The worlds of business and business administration have changed dramatically over the last decade. In addition to some major changes in existing systems, the industry has seen the invention of completely new ideas and methods.
Virtual Reality
Ten years ago, “working remotely” meant working from home when you were sick and calling in every couple of hours to check on things. Today, people work remotely full time. Thanks to advancements in the Internet and wireless technology, entire offices have gone virtual with staffers logging in from around the country. This has made it possible for people to take a position with a company located halfway around the world, without having to pick up and move there to do the job properly.
In addition to being able to work remotely, now it is possible to run entire businesses through the Internet, with no real “home base” at all. A lot of companies have started this way because opening a company on the Internet is quite a lot cheaper than opening one in the brick and mortar realm.
Made in the USA?
In 2003, there was still a strong middle class in the United States and the country’s economy was enjoying the last spoils of the Clinton tax laws. Today the middle class has been gutted and the spending power of the average American is severely limited. This has forced businesses to work with far less of a profit margin. Fewer products are being produced and, because of tax laws passed by George W Bush’s administration, companies are given tax incentives to ship jobs overseas. Ten years ago, the pressure was on to keep jobs here. In 2013, outsourcing has become a cornerstone of making your business viable. The shrinking number of available jobs has led to the creation of perhaps the most competitive work force our country has ever seen.
The Value of a Good Education
The study of business and business administration has changed fundamentally over the last ten years. Today business students need to know about how to run remote workplaces, make businesses attractive to the users of social media (which also didn’t exist ten years ago) and understand the global economy as well as the domestic economy. It is only within the last few years that business schools have caught up to the realities of the contemporary marketplace and that is thanks to programs like the Gabelli School of Business leading the charge toward modernization of the curriculum.
Ten years ago, a lot of the things we take for granted now were still being developed (if they had been invented at all). In 2003, Google was in its infancy. The idea of making a video based phone call hadn’t yet left the pages of Ray Bradbury novels to become a reality. It makes you wonder—if we’ve come so far in the last ten years, how far can we go in the next ten?
Stephen Joseph runs a freelance writing business in Seattle, Washington and he specializes in writing for small businesses.
What A Difference a Decade Makes,
It is interesting how quickly some things change, yet others barely change at all.
I am fortunately enough to work from home semi regularly. I am sure this would have never been offered 10 years ago to me in my line of work.
I think the progress of technology is so amazing. I graduated from college just 11 years ago, and that was before laptops were prevalent on campus and before everyone had cell phones — and smart phones weren’t even really a Thing. And, of course, at the time I never dreamed that I could make a living entirely on the Internet from my home office.