Changes and Forces Affecting the Way Organizations Work and Strive

Current trends and changes within the ways that organizations work is causing a steep decrease in the longevity of companies. According to the 2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast companies are now only expected to last in the market for a total of 12 years. This longevity decreased is mainly caused by acquisitions or because they “fall below the market cap size threshold” due to their strategies lacking adaptability to new changes and trends. Some trends that business leaders and entrepreneurs should be aware of to increase their chances are mentioned in the New New Way of Working Series posted by the Boston Consulting Group, which mention 12 forces affecting industries. Some of these include things like automation, the idea that machines are replacing human labor, which at the same time is opening new jobs and requiring new talents, such as robotics. The availability of data analytics and information across systems is also changing the needs for hiring within companies. Data is more important that ever to stay competitive today, but so is getting the rights kinds of data and the right kinds of systems to analyze it. In addition, today more than ever, customers are essential when making strategic decisions within companies. Customers demand more, want more, and some are also willing to give feedback on how exactly they want it. It will be extremely important in the future of any industry to take consumer’s feedback seriously before engaging in the creation of any new product. Together, data, information, and customer opinions can be incredibly useful tools for business leaders to gain competitive advantage, by creating products that are cutting-edge, wanted, useful, and demanded in their specific markets. The next point in that article also talks about the increasing difficulty of obtaining talented employees, either because of shifting geopolitical and economic power, lack of education across the low-economic class, or change in the way young people want and are willing to work. Today, it seems impossible to please employees to make them stay working in the company that hired them. Reading this article, I realized how similar I am to what they describe as the Millennials who are changing the definition of successful strategies. I am not usually satisfied with low compensation, or boring stable jobs. I love being creative and starting new programs. That is the reason why I am studying in Heinz, because I want to start my own theater company. So, it will be hard for employers that hire me to retain me for a very long time, as my main interest right now is focused on learning from successful business leaders and on the job, how to become a better entrepreneur and leader myself. While I realize of this factor, I am also starting to see how this can cause me a problem in the future.

One way to develop a strategy that succeeds through all these issues, besides for all the ones explained in “Twelve Ways that will Change how Organizations Work”, is to attempt to create shared value within your company. Besides for the fact that Millennials and Generation Z want to work independently, creating their own businesses, they are also strongly interested in creating social impact. Young employees today are more motivated by creativity and purpose. Hence, developing a strategy that focuses not only on creating economic value, but also social value and impact, will ultimately give your company competitive advantage. One of the things that called my attention from what Porter and Kramer said is that competitiveness of companies and the health of communities around it are intertwined. Coming from Venezuela, I can clearly see how the wellness of the community around companies matters so much for that company to succeed. Now that everyone is suffering from health issues and starving, lacking money to buy the needs they require, due to a damaged economy, it is almost impossible to succeed in the marketplace without an immense cluster building. Because of the poor economy, businesses have left Venezuela, leaving community in a horrible situation together with a giant source of opportunities to both serve the community and create economic and social value once again. It is not only the government who made all the limitations, but also the fact that businesses gave up that people are doing so poorly, reflecting on all 12 forces that affect the remaining organizations and more.

References:

Anthony, Scott D., et al. "2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast: Creative Destruction is Accelerating." INNOSIGHT, 2018, www.innosight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Innosight-Corporate-Longevity-2018.pdf. Accessed 7 Oct. 2018.

Bhalla, Bikram, et al. "Twelve Forces That Will Radically Change How Organizations Work." BCG, 27 Mar. 2017, www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2017/people-organization-strategy-twelve-forces-radically-change-organizations-work.aspx. Accessed 7 Oct. 2018.

Porter, Michael E., and Mark R. Kramer. "Creating Shared Value." Harvard Business Review, 2011.