Does the First Mover Truly Have an Advantage?
What does Future Look Like?
A critical ingredient to studying general environment is identifying opportunities and threats. As discussed, an opportunity is a condition in the environment that, if exploited, helps the company to achieve strategic competitiveness. In order to identify the opportunities, one must be aware of the current and future trends affecting the world around us.
Thomas Fry, senior futurist at the Da Vinci Institute, says that the chaotic nature of interconnecting trends and the vast array of possibilities that arise from them is somewhat akin to watching a spinning compass needle. From the way we use phones and email, or recruit new workers to organizations, the climate for business is changing and shifting dramatically and at rapid increasing rates. Sorting out these changes and making sense of them provides the basis for opportunity decision making. Which one will dominate and which one will fade? Understanding this is crucial for business.
Your challenge is to identify a trend, technology, entertainment, or design that is likely to alter the way in which the business is conducted in future. Discuss on the following issues
Which of the seven segments of the general environment will this affect? (There may be more than one)
Describe the impact
List some business opportunities that will come from this.
Identify some existing organizations that stand to benefit.
What, if any, are the ethical implications?
You should consult a wide variety of sources. For example, the Gartner Group, BCG, and McKinsey & Company produce market research and forecast for business.
