Global Business Factors

Author: Youth 2 Youth.

Globalisation, advances in technology, heightened social awareness of global issues and social responsibility are just some of the issues have an impact on the way we do business. It's important for small business operators to be just as aware of these factors as their larger counterparts, simply because 'bigger' business may not be the norm of the future, especially with the collapse of so many large corporations. If this trend continues, and small business is increasingly relied upon to take the reins of the economy, an awareness of global factors will be essential.

It is also up to us, the next generation of young people in business, to do business differently. Social Responsibility needs to be a crucial consideration of our business operations, and in time, focus. Naturally, we can't have every business having a socially responsible focus (after all, we still need greengrocers, butchers, bakers, tradespeople, etc), but we can have everyone taking social responsibility into account inside their business (by way of triple bottom line reporting).

Globalisation

Trade liberalisation and the consequent increased market access are providing more opportunities for Australian firms to go global. There is increasing overseas investment in and ownership of Australian companies and direct presence in Australia of overseas firms. There is also, however slight, a growing recognition that Australia is not just part of the Asia-Pacific, it has a very diverse and dynamic market of its own in Oceania (along with New Zealand).

Australian companies, on the other hand, are increasingly establishing an overseas presence, especially in the markets of the Asia-Pacific region, where they are gaining a well-deserved reputation for innovative design, materials and construction processes. The challenge for the Australian industry is to continue to position itself as a base for activity in the Asia-Pacific region.

Exports & Imports

Urbanisation is increasing rapidly within the global sphere, with the United Nations estimating that by the year 2025 some 54 per cent of the world's population will live in cities. The pace of urbanisation in developing economies is creating massive demand for urban infrastructure - water, sewerage, energy, communications and transportation - and, in the higher growth developing economies, for hotels, major retail developments, resorts, industrial estates and factories.

Despite the effects of terrorism and a growing sense of nationalism in the Western world, there is still demand for commodities and items such as clothing, home wares and accessories, which a few years ago were thought to have reached saturation in most markets. Many Australians, in particular, have taken up with gusto the trend of 'cultural artifacts' - adopting the furniture, food, home wares and fabrics of international cultures. Cultures of recent popularity in this industry have been mostly Asian (Chinese, Balinese, Thai, Indian) but also African and South American.

The Australian industry needs to put in place a strategy for longer term involvement in the Asia-Pacific region to capture the opportunities arising from the latent demand for infrastructure and the anticipated increase in market access arising from the restructuring of these economies as a consequence of responses to the current crises. Much of this is being done through the Government's work with APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative).

Information Technology and Telecommunications

Information technology and telecommunications are transforming business as we know it, and luckily our ICT-savvy generation is adapting to this well. For many of us, business is technology and we haven't known any other way of doing business.

ICT is enabling improved competitiveness and efficiency (in areas such as design, project management, documentation, electronic commerce, and file sharing), and entry into globaql markets. Cable internet now also provides fast and inexpensive access to around the clock internet.

Workplace Issues

The Australian workforce is ageing and new technologies and processes are driving change in the workplace. There is an increasing demand for a multi-skilled and learning oriented workforce, seen in the rise of the 'portfolio' worker among young people - those youth who use part time work, freelancing, work experience and short term projects to add skills to their portfolio. In effect, these new workers have little company loyalty and are in fact only working to build one brand, 'me'.

There is increasing recognition of the role of young entrepreneurs in Australia, with a recently-commissioned report revealing that there are approximately 50, 000 young entrepreneurs aged between 15 - 24 currently doing business in Australia.

Social Responsibility

In September 2002, eight young Australians attended the APEC Young Leaders & Entrepreneurs Forum on the Development of Business with Social Responsibility in Monterrey, Mexico. The delegation was made up of young leaders, business people, entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs.

As a result, social responsibility is likely to be built into the activities of the soon to be established AYBC (Australian Youth Business Council), whose objectives include educating young entrepreneurs about socially responsible business practices.

For more information on social responsibility and how it relates to youth enterprise, contact Jessica by emailing jessica@youth2youth.com.au

'Copyright 2003 Youth 2 Youth'

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