Trends in the business and economic environment occur in many areas. As noted earlier, today’s workforce is more diverse than ever, with increasing numbers of minorities and older workers. Competition has intensified. Technology has accelerated the pace of work and the ease with which we communicate. Let’s look at how companies are meeting the challenges of a changing workforce, the growing demand for energy, and how companies are meeting competitive challenges.
Changing Workforce Demographics
As the baby boomer generation ages, so does the U.S. workforce. In 2010, more than 25 percent of all employees were retirement age. Fast forward to the U.S. labor force in 2017, however, and millennials have taken over the top spot in the labor market, with more than 40 percent of the total workforce. Although older workers are now retiring closer to the traditional retirement age of 65, many plan to keep working beyond 65, often into their 70s. No longer is retirement an all-or-nothing proposition, and older workers in the baby boomer generation are taking a more positive attitude toward their later years. A surprising number of Americans expect to work full- or part-time after “retirement,” and most would probably work longer if phased retirement programs were available at their companies. Financial reasons motivate most of these older workers, who worry that their longer life expectancies will mean outliving the money they saved for retirement, especially after retirement savings took a hit during the global recession of 2007–2009. For others, however, the satisfaction of working and feeling productive is more important than money alone.1“The Retirement Problem: What Will You Do with All That Time?” Knowledge@Wharton, January 14, 2016.
These converging dynamics continue to create several major challenges for companies today. And by 2020, additional generational shifts are projected to occur in the U.S. labor force, which will have an even bigger effect on how companies do business and retain their employees. Today’s workforce spans five generations: recent college graduates (Generation Z); people in their 30s and 40s (millennials and Generation X); baby boomers; and traditionalists (people in their 70s). It is not unusual to find a worker who is 50, 60, or even 70 working for a manager who is not yet 30. People in their 50s and 60s offer their vast experience of “what’s worked in the past,” whereas those in their 20s and 30s tend to be experimental, open to options, and unafraid to take risks. The most effective managers will be the ones who recognize generational differences and use them to the company’s advantage.2Michael Zimmerman, “Millennials in the Workforce: What They Want, and How to Manage Them,” http://www.smartceo.com, January 11, 2017; Kathy Gurchiek, “What Motivates Your Workers? It Depends on Their Generation,” Society for Human Resource Management, May 9, 2016.
Many companies have developed programs such as flexible hours and telecommuting to retain older workers and benefit from their practical knowledge and problem-solving skills. In addition, companies should continually track where employees are in their career life cycles, know when they are approaching retirement age or thinking about retirement, and determine how to replace them and their knowledge and job experiences.3Tom Anderson, “Employers Offer Older Workers Flexible Retirement,” CNBC, August 21, 2016.
Another factor in the changing workforce is the importance of recognizing diversity among workers of all ages and fostering an inclusive organizational culture. According to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, millennials are the largest generation in U.S. history, and more than 44 percent classify themselves as something other than “white.” In addition, women continue to make progress on being promoted to management, although their path to CEO seems to be filled with obstacles. Recent statistics suggest that fewer than 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs. The most successful organizations will be the ones that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion as part of their ongoing corporate strategies.4Blaze Stutes, “The State of US Workforce Diversity in 14 Statistics,” http://archpointgroup.com, December 1, 2016; Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince, “Why Diversity Matters,” McKinsey & Company, January 2015.
Global Energy Demands
As standards of living improve worldwide, the demand for energy continues to rise. Emerging economies such as China and India need energy to grow. Their demands are placing pressure on the world’s supplies and affecting prices, as the laws of supply and demand would predict. For example, in recent years, China and India were responsible for more than half of the growth in oil products consumption worldwide. State-supported energy companies in China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries will place additional competitive pressure on privately owned oil companies such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell.5Global Energy Statistical Yearbook 2016, “Oil Products Domestic Consumption,” https://yearbook.enerdata.net, accessed May 23, 2017; Joe Carroll, “Big Oil Heads for Back-to-Back Profit Triumphs as Fortunes Turn,” Bloomberg Markets, April 28, 2017.
Countries worldwide worry about relying too heavily on one source of supply for energy. The United States imports a large percentage of its oil from Canada and Saudi Arabia. Europeans get 39 percent of their natural gas from Russia’s state-controlled gas utility OAO Gazprom.6U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Frequently Asked Questions about Petroleum Imports and Exports,” https://www.eia.gov, accessed May 23, 2017; European Commission, “Energy: Supplier Countries,” accessed May 23, 2017. This gives foreign governments the power to use energy as a political tool. For example, continuing tensions between Russia and Ukraine in November 2015 caused Russia to stop sending natural gas to Ukraine, which also causes gas disruptions in Europe because Russia uses Ukraine’s pipelines to transport some of its gas deliveries to European countries. In 2017, Russia announced plans to build its own pipeline alongside Ukraine’s gas line in the Baltic Sea, which would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine’s pipelines altogether and deliver gas directly to European countries.7Kenneth Rapoza, “Russia’s Gazprom Doubling Down on ‘Anti-Ukraine’ Baltic Pipeline,” Forbes, http://www.forbes.com, March 14, 2017; Nataliya Vasilyeva, “Ukraine Stops Buying Russian Gas, Closes Airspace,” USA Today, November 25, 2015.
Countries and companies worldwide are seeking additional sources of supply to prevent being held captive to one supplier. For example, the relatively new technology of extracting oil from shale rock formations in the United States (known as fracking) has help create an important resource for the country’s oil industry. This innovative approach to finding new sources of energy now accounts for more than half of the country’s oil output, which can help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and create new jobs.8“U.S. Shale Is Turning Up the Heat on OPEC,” http://oilprice.com, May 20, 2017; Matt Egan, “Oil Milestone: Fracking Fuels Half of U.S. Output,” CNN Money, March 24, 2016; Ed Crooks, “The US Shale Revolution,” Financial Times, April 24, 2015.
Meeting Competitive Challenges
Companies are turning to many different strategies to remain competitive in the global marketplace. One of the most important is relationship management, which involves building, maintaining, and enhancing interactions with customers and other parties to develop long-term satisfaction through mutually beneficial partnerships. Relationship management includes both supply chain management, which builds strong bonds with suppliers, and relationship marketing, which focuses on customers. In general, the longer a customer stays with a company, the more that customer is worth. Long-term customers buy more, take less of a company’s time, are less sensitive to price, and bring in new customers. Best of all, they require no acquisition or start-up costs. Good long-standing customers are worth so much that in some industries, reducing customer defections by as little as five points—from, say, 15 percent to 10 percent per year—can double profits.
Another important way companies stay competitive is through strategic alliances (also called strategic partnerships). The trend toward forming these cooperative agreements between business firms is accelerating rapidly, particularly among high-tech firms. These companies have realized that strategic partnerships are more than just important—they are critical. Strategic alliances can take many forms. Some companies enter into strategic alliances with their suppliers, who take over much of their actual production and manufacturing. For example, Nike, the largest producer of athletic footwear in the world, does not manufacture a single shoe.
Other companies with complementary strengths team up. For example, Harry’s Shave Club, an online men’s grooming subscription service, recently teamed up with retail giant Target to improve sales and boost its brand presence among Target shoppers. Harry’s products are now available in Target’s brick-and-mortar stores and on Target’s website as part of an exclusive deal that makes Target the only mass retailer to carry Harry’s grooming products. The men’s shaving industry accounts for more than $2.6 billion in annual sales.9Kavita Kumar, “Target Sharpens Edge Through Partnerships with Harry’s and Bevel Razor Companies,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com, April 15, 2017; Daphne Howland, “Target to Sell Harry’s Men’s Grooming Products,” Retail Dive, August 4, 2016.
Text adapted from Introduction to Business, OpenStax under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-business/pages/1-introduction
