1. Miniaturization
Every business process will go through intense compressionand digitalization so when it comes out on the other side of the tunnel, itwill have already considerably reduced its operational costs. This willenable the process to function effectively, more powerfully, and be highlyreplicatable, with a lower cost structure like a proverbial silver bullet. Willthis now shrink entire office floors into cubicles, and cubicles into littleicons on websites? Who would need to come to the offices anyway; managers, toput their feet on desks, water cooler crowds, elevator pitch experts or justthe office cleaners? Is this the reason commercial office space is about to fall off the cliff? Both big and small businesses will be shrinkingto survive, with increasing competitive pressure the requirement is to become thesilver bullet. Are you running a bullet speed operation or lost in the office maze?
2. Lateralization
The realignment of both the cerebral hemispheres is also urgently required withthe next automobile tune-up. Many exhausted and stressed out individualsthroughout the world have suffered tremendously over the last few years,intensifying with the economic collapse. This raises serious questionabout the functionalities of senior executives, their basic business logic, financial literacy and the right-left-brainbalance. Why did the business systems and financial services fail so badly?Despite all the high level education, was their vision got blurred, or capitalrisk management was insufficient so the real world imploded. Was it the lack oflateralization which fogged the reality? Is it time to re-discover new typesand styles of educational agendas, new methods and new formats of operation? Anew wave of educational programs will sweep the executive corridors. Are you newlytrained and outfitted as a gladiator or you are just an old time spectator?
3. Trillionization
Once society becomes immune to the trivialization of the trillionization ofnations' debts it will become a real comfort pillow for the publicconsciousness to sleep on. After a year of struggle, over confidenceabout a $1 million net profit may sound like an embarrassingly minuteaccomplishment when pleading for plant expansion funds to a banker, whose tightfisted policies, despite receiving a $100 billion bailout, still do not solveyour business issues. The overly casual use of the word trillion, as anordinary measurement of the rising deficit, with each hiccup is going todiminish our respect and regard to the daily challenges of life, dealing inonly a few millions of dollars. Is this the reason why nobody is any longerimpressed by how much money you have made during this great recession? Newmethodologies and new types of presentation collateral will be required to pitchfor any serious business game plan. Do you have the new tools to present yourbusiness plan or would you prefer the sign language?
4. Infotoxication
If the information is more toxic than the toxic assets themselves what is the pointof believing anybody? Just stay intoxicated; forget joining AA. The truthis being morphed into twisted sugar candy by the day to keep the masses high whilecredibility gaps are getting wider by the hour. Is there really a person or abody on this planet that the global masses would blindly believe? Isthere a government, a department, a corporation, an NGO, a global body, acredit reporting agency, a polling service or a bank? What happened? Wasit a meteor hit, or just a daisy-cutter type memory loss? Why trustworthinesssimply disappeared and why was credibility just wiped out? Is this the reasonfor the lowest rating when any head of state goes for national publicbroadcasts? Is this the reason that newspapers and TV are becoming irrelevantand disappearing? Creating solid credibility will be the biggest challenge forboth the public and private sectors in this new decade. Do they trust you withtheir life or with empty bottles?
5. Googlelization
If society is already overly dependent on Google without a quick early morning handshake, the day simply doesn't start. The sun does not come out and the moon staysstuck behind the clouds. The entire global search-centric culture is based onGoogling to put life in perspective, determine the importance of anything,news, personalities, money matters, buying or selling of any idea. Thenew product and services from the mother ship Google will keep us even morecomfortably tangled in a kind of great and free service till we all get overlycozy, almost dazed and habitually responding to our stimuli. What Google did inthe last ten years took others a century to even approach. Today, Google can be credited with a trilliondollar savings in time costs, by having information in seconds available to theglobal public. It is hard to imagine a life on this planet without it. Become aGoogle expert and find all the possible options to build your expansion strategiesaround its access and services. Ignore the sobbing in other media andadvertising as they have run out of batteries. The introduction of new ideas,ranging from phone and gadgets to insurance and banking services, will createamazing shock waves and exciting opportunities to feel the global pulse in realtime. Are you being Googled and if not do it yourself?
6. Domainization
If several key languages other than Roman alphabets are allowed, it will make the
internet really global. It will be a dynamic adjustment, colorful
and yet at times extremely confusing, so what should brand name holders do?
Scream foul in other languages; buy dictionaries, or simply go exploring on
world trips? A name is the most important and critical component of any serious
business today. If a name is not worthy of protection as it is already diluted
and confusing, then it could surely become a nightmare very soon. Only well
balanced and protected name holders will really be allowed to play the superior
games on new platforms of TLD now offered by ICANN. A serious business without
a solid global name is like a dull joke in search of laughter. Global
understanding of domain name management and naming architecture skills will be
where all the battles of social-media-searching and customer acquisition will
be headed. Is your name identity a shiny star or a dull object?
7. Ghettoization
Is social media in reality becoming an anti-social-media, as Joe-Social has
little or no real relationship with Jane-Public, except as a spectator cheering
at dull events. Is it creating its own social-ghettos, where micro-gatherings
are only blocking crowd-gathering? Will this fad mould into another form of
personal personification like an old phone directory but with pictures and some
quirky messages? If advanced level personal data was manipulated to determine
the next action to plant a selling proposition, would it not eliminate all the
old selling procedures? Can you imagine this as a new online CyberHeaven or
will it be CyberHell? Is it time to buy stock in delivery vans? New processes
will seriously replace old style location and large inventory-based retail
industry thinking, along with the traditional advertising? Are you in
social-media-heaven or anti-social-purgatory?
8. Cybernetization
Once all the processes are electronic, digitized, portable and in cyberspace,
then what is the point of a regimented 9-to-5 Monday to Friday working society?
Free at last! If everyone was working and thinking while connected to
some large portal spread out on a global range, what would it do to corporate
structure,hierarchies, protocols and decorum? Would society cope with such an open ended
free flow of work? Will it change habits and daily routines? Will you
find more people in libraries, cinemas, malls or restaurants? Will they just
stay home and watch 3DHDTV and get more depressed about repeated 'socio- politico-
economico- climatico- damaged- news'? Will the home craft industry boom and
autos stay in the garage? Will back yards turn into small grow-op farms, and
will groceries stores be quieter? Are you already undressed to be hard-wired?
9. Frugalization
While 'shop till you drop dead' created the greatest recession, then 'save till
you drop' will keep you there forever. Was it the failure of capitalism and
liberal economic policies without regulation that resulted in 'beg, borrow and
steal, shop at high interest plastic and boost Dow at 15000'? It will surely
take all the income to finance these shopping bills. The capitalist free
enterprise system seems broken. Communism and socialism is also not the answer.
The society all over the world is getting a free crash course on economy, and
what they are going to derive is that saving is perhaps the only way. Wealth is
created by actual work and not by spending. Is it possible that the USA may end up with a Japan-like decade? The intense frugality at the main street will
spread and linger all over. Are you saving or spending enough or do you have a
printing press too?
10. Globalization
If globalization is the only way to go forward despite all the nationalism,
what will the new world would look like? Will it eventually create select
alliances and free trades? Will it create blocks, or just battles in a sandbox?
The search for best markets, best labor and minimum regulation is where the
private corporate
jets would be parked. The talk of nationalism would primarily feed the
textual lines to the tele-prompters all over the world, but the real
protectionism will not work well for most of the nations. The internationalism
of business is already way out of the bag and this is where all the cutting
edge skills are required. Multiple countries, languages and cultures will all
dance to one tune in the same boardroom. New global standards will drive
marketing, naming and image management. Are you basically local, somewhat
'glocal' or truly internationalist?
Naseem Javed is widely recognized as a world-authority on building corporate image and creating global name identities.
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