Small Business Global Trends

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Top Ten Trends according to McKinsey:

1. Centers of economic activity will shift profoundly, not just globally, but also regionally - Asia will overtake Europe economically, although the U.S. will have the largest economic growth for the next 20 years.

2. Public-sector activities will balloon, making productivity gains essential - Aging populations are creating demand for public services, which in turn will increase taxes.

3. The consumer landscape will change and expand significantly - Consumer spending power in emerging economies is growing. Here in the U.S., the Hispanic consumer is growing.

4. Technological connectivity will transform the way people live and interact - The article notes, “For perhaps the first time in history, geography is not the primary constraint on the limits of social and economic organization.”

5. The battlefield for talent will shift - A global labor market is opening up.

6. The role and behavior of big business will come under increasingly sharp scrutiny.

7. Demand for natural resources will grow, as will the strain on the environment.

8. New global industry structures are emerging - According to the article, “In many industries, a barbell-like structure is appearing, with a few giants on top, a narrow middle, and then a flourish of smaller, fast-moving players on the bottom. ”

9. Management will go from art to science. Gut instinct management is dead, the authors say. I say, “maybe.”

10. Ubiquitous access to information is changing the economics of knowledge - Think open-source knowledge creation.

Read the whole article at the McKinsey Quarterly (requires free registration)

Labels: small business, trends