Business and Management

The Business and Management series topic focuses on the most pressing issues confronting organizations today and in the future. Businesses are trying to figure out how to lead in a time of global uncertainty. In emerging markets, issues such as ill-defined or unstable policies, as well as corrupt practices, can be hugely problematic. Changes in governments can result in new policy, regulations, and interest rates, all of which can be detrimental to foreign businesses and investments. A growing trend towards economic nationalism also makes the current global political landscape potentially hostile towards international businesses.

The demographic shifts are creating interesting challenges. People are living longer, resulting to an aging demographic. We have a large population of older workers and retirees who are living longer lives, combined with a declining birthrate in most parts of the world. Businesses of all types are looking at how technology is affecting their operations. Several questions arise, such as: How is technology changing what we do? How is it transforming us internally, how is it influencing our clients and our business strategy? It is about leveraging technology to improve efficiency, connect with customers more effectively, and drive innovation. The majority of innovative companies are technology-driven businesses. Realizing digital transformation is today’s top issue and will remain so for the next five years. Improving organizational agility, expanding portfolios of products and services, creating, and maintaining a culture of innovation, and developing next -generation leaders were also identified as top challenges in terms of both current and future issues.

The most sustained profitable growth occurs when a company expands its core business into an adjacent space. This has significant implications for management because innovation in business ecosystems differs from traditional, vertically integrated firms. Every organization in the ecosystem must be aware of the bigger picture. Innovation in ecosystems necessitates collaborative action to invent and appraise, efficient, cross-organizational knowledge flows, modular architectures, and good stewardship of legacy systems. It is built on multiple, interconnected platforms. Environmental factors have already had a significant impact in the West and will continue to have an impact globally. Businesses must take into account the environmental impact of their daily operations. The advantage of this market is that it is expected to grow more rapidly than the overall economy. Another significant challenge is preparing the next generation of leaders to elevate this to the number one priority within the next five years. There can be no culture of innovation unless there is diverse leadership or development of the next generation of leaders; and these diverse, next-generation leaders are the ones who will truly understand the digital strategies that will drive digital transformation.