The business world is undergoing massive changes that are altering forever the environment within which organisations operate. These changes, while delivering massive benefits in terms of agility, economics and competitiveness, also require a massive shift in the way organisations are structured and operate. They challenge our existing thoughts around what the organisation of the future will look like.
So, what are these tectonic changes making such an impact on business?
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Economic Constraints – The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was just one symptom of a massive economic change that has been occurring globally over the past decade or so. A move to global production and global markets, a shift of wealth from traditional industries and the rise of a new generation of economic powerhouses means economically the world is a different place from 20 years ago.
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A Demand for Agility – In part as a reaction to the economic changes detailed above, but also because an ever more difficult competitive landscape, organisations are naming high levels of agility as a core requirement. Organisations worldwide are looking at every part of their operation and exploring how it could be made to deliver more, for less, and in far quicker time.
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The Rise of the Millennials – The famed Millennials, those people born around the turn of the Millennium are a new breed of employee. Talented, collaborative and unconstrained by the normal organisational cultural parameters, they have a high level of expectation about what they can achieve within an organisation and what the organisation needs to do to enable that to occur.
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Technology Democratisation – I’m typing this post using a computer that would have been science fiction only years ago. I’m collaborating with people all across the world via the cloud. And I’m a one-person operation with a negligible IT spend. Few would argue that technology is cheaper, faster, more accessible and more flexible than ever before.
These four individual trends, taken together, cause a massive impact on business. Organisations must make meaningful changes to allay the challenges and leverage the opportunities that this brave new world offers.
A version of this post was first published on the Salesforce.com/au blog and was written by Ben Kepes, technology evangelist and author of the Diversity.net.nz blog. It is part of the Future of Work series sponsored by Salesforce.com.
