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As you have likely learned in your classes, the external environment a company operates can have a significant impact on the performance of the company, industry, and the individual employees. As such, it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the world; especially if you are aspiring to work in a managerial capacity. In addition to staying up to date on the news, there are many companies and articles that seek to predict and explain what’s going on in the world.
For instance, this article from A.T. Kearney, a leading global management consulting firm with more than 3,600 people working in more than 40 countries, details the findings of their Global Business Policy Council’s forecasting efforts about events that they believe will occur and trends that they expect will gain momentum in the coming year.
The 10 key predictions that the Global Business Policy Council made for 2019, all of which they believe will have important implications for the global business environment, include:
- The US–China trade war will intensify.
- Bitcoin will lead the consolidation and maturation of the cryptocurrency market.
- The global trash crisis will spur innovations in waste management.
- The global shipping industry will crash into new sulfur regulations.
- The Xi–Putin relationship will be the world’s most consequential bromance.
- The global anxiety epidemic will lead to a proliferation of new products.
- A sand shortage will grind the gears of the global construction industry.
- The looming emerging markets credit crisis will grow in both scale and scope.
- Africa will be more connected than ever.
- Real-life “Iron Man” will materialize in the form of exoskeletons.
Each of these developments will have an important near-term impact on the global business environment in its own right. When considered together, these predictions signify potentially profound shifts. To read more about the current state of the situation and an elaboration of how their predictions will unfold, click here.
