On the day (most of) Britain celebrates parliament 'not' being blown up by Elizabethan (or more accurately Jamesian) political grievance, we should reflect for a moment on the ballyhoo the new president promises for change. There'll be lots of stuff on the news today about that. Change is good. Promises are motivating. But actually driving change is another matter. It's an age old historical argument - is it the people, or is it the circumstances? Cometh the hour, cometh the man is the ironic Shakespearean statement that springs to mind. Given the economic meltdown going on, it's fair to say that there are forces outside the control of the people setting budget demands and controls all over the world right now. The new RBS Chief Executive has declined to offer forecasts, other than to predict the bank's first ever losses. WPP is surprisingly bullish in its forecasts for 2009. What impact will the new President have? Obama is definitely not George Bush. We know that much. Will he withdraw from Iraq? Will he impose import restrictions on Chinese manufactured goods? Will he imprison those who can be identified as responsible for knowingly selling toxic assets? One thing for sure, we will see it on youtube. We will post opinion about it on our blogs. We will consume and exchange information about it more than any other generation has before. That's the impact technology has had on the political landscape. And I predict a future for people that understand that.
WPP forecasts are bullish... but they also recently announced a headcount freeze?
My prediction is that nimble companies who can adapt quickly to change, not to mention keep their overheads low, will be successful.
Every company, irrespective of its size, could do with low overheads. Totally agree with being nimble though ;-)
Alastair Duncan
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 05 Jan 2009
Total Posts: 61
