Can Your Business Adapt to Change?

“It is not the strongest among the species that survive. Nor is it the most intelligent. It’s those that are most adaptive to change.”

(Charles Darwin)

Change seems to be the only constant in today's global, Internet economy. How can you manage it? How can you keep up with it?

One theme we have noticed recently is the growing importance of social media in a business environment. Social media is opening new avenues to contact, to engage, and to build relationships with current and new customers. In today's Intelligent World, social media is necessary for any business that wants to become a 21st century business. It is one part of how small companies can do so much more that they actually operate as a much larger company... they can "Play Big". However, social media will differ in its importance to your business depending upon what you do and what your goals are.

• What is most important is to know your business vision and your objectives for the next year.
• What is your marketplace currently and what new markets do you need to expand into?
• What are you trying to tell the marketplace?
• What is the personality of your business.. the story you are telling about yourself?
• Who is your target audience and traditionally what do they pay attention to during the day?
• Who is your decision maker of tomorrow, and if different than above how will you reach them?

These are the important questions to ask as you get into social media, which you should do... but which media and how fast depends on these answers.

So to end the week we provide you with the most important links to information we found this week. They are to the point and significant for you.

Also, click here to get information on how we "find the path" for companies to navigate the above questions.

Have a good weekend, take care, and let's talk soon.

Explore the links below to learn more.

Change is inevitable. Here are 7 lessons to get change right.

Is it time for your organization to blog? If not now, then soon! A recent study found that small business blog readership increased by 122%.

Is it time for your organization to Tweet? Maybe Yes... Maybe No!

For businesses that are new to social media, here are some mistakes to avoid.

Witness the power of Youtube - Domino's: How One YouTube Video Can Ruin a Brand

Here is an interesting article that claims the biggest emerging economies will recover faster than the US.

Is your business innovating? Here are some trends in innovation that are paying off for other companies.

What is Informal Learning, and why should businesses promote it? Learn here.

Google’s Wave – described by the developer as “What e-mail might look like if it were invented today” – will redefine collaboration.

It Is A Global, Internet Economy

On December 31, 1999 we talked about the dawn of a new millennium, the Information Revolution, and the importance of IT.

Things have changed since then and changed fast:

• The incredible speed of information exchange
• The vast amount of facts we must know
• The huge scale of a globalized marketplace
• The unpredictable impact of the Internet on business

The immediate and daily impact of these trends on local economies means your business has changed in the last 3 years, and will keep changing again every 3 years... whether you know it or not.

Change is the one constant.

Darwin's statement holds true that it is not the most intelligent, nor the strongest that will compete and survive... it's is those who are most adaptive to change.

What is overlooked as well is that it is a global, and it is an internet, marketplace... it's both. It is not about technology or globalization; it is about their combination and interaction.

• 96% of the world’s consumers are outside of the U.S.
  
• 86% of Internet Users are outside of the U.S.... and growing at 10 times the rate of U.S. growth
  
• You Tube and Skype each have virtual populations larger than Mexico, UK, and Italy combined
  
• 400 million Indian consumers will demand new housing in the next 20 years
  - more real estate than the U.S. has built since the second world war
  
• 24.5 million new Chinese households will be classified as middle class by the end of 2008

Lots of folks might really be tuned into internet technology, cool web 2.0 practices, and how to use an iPhone. Many others are international experts, speak lots of languages, and talk about import/export.

But who has both perspectives? Who has combined them to see the real trends affecting real businesses in this global, Internet, economy?

Who is involved in daily and intimate conversations with business leaders and business organizations at a "grassroots", warm-blooded level around the world, to dial-in the real problems that real business leaders deal with everyday?

IntellaCore has a unique point of view, because we are positioned at the critical intersection, at the crossroads, where very few are... that place where the global economy meets the Internet and Communications Technology (ICT).It is a simple fact that every company operates and competes in a global, and an Internet, marketplace.

The answer is not to “Go Global” . The answer is to “Be Competitive” in this "Globalized Marketplace."

What are you doing to lead a competitive business successfully in the 21st century?

Do you know what you don't know?

Once you know... what are you going to do about it?

What's your game plan?

Read what a leading Business Expert observed:

"I recently spent a day speaking to more than 100 owners and managers of private businesses... The majority of the attendees were not doing well in a globalized economy...

The good news: almost all of the attendees “got it” in terms of understanding the need to re-conceptualize themselves and their business models...

The bad news: even in the face of declining results, the vast majority of the attendees have no intention of changing their behavior or their business models... they were too tired, too old, too poor, etc. to make any meaningful changes. In effect, they intend to keep drawing a salary until they are forced to shut the business down.

"Wow."

Here is another statement:

"... as the world economy becomes larger and more interconnected, many Americans feel totally disconnected. They are being flattened in this new flat world. Nowhere is this quiet desperation more pronounced than in the private business segment.... At best, America's privately owned businesses are getting only half the benefits of globalization.

"So what?" you might be asking yourself. Well, if our private companies aren't globally competitive, then they're in trouble. And if they're in trouble, we're all in trouble. Privately owned businesses generate more than 50 percent of America's gross domestic product and account for 80 percent of new jobs... we should be alarmed: Currently about 75% of owners of private businesses are not increasing the value of their firms. I'll say it again: If the private business sector fails, America fails."

-Rob Slee 2006