Custom «The Business Environment of Today» Essay Paper Sample

Vision is the most desired and the most elusive quality of leadership. In the modern day business environment, the perception of the future acts as the greatest competitor both in the running of a business and the maintenance of a career. The business environment has always been evolving. The 21st century business environment was characterized by stiff competition, numerous challenges, turbulence, and unpredictability. Researches that have been conducted on countries that enjoy competitive advantage indicate that the employees of the companies had made significant differences in their performance. The employees' energy and commitment led to improved performance. Business leaders operate in a world that is constantly changing. To succeed, they need employees with outstanding attributes and qualities to achieve and sustain superior competitive advantage.

There are two drivers of change in the business environment: technological revolution and the developments that are occurring in the market economy. These changes necessitate the shift from the conventional mindset to keep pace with the evolving world. Leaders need to adopt a new mindset in order to succeed in the volatile business environment. The modern day business environment is highly competitive, hostile, at times dangerous, and uncertain. Global business leaders are faced with similar challenges. The successful leaders are the leaders who use their skills and characteristics as leaders and work effectively in their respective teams to achieve the highest performance standards. Furthermore, to succeed, leaders need to scrutinize carefully their external business environment, understand the environmental factors that impact on their business, and develop their strategies and tactics to handle the challenges effectively. Leaders need to adopt an external focus, be responsive to the environment, and always being a step ahead to avoid being caught unaware.

The last few years have witnessed unprecedented technological changes. Technology has facilitated people to work independently from location and time, and changed the way organizations conduct their businesses. The change has forced the conventional businesses to reevaluate r incorporation of IT in their businesses in order to achieve success. They have been forced to undertake additional investments in IT look for new ways of communicating with their clients, capitalize on the emerging market opportunities in order to meet the stiff competition in the market. IT has led to extensive automation of business operations; leaders are expected to undertake the chores that cannot be automated. The internet has created new channels for profitability and soon various sectors will be venturing in online commerce. The internet acts as a means of cutting costs and earning additional revenue, while the more innovative companies are using it to convert information into new services. Telephone companies such as Vodafone are increasingly targeting clients who surf the internet via the mobile phone; the companies are shifting from the conventional reliance on voice customers to include the internet as a source of revenue.

Technological advancement has increased the acquisition and development of knowledge as components for gaining competitive advantage. This has raised the value of knowledgeable workers and increased the significance attached to the acquisition of skills by organizations. Competitive advantage is highly dependent on the organization's ability to create, transfer, use, and protect its business assets that are hard to imitate. Furthermore, the new knowledge economy necessitates that organizations and their leaders be entrepreneurial, highly flexible, and develops the capacity to make good decisions with limited amounts of information. They need to collaboratively work with others and develop positive relationship with their clients for them to comprehend the client needs and be responsive to the rapidly changing business environment. Technology has also led to the onset of globalizations, which has eradicated business barriers opening up markets across a wide range of sectors. Presently, it is possible to run large enterprises successfully due to the developments in communication and IT. However, the expansion has resulted in increased competition requiring that organizations identify and respond to business opportunities in order to survive.

In conclusion, the business environment is rapidly changing. Business leaders need to assist their organizations top stay ahead of competition and to survive. The onset of IT and consequently globalization has advanced the level of competition of competition between global firms. Thus, leaders need to develop skills to cope with changes in the highly volatile business environment, develop leadership and relationship building skills, develop the capacity to perceive risks and take more risks, and to adopt wok practices that are promote attachment with the subordinate staff. Additionally, to survive in the volatile business environment, leaders need to adopt a "can do attitude," develop a broader business perspective to cope with a large number of responsibilities, and to detect business opportunities that arise with the technological advancements.