There are very few managers of medium to large corporations who aren't aware of the effects and opportunities that are embedded in GLOBALISATION. For small companies, they are quickly learning of the opportunities that a global perspective offers with greater supply options and much bigger markets.

The ENVIRONMENTAL issues are impacting on companies as their factors of production become more expensive and/or they need to be active in an increasingly regulated context.

With a more sophisticated (and global) economy comes greater choice. The ability of consumers to identify legitimate purchase alternatives has never been easier and manufacturers and service providers are quickly learning that in order to compete, one must demonstrate and deliver VALUE to the customer. Most corporations understand this requirement even if they don't know how to deliver it.

Channel adaption to the new DIGITISED economy is challenging for many businesses. Business leaders are learning of the potential of this medium through engaging with it in a private capacity and contemplating ways to extract value from it in their corporate capacity. What we see out there today, is not the end of the story. There is a lot more development, experimentation and adaptation ahead of us. Both exciting and challenging. Probably the biggest evolving issue here is the emerging ability of manufacturers and service providers to deal directly with consumers and adapt product and service to suit the consumer.

Gen X, Y and Millennials don't fully appreciate the DEMOGRAPHIC shifts that are occurring. New Baby Boomer networks are being established to circumvent the Gen X, Y and Millennial corporate leadership to provide ongoing, sustainable economic value.

TECHNOLOGICAL developments are creating amazing new possibilities while threatening established products, services and channels. 

STAKEHOLDERS already exist in abundance in most industries. That leaders might not currently engage with these stakeholders effectively does not mean that there will be more stakeholders in the future. Leadership has always been about effectively understanding and managing stakeholders (among other responsibilities).

There is discussion about a power shift toward stakeholders. In that stakeholder 'stickiness' (i.e. the ability to go elsewhere) has diminished (i.e. become less 'sticky' thus more fluid) with the new and emerging environment, then I suspect that this is accurate. However, just as 'easily' as stakeholders can move to other environments, so can the corporation to some extent, by reinventing itself and appealing to different categories of stakeholders. I am seeing a trend in companies that says " we acknowledge that this group is our market and that group is not" is a significant drift to greater clarity in the value proposition they deliver and away from a "serve all" mindset. That's an enlightened trend but comes with the danger and risk of 'over-specialisation' and undue dependence on a small group of stakeholders. Notwithstanding this trend, the more specialised one becomes, the more powerful become its stakeholders.