Global forces shaping the future of business and society - Research Paper Example

? Global forces shaping the future of business and society Contents Introduction 3 Scope of the research 3 Research Questions 4 Literature Review 4 Analysis and findings 5 Limitations 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 Introduction As the organizations build the vision plan 2020, there is whole sum opportunity to shape the emerging relationship between the society and business ventures. In order to do so it is required to take an uncomfortable step for the business planners. The planners infrequently make predictions for ten years. Today’s world calls for such stringent planning prospects. Being a difficult task for the planners they need to note the frequent twists and turns that are taking place between the interactions of business and society. The technological advancements have helped the entrepreneurs to stay connected across the globe even from the remotest corner. The transformations in relationships between the organizations and some other nonprofit organizations which were once on the contentious path are surprisingly beginning to be more collaborative (Brott, 2009, p. 81). Now, forecasting is associated with fraught and significant costs have to be borne by the companies in planning cycles for the near future. Some of the analyzed trends are on track to take shape. The trends allow the organizations to make changes in their strategies with sufficient time. The trends pave the way for the companies to seize the opportunities for expanding the operation of the company into new product lines and markets (CECP, 2011). Scope of the research The companies that are able to take a proactive mindset and have the capability to rework on the several business strategies which were already undertaken with the aim of shaping a better future taste success. The aim of the companies is to devise a win-win situation that will benefit the communities as well as the corporate bottom lines in the same fashion. The most likely trends that are likely to come to the surface in the coming decade include The Great Rebalancing, the Productive Imperative, The Global Grid, pricing the Planet and The Market State. Research Questions The research questions are as follows: What are implications of corporate involvement in order to solve social problems issues? What are the ways through which the corporations can position themselves now with the view to maximize profits and societal impacts? Literature Review According to Dominic Barton, the operating environment of the businesses is under radical transformation. The trends that are influencing the undergoing are demographics, technological as well as societal. It is quite obvious the trends discussed will affect the operating environment but the most striking point is the confluence of the trends. He expected a wave of transformation on its way. Elizabeth Stevenson opined to examine the size or the scope of the changes. The time calls for examination of whether the move is towards venturing into new markets, or ways to survive efficiently. The operating environment will get influenced in different fashion if the move is towards overcoming the scarcity of resources or interact with the authorities in a different way. According to Patrick Viguerie, examination f the demand pools will reveal that the revenue leaders of today will not be in a sustainable position in the coming years as far as unit leadership in emerging markets are concerned. This means that the new world will witness new leaders. He stated that companies opt to view the short term while deriving strategies. Several insertion points were put forwarded by Sven Smith. The strategies should be informed by some upfront section along with some trends that will contribute in promotion of new businesses. The section can be undertaken on monthly or annual basis. Research is required to determine the degree of the position of the resources against the trends as well make a second strategy if the undertaken strategy sinks (Belgard and Rayner, 2004, p. 4). The forecasted trends are easy to get embedded into the strategic planning processes but in a tricky fashion. A long term trend embedded into the planning process can be a throwaway in the initial stages. The existing challenge is to engage line executives in order to recognize the trends and if the trends are analyzed as forces of nature it would be hard to recalculate again into the trajectory of the business keeping in mind the subsequent shifts. The tasks ahead of the global corporation are to contend with the amount of restructuring and shifting of portfolio that are anticipated to occur in the coming decade. The corporations need to analyze the nature of the shifts and build a conviction and finding the right moves that will contribute in the creation of value. The implications of the trends will be profound. The coming years will witness multiple headquarters as the organizations will like to expand their operations. The pools of talent that has been created around the world now are sufficient to deal with the expansion plans. A competitive advantage lies in bringing the talent pools into the leadership arrangements and assimilates them into the borderless corporations. In order to unleash the talent, the corporation will have to reengineer the society and the economy and provide thoughts on the capability of human capital. In order to find the path towards sustainable value creation it is necessary to break the status quo which exists dangerous mismatch and the quadrants of vicious circle. Analysis and findings It is difficult to predict the picture of 2020 standing in the current situation. Several game changing trends will shed their effects. The economic activity can shift from Western to the Eastern Hemisphere and the pressure on natural resources will keep on piling up. Such pressures will have acute impact on the on the operation of the large multinationals in the years to come. The social problems are anticipated to gain complexity and become more widespread in the era of globalization. The expectations on the companies will address the societal issues will take pace. However there is a certain level of uncertainty on how the business will respond to the rising expectations and take a substantial role. The corporate board rooms hold discussions on strategic possibilities in the BRIC nations. It has been anticipated that developing countries will control more than half of the global GDP by 2020. By the end of the decade the large corporation will be competing with the emerging leaders of the market (McKinsey and Company, 2010,pp. 1-5). The high potential customer base living at the bottom of the pyramid of purchasing power parity is yet to be exploited. The organizations will have to offer right sized products at affordable prices. In the world where the natural resources are getting used up rapidly the businesses can respond by creating more efficient products with the help of more efficient technologies. They will engages themselves in investing more on research that leverages raw materials that are less at less risk of shortages and finding out ways that will pave the path for the companies or the consumers achieve their goals sustainably. The next decade will bring in more talent pool that is expected to solve the talent shortage experienced by the corporations with offices in many countries (Esslinger, 2009, p. 14). The society’s expectations for business are driven by a variety of factors including government regulation, pressure from NGOs, demand of consumers and the level of mistrust of business. The expectations range from the belief that companies shall look to avoid the negative social as well as environmental effects and address the wider social issues. In the coming decade the companies will have to deal with lower consumer trust. If the society is antagonistic towards the incentives dominated by business motives then they cannot do much. They cannot ignore the pressure of the market and need to look at the direct interaction between the consumers at the lowest strata and their engagement in order to justify the role in expansion. In the process of sustainable value creation the expectations continuously rise and become more consistent. The business proactively engages in win-win situation and the self reinforcing cycle prevails. Positive changes are driven by collaborations between the government, civil society, and other companies. The framework below provides a clearer picture. A situation of dual capitalism emerges when society’s expectations and level of trust gets stagnated and large corporations steps up to leadership role. In the vision the companies are engaging themselves in the social issues but they are yet to find themselves without the support from the government or other nonprofit organizations. A third scenario is on progress when social expectations are on the rising curve while the companies launch some reactive stance in order to address the social issues. In this scenario the governments are responsible to set the regulations after little consultation with the business and that is the reason why corporate observance is costly (Karabell and Cramer, 2010, p. 33). The fourth is the most worst of all. It is regarded as the vicious circle. In this case the expectations are inconsistent and the business community is not engaged. These two combine to create a downward spiral which is difficult to reverse. The agents of the society are aware that they cannot mitigate the social issues alone yet they trust in each other. The side effects of social fabric creep in when the strategies struggle and the economy suffers. Limitations The assignment takes into consideration the corporations as a whole and discusses on how they should make the strategic moves with the aim to maximize their profit levels. The project entitles to a vast sector of corporations. It might have been more fruitful to discuss the strategy planning processes of some sectors. It is inevitable that the strategies of the different corporations operating in different sectors will be different. They are bound to develop different moves in the coming period in order to exploit the market conditions or venture into new product lines. If the discussion could have more narrowed in discussing about the changing strategies of different sector corporations then it might have been possible to reach to an inference. Conclusion Significant efforts on time and innovation are the pre-requisites to address the complex global challenges. Apparently it seems daunting but the models of business can be adapted with the ever changing environment. The planners will have to address the issue in the same way as they take care of other business problems (McDaniel and Lawrence, 2008, p. 97). The companies are entitled with skills and aptitudes. The question that rises while addressing the social issues are will the leadership provides some kind of competitive advantage to the firm. It is important to select the right social issues as well. A clear eyed appraisal is the need of the time. Some of the steps that are required to be analyzed from the part of the company before addressing an issue are the preparation of the company to deal with the problem, the associated costs, clear understanding of the landscape of other participants and the exaggeration of the problem with time. Ignoring the general advice the companies can find the sustainable creating path by developing a customized strategy in line with the ambitions of business. The execution of the strategies is of utmost importance in order to find the path for sustainable value creation for the companies as it contributes in gaining the confidence of the public. Less space for misinterpretation of the intensions of the corporations prevails when the companies move on the path of collaboration with the existing shareholders and communicate in effective fashion about their success and failures. In order to create sustainable value in the arena of leadership requires welcoming of new ideas and innovations along with new effective ways of thinking. In doing so, the payoff for the successful businesses lies in shaping the future prospects as well as mitigates the risks that smoothens the path towards successful ventures in the years to come. References Belgard W. and Rayner, S. 2004. “Shaping the Future”. Belgard and Rayner, LLC. USA. Brott, R. 2009. “Developing a successful personal and business vision”. AbcBook Publishing.com. USA. CEPP, 2011. “Shaping the Future”. [online]. Available at: http://www.corporatephilanthropy.org/research/thought-leadership/research-reports/shaping-the-future.html. [Accessed: 7th November, 2012]. Esslinger, H. 2009. “A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business”. John Wiley and sons, Inc. CA. Karabell A. and Cramer, Z. 2010. “Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World”. Rodale. USA. McDaniel C. and Lawrence, J. 2008. “The Future of Business: The Essentials”. South-Western Cengage Learning. USA. McKinsey and Company, 2010. “Global forces shaping the future of business and society”. [pdf]. Available at: http://mkqpreview1.qdweb.net/PDFDownload.aspx?ar=2701. [Accessed: 7th November, 2012]. Bibliography Chon, K. 2012. “The Tourism and Leisure Industry: Shaping the Future”. Routledge. USA. Dahl, G. 2007. “One World, One People: How Globalization Is Shaping Our Future”. Baha'i Publishing Trust. Karoly, L. and Panis, C. 2004. “The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States”. Rand Corporation. USA. Keen, G. 1991. “Shaping the future: business design through information technology”. Harvard Business School Press. Patinkin, M. and Magaziner, I. 1989.“The silent war: inside the global business battles shaping America's future”. Random House.USA. Scott, P. 1999. “Higher Education Reformed: Shaping the Future”. Routledge. USA. 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