Page 16 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)
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%% 11.11 hitPackard realized that it was at a competitive
ingloba 1 markets beca use bureaucratic require-
!' wilt.. were nv the product development process, it re-
(1(...iroied its organizational structure to speed up product
development.'
Surviving and prospering in business have never been easy.
There are always problems to be solved and opportunities
to be taken advantage of. But during the next few years,
from. now through the first decade of the 21st century, busi-
ness organizations, their managers, and their other employ-
ees will be confronted with a number of strategic challenges
unmatched in business history. The primary challenges are
these: 5
1. Every facet of business is changing at an
accelerating rate.
2. Competition is increasing.
3. Business is becoming increasingly global
in scope.
4. New technologies are being introduced at
a breathtaking rate.
5. The composition of the
work force is changing, as
are its members' values and
expectations.
6. There are increas-
ing shortages of re-
sources ranging
from water to
skilled employees.
7. The U.S. economy is
being transformed from an industrial
economy to one based on knowledge and in-
formation.
Market and economic conditions throughout
the world are extremely unstable.
. Constituents, such as shareholders and environ-
mentalists, are making greater demands on the
organization.
10. Not only is the business environment changing rapidly,
but it is becoming much more complex.