NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY - ADOPTION, ACCEPTANCE AND IMPACT ON BUSINESS MODELS

The human race has always innovated, and in a relatively short time went from building fires and making stone-tipped arrows to creating smartphone apps and autonomous robots. Today, technological progress will undoubtedly continue to change the way we work, live, and survive in the coming decades. Technology is a driver for business. The (technological) innovative power as a result of wide availability and rapid development accelerates economic cycles, changes labor markets and business models - with corresponding consequences for corporate management, planning and monitoring. New products and services, markets and players emerge that extend their business model to traditional economic sectors. This has an immense impact on the traditional strategy process. While technology was often a lever for implementation in the past, it is now a strategy driver. To investigate resulting impacts, we draw on the existing business models and deduct specifics for the 21st century technologies. Building on this, in order to reach the aims of the paper the authors will use a descriptive research method (a case study), a quantitative research method (online questionnaires) and a qualitative research method (face to face interviews). The data gained will be analyzed to understand what 21st century technologies are, what technologies are seen as perspective to be developed in the next 25 years and what industries will be most affected in the future.