What Business Should We Expect Nowadays - Essay Example

Year 2020: What Business Should We Expect? The year is rather too far for us to predict, expect, avoid or follow through. Due to rapid development and industrialization, we can expect major changes in businesses with just a short span of time. This report will cover many aspects of projects that we intend to give further try, and what we should avoid, by the year 2020. In our ecosystem, we can say that the damage has been done. Environmental abuse seems not to halt. It is so great a damage that we now experience climate change and global warming. If it’s not too late yet, much of our business activities will have to be diverted to improving the ecosystem, and promoting environmental care and safeguards, so that we can avoid, at the very least, environmental catastrophes. These events do not only affect our businesses but our personal lives as citizens of Mother Earth. In the year 2020, or roughly more than a decade from now, we can expect changes in many areas of our lives, from business to personal, and from the countryside to urban life. A challenging but demanding environment awaits Americans in this era of electronic gadgets, computers, climate change and global warming. The ecosystem will gain much of the changes, or may suffer. Major cause of this phenomenon is climate change and global warming. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Albert Gore, said in his speech: “Even now it has become harder and harder to misinterpret the signs that our world is spinning out of kilter. Major cities in North and South America, Asia and Australia are nearly out of water due to massive droughts and melting glaciers. Desperate farmers are losing their livelihoods. People in the frozen Arctic and on low-lying Pacific islands are planning evacuations of places they have long called home. Unprecedented wildfires have forced a half million people from their homes in our country and caused a national emergency that almost brought down a government in another. Climate refugees have migrated into areas already inhabited by people with different cultures, religions and traditions, increasing the potential for conflict. Stronger storms in the Pacific and the Atlantic have threatened whole cities.” (Albert Gore’s speech, cited in Cruz, 2008) The existence of climate refugees is a big sign that more migration will happen in the days and years ahead. With more immigrants in our land, we are not assured of job opportunities for own citizens. And there is no assurance that American economy can generate more and more jobs for Americans and immigrants ten years from now. That is, except if we don’t create forecasts based on existing events and trends. We can prepare for eventualities, and initiate programs for the future of our business organization. Business instincts tell us to prepare for the future. That is what business is all about. However, Bjorn Lomborg (2008), the author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist” and “Cool It,” and director of Copenhagen Consensus Center and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School, says: “A much sounder approach than Kyoto and its successor would be to invest more in research and development of zero-carbon energy technologies -- a cheaper, more effective way to truly solve the climate problem.” (Lomborg 2008) It’s high time we start research and development for our future. Technologies to help reduce coal-gas emissions must be one of our business priorities. The Dutch Challenge Changes will be more on the world’s ecosystem. Climate change and global warming are the world’s great challenges now and in the near future. More of our architecture and engineering works should be geared towards that end. The so-called Dutch challenge is still the model to be looked at. To make their country climate proof, the Dutch built “amphibious homes that rest on land but can rise to the water level by as much as 18 feet then float back down as water subsides.” It is common knowledge that The Netherlands is basically built on reclaimed land that they call polders, which is below sea level. The water is kept at bay by dikes, pumping stations, dams and huge storm barriers together with canal dikes, basin dikes and holding ponds. But the Dutch realized that simply building higher dikes is no longer possible as Europe continues to endure wetter winters and hotter summers; this is result of climate change and global warming. Therefore, the Dutch engineers and architects have devised strategies and designs that call for greener and flexible technologies to cope with the rising sea and to make The Netherlands climate-proof. They have developed new guidelines for building flood-prone areas as farmers adapt to a new agricultural landscape. Ecotourism Destination With the ever-rising world prices of crude and oil that creates a domino effect on prime commodities, we can indeed follow up on Lomborg’s thesis – research and development on zero-carbon energy technologies. It is our big chance to help our business and organization, and also help fight climate change and global warming. Business should ensure appropriate environmental safeguards. If there are still enough areas in our countryside for ecotourism, investment in this area is much preferred. Real estate, farms and countryside areas are a good business, ten years from now. Ecotourism has gained momentum in Europe, in areas where countryside business is accessible. Outdoor recreation can be helpful for people who are bored of the city life. This is part of the solution to climate change and global warming – environment preservation. Ecotourism is part of environment preservation. Green tourism which at present is an “in” thing in some parts of England, is good business for local and small entrepreneurs. It’s time we promote green tourism in the United States. A recreation site to provide a venue for people to temporarily escape stress of urban life and provide recreational pastime of picnicking with the amenities of modern facilities and new technology can be good investment. We can provide a peaceful retreat for passive pursuits and opportunity for physical exercises such as jogging, walking, hiking, bush walking. An ecotourism destination caters to people of all walks of life. This investment project can make use of residents of the area and tourists who can be customers or volunteers who regard ecotourism and green tourism as part of their lives. Volunteers can be any young resident or adults, physically fit to guide users for proper use and care of the environment. The users can use the amenities, shelter and café, picnic areas and the long stretch for hiking and bush walking. Technology There will be more on electronic and gadget things. Most of them are touch-screen phones, stylish notebooks, portable and light laptops which are energy-saving and shock-proof, with fantastic designs, that are suitable to outdoor activities and ideal companion for reporters, wildlife photographers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Most cars in urban areas will be computerized, relying on traffic warnings from built-in computers. In IT, the business processing and outsourcing processing will dominate the scene; most Americans will continue to be lazy to go to the supermarket and malls to buy their daily needs, instead rely on the internet and call centers. It is recommended that an efficient IT Network Administrator who shall be responsible for managing a network, maintaining equipment, managing IT vendor accounts, program websites and assisting IT needs at workshops and trainings, with an equally efficient staff, be employed to manage voluminous data bases for the future of the organization. The Merger Mania Grubb & Lamb (2008) says that, “World-wide merger volume jumped 36 percent to $3.4 trillion, racing forward at a stunning $1.6 billion per business hour.” But both authors also concede, “Only time will tell when the current global consolidation run will lose steam, but it will not happen anytime soon.” (p. 9) This means that acquisition will continue for up to 2020 and beyond, since the trend is to grow bigger and bigger until the years ahead. This has just been proven by America Online’s “biggest acquisition in the U.S. history – initially valued at $183 billion – of media and cable giant Time Warner (http://hoovers.com/features/compday.html. January 16 2000, also cited in Grubb & Lamb 2008, p. 9) There have been acquisitions one after the other, but, as Grubb & Lamb argues, “the sobering reality is that only about 20 percent of all mergers and acquisitions really succeed.” This is further supported by the same authors’ statement: “Most mergers typically erode shareholder wealth, create years of chaos, fear, and turmoil of their employees, and take a medley of missteps to perfectly position themselves to lose the battle against their direct market competitors.” (10) It is therefore unwise for this organization to venture into a merger or acquisition now and in the future. Grubb & Lamb further states that, “most mergers fail to achieve any real financial returns.” (11) Diversity Management Aside from the environmental concerns, we also have to improve the quality of life of our employees. One program that we have to improve in the coming years is the interrelationship of employees, inside and outside their place of work, to improve their way of thinking for the organization. And one thing to avoid in the office and in our areas of business? Anger in the work place. Reuters report: “Anger in the work place – employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting short-tempered or worse – is shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or overwhelming debt, experts say.” (Reuters, New York Report, July 19, 2008) It further said: “Nearly half of US workers in America report yelling and verbal abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying it has driven them to tears, research has shown.” Two to 3 percent of people admit to pushing, slapping or hitting someone at work. With roughly 100 million people in the US work force, he said, that’s as many as 3 million people. Our organization should install safeguards to help in forming the behavior in the office, now and in the future. Business process outsourcing will have peaked in the years ahead. Recently The New York Times (online) reported that Reuters went a step further by having its editorial employees in an electronic posting that “it planned it planned to hire six journalists in Bangalore, India, to do basic financial reporting on 3,000 small to medium-size American companies. Its a place where you can get people who understand English, understand financial statements, understand journalism and who are educated to a very high standard and eager to do this kind of work, David Schlesinger, global managing editor of Reuters, said in a telephone interview.” What does this mean? “Tasks like interviewing a company president, talking to analysts and covering breaking news, will continue to be done by more experienced journalists working in the countries where those companies operate, Mr. Schlesinger said.” (The New York Times, 2008) With the ever-increasing world prices of crude oil, research and development on alternative fuel should be done, so that by 2020, we shall not be too dependent on oil. R&D for ethanol and bio fuel is highly recommended as this save the world from too much dependence on fossil fuel. In the area of health and medicine, people are more concerned with their health and insurance. With this, in line with corporate social responsibility, we can have programs to help senior citizens and persons with disability. But more so, business along this line is a much recommended step. Health and medicines are also good business in the years ahead. We can help make life easier for people and show concern through healthcare programs as part of corporate social responsibility. The healthcare industry with its rising overall costs can be aided by our organization in a more economical way. Our business can provide medical alert services, respiratory care and sleep management, remote cardiac services, hypertension alert services, and even remote patient management, along the line of health care. This is investment with a purpose. Conclusion/Recommendation We can expect vast changes in the environment and business organizations by the year 2020. Most of these changes will cover the ecosystem. We have to do something to make our world a better place to live in, if not we will all melt down with the environmental hazards that we have thrown out into the Earth’s inner system. We have to do something before it’s too late. Health care, environmental preservation, and diversity management are among the many activities and programs that should be given full attention if we have to progress in the coming years. References Book: Grubb, T. M. & Lamb, R. B. (2008). Capitalize on Merger Chaos. New York: The Free Press 2000. Websites: Cruz, I. A. (2008). Gore’s Purpose. Available from: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080615-142721/Al- [Retrieved 12 July 2008] De Jesus, A. P. Jr. How the Dutch Are Coping With Climate Change. Olsthoorn, A. & Tol, R.S.J. eds. (2001). Institute for Environmental Studies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Floods, flood management and climate change in The Netherlands. Available from: http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/1871/10435/1/f7.pdf. [Retrieved 20 July 2008] Lomborg, B. (2008). The Green Inquisition. Available from: http://www.zaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=147393. [Retrieved 15 July 2008] The New York Times (2008). MediaTalk; Reuters Takes Outsourcing to a New Level With Journalists. Available from: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E4DF173AF93AA35751C0A9629C8B63. [Retrieved 20 July 2008] Wulfhorst, E. (2008). Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans. Available from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080710/us_nm/workplace_usa_deskrage_dc [Retrieved 20 July 2008] Read More