Marketing (for eg, in-app include a lack of proper IT skills in, cybersecurity, software
ads, pop-up ads, full-page ads, QR codes, Mobile Search integrations, data analytics, etc. In an enterprise study
and Images Ads, etc.) report, it was stated that more than 50% of organizations

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1310

Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
were facing difficulty with the accomplishment of digital and Region - Global Forecast to 2027.
transformation because they lacked technically skilled https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5136097
employees. /digital-transformation-market-by-
component?utm_source=GNOM&utm_medium=Press
Another challenge that organizations face is privacy Release&utm_code=j2bzdn&utm_campaign=1426023
and cybersecurity concerns. As digitalization has pushed +-
organizations toward integration of all of the company’s +The+World%27s+Digital+Transformation+Industry+
data and storing it in the cloud has brought up the threat of 2020-
cyberattacks. These attacks target weak or vulnerable 2025%3a+Trends%2c+Opportunities+and+Competitiv
systems with poor setups with the malicious intent of e+Landscape&utm_exec=joca220prd
stealing customer data and company secrets. [6.] Mckinsey global institute, 2016. MGI DIGITAL
GLOBALIZATION: THE NEW ERA OF GLOBAL
Digital transformation is a challenging as well as a FLOWS 2016:
costly process. An organization must be prepared to adopt https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/busines
strategies or plans to make its business transformation s%20functions/mckinsey%20digital/our%20insights/di
smooth and agile. (Levi Olmstead, 2021) gital%20globalization%20the%20new%20era%20of%
IV. CONCLUSION 20global%20flows/mgi%20digital%20globalization%
20executive%20summary.ashx
Digitalization has become a necessity for the growth [7.] Saurabh Singh,2022. How is digital transformation
and development of businesses. It is a wide area with scope accelerating change in fintech?
for numerous other changes. The digital era has impacted https://appinventiv.com/blog/change-in-fintech-using-
the social, economic, and political life of the world we live digital-transformation/
in. This has changed our day-to-day life dynamically. [8.] Jake Frankenfield, 2022. What Is Cryptocurrency?
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency.
Digitalization has potentially shifted the way of asp
management more towards flexibility and ease of doing [9.] Harshit Bhimrajka,2020. The digitalization of the
business. Although a series of challenges face the banking sectorhttps://blog.ipleaders.in/digitalization-
organization on its path of digital transformation, they need banking-sector-hits-misses/
to plan and pave its way through it to stay at par with the [10.] T. Radhakrishna, 2021. How digitization propelled
evolving technologies. India's insurance sector during the pandemic.
https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/insura
We saw the transformation of various business sectors nce/how-digitisation-propelled-indias-insurance-
in this paper but that is not it. Digitalization is a vast area sector-during-pandemic/84009277
with wide scope for new changes. With the evolving [11.] Alexandra Ungureanu, 2021. The Digitalization
technologies digitalization will also evolve. More phases of Impact on the Entrepreneurial Leadership in the 21st
digitalization will emerge along with emerging technologies. Century
Therefore, businesses must be agile, i.e., prepared to take https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348447997_
advantage of opportunities when they arise. The_Digitalization_Impact_on_the_Entrepreneurial_L
eadership_in_the_21_st_Century#:~:text=The%20digit
REFERENCES alization%20of%20the%20entrepreneurial,strategic%2
[1.] Auriga, 2016. A Short History of Digital 0planning%20to%20achieve%20development.)
Transformation, https://auriga.com/blog/2016/digital- [12.] Press Trust of India,2022. The number of recognized
transformation-history-present-and-future-trends/ startups in India rises to 65,861 says govt.
[2.] Avantika Monnappa, 2022.The History and Evolution https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-
of Digital Marketing. affairs/number-of-recognised-startups-in-india-rises-
https://www.simplilearn.com/history-and-evolution-of- to-65-861-says-govt-122032500790_1.html
digital-marketing-article [13.] Hans Thalbauer, 2018. The Digital Era Has Arrived,
[3.] Dell, 2022. Seamlessly transforming your business and Supply Chains Must Adjust,
from the physical to the digital. https://www.supplychainbrain.com/blogs/1-think-
https://www.dell.com/en-in/dt/what-we-do/emerging- tank/post/29126-the-digital-era-has-arrived-and-
technology.htm supply-chains-must-adjust
[4.] Kashyap Vyas, 2022. Emerging Technologies are [14.] Knut Alicke, Andreas Seyfert and Jürgen
Exciting Digital Transformation Push. Rachor,2016. Supply Chain 4.0 – the next-generation
https://www.itbusinessedge.com/development/emergin digital supply chain
g-technologies-are-exciting-digital-transformation- https://www.mckinsey.com/business-
push/ functions/operations/our-insights/supply-chain-40--
[5.] Research and markets, 2022. Digital Transformation the-next-generation-digital-supply-chain
Market by Component, Technology (Cloud [15.] Gouranga Patra, 2022. DIGITALIZATION IN
Computing, Big Data & Analytics, Mobility & Social MARKETING PROCESS-A NEW SKILL IN
Media Management, Cybersecurity, AI), Deployment MARKETING
Mode, Organization Size, Business Function, Vertical, SPECIALIZATIONhttps://adamasuniversity.ac.in/digi

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1311

Volume 7, Issue 9, September – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
talization-in-marketing-process-a-new-skill-in-
marketing-specialization/
[16.] Tat-Huei Cham, Jun-Hwa Cheah, Mumtaz Ali
Memon, Kim-Shyan Fam & Józsa László, 2022.
Digitalization and its impact on contemporary
marketing strategies and practices.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41270-022-
00167-6
[17.] Alexandra-Paraskevi Chytiri, 2019. Human Resource
Managers’ Role in the Digital Era.
https://econpapers.repec.org/article/spdjournl/v_3a69_
3ay_3a2019_3ai_3a1-2_3ap_3a62-72.htm
[18.] Levi Olmstead, 2021. Digital Transformation
Challenges to Overcome.
https://whatfix.com/blog/digital-transformation-
challenges/

IJISRT22SEP809 www.ijisrt.com 1312