Moving Into the Mainstream

As we talk to our management development colleagues in other companies, and when we read the current crop of books and journals about trends in contemporary business, it seems to us that there is a high degree of commonality in those external factors that are now powerfully impacting on organisations all over the world. Whilst each business is sui gener/5, most companies are having to swim in the same, increasingly competitive, ocean. The currents might be very various, but the main streams are relatively easily identified. Most important is the development of very competitive global markets. Driven by the power of technology, and the desire of peoples in all parts of the world to possess the latest fruits of that technology, we are seeing the emergence of markets of a scope and potential that until recently could scarcely be imagined. This has occurred in motor vehicles, financial services, oil, weaponry, chemicals, agriculture, computers and telecommunications. It has also happened in the softer, non-technical, market places, as we can