DEFINING A DECADE
LET ' S TALK CHANGE ...
As the Business Exchange celebrates ten years , we asked our features writer Fiona Scott to look at some of the big changes over the last decade .
When The Business Exchange was first published in 2013 , there is no way we could have predicted the depth of transformation on the horizon .
Globally it ’ s recognised there have been several large companies which encapsulate the kind of changes we ’ ve all experienced . One over-used word to describe them has been ‘ disruptive ’. According to the Harvard Business Review some of the ‘ big influencers ’ have been :
Netflix Adobe Amazon Tencent Microsoft
Then the pandemic came and ‘ change ’ changed again . However even then , change is different for every business and how we face it often speaks to the mission , ethics and values of a company and business owner .
Here are ten areas which have brought about transformation and change for many – and the voices of businesses owners around the changes they have faced .
For more info : www . hbr . org / 2019 / 09 / the-top-20-business-transformations-of-the-last-decade
1 ) Technological change , innovation and Artificial Intelligence ( AI )
The speed of the digital world , adoption of apps , mobile use , migration to the Cloud , rise of the hacker and cyber security . AI has become a topic which has started to trend although it ’ s been around for a long time . There are also concerns around ethics when it comes to AI .
“ Our business has changed as we have grown from one person to 20 people . The biggest change personally has been from being a one-man band and doer of all the work to someone who now spends more time working on the business .”
We have grown from one person to 20 people
2 ) Communication
Voice : Tom Vaughton
Tom Vaughton ’ s specialist SEO agency business Varn , based in Bradford on Avon was in its third year in 2013 .
“ If I was to pick five things that have changed the most for us , I would say : 1 . Putting staff first 2 . Digital marketing / social media 3 . Using AI 4 . Cloud working 5 . Data
For more info : www . varn . co . uk
One of the obvious changes is working from home which was a rare , special privilege usually reserved for senior leaders a decade ago
With the massive growth in social media we often now communicate in multiple ways through various platforms . The way we talk to each other , make contact , network , share knowledge and SELL is different .
Voice : Emma Carter
“ One of the obvious changes is working from home which was a rare , special privilege usually reserved for senior leaders a decade ago . Then the Covid-19 pandemic came along and was the huge catalyst to make it mainstream for many roles .
“ From a business perspective it presents opportunities - the reduction of physical workspaces , improved employee satisfaction , a wider recruitment pool and early studies demonstrate improved productivity . It also presents challenges - the Business West Quarterly Economic Report found meeting staff expectations is difficult ; workforce retention is challenging , declining consumer spend , reduced government support and supporting employee moral and well-being is significantly harder with remote workers .
“ On a personal level , the way I communicate with friends and family , access music , store photos , read a book , absorb news , play games , watch tv , make videos , purchase food and goods , set alarms , even bank is now possible on that device in my hand .”
For more info : www . businesswest . co . uk
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