6 Megatrends That Will Transform Your Business

6 Megatrends That Will Transform Your Business

Global management consultancy Hay Group’s recently published book talks about the six “megatrends” that are fundamentally transforming the global business environment. Leadership 2030: The Six Megatrends You Need To Understand To Lead Your Company Into The Future illustrates the dramatic impact these megatrends are having on companies and on their markets, cultures, systems, and processes, say authors Georg Vielmetter and Yvonne Sell. Here’s a quick look:

Individualisation: Careers play an important role in self-fulfillment and self-expression, a shift that is driving greater convergence between private and working lives.Individualisation has an enormous impact on employees’ loyalty and motivation to perform, with “soft factors” such as recognition, self-development and self-direction often taking precedence over traditional factors like pay and promotion.

Globalisation 2.0: With the balance of power shifting to Asia and increased globalisation, international companies will need to adapt their global strategies for local markets. Successfully managing the competing demands of global and local will depend on the extent to which they foster local participation in decision-making, create culturally-diverse (and often virtual) leadership teams and encourage cross-country and cross-functional collaboration.

With the balance of power shifting to Asia and increased globalisation, international companies will need to adapt their global strategies for local markets.

Environmental impact: Sustainability moves from a CSR initiative to a business-critical imperative. Companies that lower their eco-footprint will see direct benefits to their performance, bottom line and competitiveness. Investors, employees and customers alike are increasingly factoring environmental considerations into their decisions to invest in, work for and buy from organisations. Firms must accept rising costs—both in terms of raw materia prices as a result of introducing more environmentally sustainable processes—as part of their license to operate.

Digitisation: New media will continue to blur the boundaries between private and working lives, a change that will accelerate as mobile internet becomes all-pervasive. Individuals are “always on”, more business is conducted “virtually”, and power is shifting to employees, particularly to knowledge workers, who can work anywhere and forge large digital connections with personal and business contacts.

Technology convergence: Miniaturisation and virtualisation will drive the convergence between nano-, bio- and information technologies and cognitive sciences, spurring innovation and accelerating R&D in many fields. NBIC technologies are already driving rapid advances in medicine, energy, environmental protection and production processes, and their potential for transforming other areas is huge.

Demographic age: Aging populations intensify the talent war. Industrial countries will suffer skills shortages and pressure on the welfare system, and migration will increase—not just from the more to the least populous countries, but also as a result of armed conflicts, disasters and environmental problems. 

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