The Leader - September/October 2008 - (Page 19) th e fu tu r e o f the W o rkp lace : W hat’ s Ne xt I s he re by expanding globalization, advances in business communication and rising literacy rates. Innovative incentive systems have been developed to get workers to work. A fair pricing system has been created to allocate properly the limited supply of resources and goods. Activities are increasingly traded across information highway networks. Consequently, E-business has exploded onto the scene with the development of advanced and innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs). Companies adapted to this changing competitive world environment by becoming agile and responsive in their operations. This has had a knock-on effect in the workplace. More employees now have the option of telecommunicating their work from the mobile office known as the ‘Club.’ Home working offices on-line have become extensive. Knowledge workers have begun to choose where they live and work, and demand customized accommodation and facilities which is changing the dynamics of the house. International trade and investment has moved towards efficient, supportive and facilitative locations, changing the concept of facilities management. Corporations have been ebbing away from locations perceived by business as bureaucratic and synonymous with high costs. From 2007, centralized ownership of resources and services became a thing of the past because it promoted inefficiency, corruption and nepotism. As a result of this, capitalism was seen as the contending force to be reckoned with, upon which privatization and liberalization of key markets, including technology, energy, air transport and financial services became increasingly popular. Regulations, intelligent laws, oversight and the inherent positive properties of the market, such as transparency, made the free market work. Since then, widespread availability of information has enabled free market entry to many new players. A new model of entrepreneurship has been developed on the back of the network economy. The ‘winner takes all’ attitude dominates markets. By 2015, the exclusive focus on trade and investment leads to environmental degradation and social neglect. This can particularly be seen in the Asian region. Between 2007 and 2017, multinational corporations relocated to Asia as it became a new hub of industrial activity, driven by the availability of a rapidly increasing low wage labor force, unregulated environmental standards, negligible corporation tax rates and pliable political regimes. Following this transformation, international businesses believe they cannot operate against the greater good for long as the global civic society becomes distrusting of multinationals who let environmental and social standards drop. Businesses seize the opportunity to take strategic economic advantage and become proactive leaders in responding to social and environmental change. In doing this, some cut back on business travel and equip their workplace facilities with state-of-the-art electronic communication devices such as video conferencing and high-definition technology, which combine voice, video, content sharing and network infrastructure technologies to promote costeffective remote collaboration within organizations and beyond. After the market downturn of 2020, major companies re-evaluated themselves Dantesque: Social reaction over rapid change and ‘leaned out’ their entire organization in an effort to become more efficient and more productive. They thinned their product lines, stopped their non-essential projects, reduced waste and inefficiencies in support functions, cut costs and started expecting more from their employees. Consequently, the global market for labor started to change in an unprecedented way. Temporary labor was no longer an incidental concern but a strategic opportunity. Also, radical outsourcing meant that the global division of work helped the global company attract local knowledge and a global talent pool. Eastern Europe, Asia and South America began to offer a wealth of business opportunities, and resources with a cheap and highly skilled work force. The global trade union, One World, was established in 2025, because the individual became the dominating characteristic of the free market workplace as entrepreneurs and contingent workers grew in numbers. These workers had no sense of belonging. As a result of 2 0 0 8 th e le aDe r 19 septemBer / octoBer
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