Short commentary: 2021 Vol: 13 Issue: 5S
Jyotsana Sabharwal, PGDM Student, Apeejay School of Management, Dwarka, Delhi
Citation Information: Sabharwal, J. (2021). Is virtual existence a new verity? Business Studies Journal 13(S5), 1-2
The pandemic resulted in a lot of destruction, but it opened many ways for the businesses, people and environment to grow its branches virtually. The total shift of the education sector, banking sector, healthcare and the business organizations from the traditional ways of operations to completely virtual and online pathways has resulted in the world to know that the future in Online.
Virtual Existence, Online Presence.
Virtual Existence Is a New Concept That’s Trending in the Market, But What Actually Is Meant by Virtual Existence?
The year 2019 served as an eye-opener to the world, on one hand it taught many of us to value the people around us, but parallel to this, it gave birth to the realization of the existence of the virtual environment. (Reyes, 2018)
Being ‘ONLINE’, is now no longer just limited to Whatsapp or Facebook. At first, it seemed a little confusing and tough that how schools, shopping malls, hospitals and offices can work without the essence of human touch and physical workplaces, but later it made us realize that the future is all about being virtually upfront. It is being estimated that in the future, 80% of schools, offices, workplaces, hospitals etc. are ready to beat the traditional ways of operating the normal chores and are ready to transform their curriculums, modules, technologies and dynamics to a whole new set of virtual pathways Kumar & Ayedee (2018); Reijseger, et al. (2017); Sun & Bunchapattanasakda (2019).
The environment is changing, the technologies are changing along with it the world is enhancing and moving forward, earlier people used to visit markets, grocery stores and supermarkets for their day to day necessities, but now it has actually become a cakewalk. Some of the major big companies like Blinkit (groffers), Swiggy Instamart etc. promise its customers to cater to their needs by providing them with daily essentials in just 10- 30 minutes. The internet has become a new medium for professionals, retailers, bloggers, wholesalers, merchants, teachers etc. to interact with their respective audiences more efficiently, effectively and also more innovatively.
The Bad Light: The Harsh Effects of Virtual Existence
The virtual environment has definitely provided us with more space, freedom, innovation and a sense of openness for everyone to grow individually; but with every advancement comes a set of cons that lightens the pros.
The most essential human effort is striving for excitement and motivation, but the introduction of virtual existence has curbed this effort in some or the other ways. The best example for this is that majority of students and employees are now not going an extra mile to work or study their respective roles, rather are dependent on the internet for the same. Not only this, many big firms bulldoze their employees to achieve the unachievable by actually pressurizing them to deliver the services and cater to customers’ needs in a very short period of span. For example, some firms ask their employees to deliver a respective item under 10-15 minutes, which in a way not only acts as a difficult task to be accomplished but also is risking the lives of the employees.
It has been seen that the charm and excitement of attending offline classes or offices is starting to lose the way. The efforts that were being put in the offline environment are not equal to those put in the online environment. Also, if we analyze the effect of virtual/online shopping and banking on the consumers’ minds, it is resulting in more spending and also impulsive buying. The major difference between online and the traditional offline shopping is that, that the former is though more easy and convenient but is more addictive and results is purchasing more than required, indirectly benefitting the businesses (Malik, 2021)
Thus, the virtual environment seems easy and intriguing in the beginning and may serve some advantages in the short term, but it has many loopholes if we think about it for the long term usage. It may be noted that every coin has two facets, thus there should always be a balance between the two sides. Though the future holds more implementation of the branches of virtual existence, but traditional ways of doing things should always be the backbone.