Growth model for the recovering economy: technology-fueled leveraged growth.

• Author: Openshaw, Eric
• Position: Technology

Everyone likely is familiar with the notion that new leaders emerge from downturns. Yet downturns typically leave companies with fewer resources from which to grow. As the economy continues its economic recovery, companies are going to be repositioning for growth.

Traditional growth methods have long been centered on organic growth and acquisition. While tried and true, these methods do create risk for companies in an economic recovery since they require investment in proprietary assets that can narrow margins in the short-term or in perpetuity.

But because of the exponential evolution of digital infrastructures and technologies, financial executives seeking growth now have a third option at their disposal: leveraged growth.

Today's technological innovations are coming faster and faster and the windows to generate stability and value from these technological innovations have become smaller and smaller. With the evolution of technology infrastructures creating accelerating disruption, extreme events are occurring at greater frequency and amplitude.

For a business positioning itself for growth, the idea is to take strategic advantage of these advances in a way that allows the business to capture new customers with forward-thinking products and services. Nimbleness and speed of a highly tuned performance vehicle are essential and leveraged growth then--becomes more than an opportunity, but an imperative to successfully compete.

Looking ahead, leveraged growth is itself leveraged by sophisticated social software, enterprise-level mobile applications and high-performance digital tablets.

What is Leveraged Growth?

Leveraged growth is a model that goes beyond using the resources within an organization's own four walls. It leverages the resources and ideas of other individuals or companies as a means of growing and staying agile. Instead of owning all the assets and intellectual property, they are orchestrated and mobilized outside the enterprise.

Such practices allow a business to do everything--from developing new products and services and addressing customer service issues to creating new solutions for supply chain management--by tapping value from the best ideas and processes. And all without the economic burden of asset ownership.

At a nuts-and-bolts level, it could mean, for example, that as a technology manufacturer, independent designers and engineers are identified to collaborate on the development of new product designs or manufacturers...