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Business Today

Social Trends
In today’s world when talking about social trends, technology is on the top of the list.  A few years ago texting was the new thing to do.  Now a lot of people can’t go a day without “tweeting” or sharing on Facebook.  This technology is at everyone’s fingertips bringing it to their cellphones.  This technology is great to get in touch with people.  You can’t go to a web site and not see a “like this page on Facebook” link.  You can keep up with where people are and where they have been, what they are doing, how they are feeling, and what they are listening to.  Developments are still being made.  There are new products being mad to better keep in touch with people.  Video chatting is the new way to talk on the phone, you can connect to your friends in different countries, and you can find updates on sport games virtually anywhere.  The internet makes the world a smaller place.

Economic Trends
The Economic world today is in a recession.  Being a retailer could mean that you have changed the way you do business.  You used to sell your product for as much as you possibly could while giving your buyers a reason to come to you for that product. Now you may be trying to sell as low as you can to keep investors interested in your product.  

While most markets have dropped drastically, there are some that haven’t even seen a difference in business.  You may wonder how that may be possible but there is always a need for some products and other products are just wants and desires and therefore, those businesses have stayed on top of the market.

I think that the competitive force is bigger than ever.  Since the economy is not doing so well, businesses are trying to find a way to make their product cheap enough to still make a product.  This may mean to cut back on advertisements, technology, work force, etc but still continuing to make the product better.  In other areas, it may seem that there is no competition or they are their own competitors.  It seems difficult in these economic struggles though to keep customers interested in the need to buy your product.  As they are becoming more aware of the financial problems, they are also becoming aware at what they need instead of what they want.

The internet makes a huge impact on the trends in the economy and in the social life.  Having the ability to access the internet at any moment almost anywhere makes it possible to stay in contact with employees, customers, sellers, etc a lot easier.  You can find out what people want in a product and how to inform them about a new updated product.  Ads on popular social websites like Facebook or Twitter make advertising a lot easier.  A business is able to get there new product information out to a lot wider range of people.

The Job Market
It seems that in the job market today, everything is technology.  It seems that you cannot start a new business without having technology as a huge resource for business.  No one wants to talk on the phone as much.  People don’t even email as much anymore.  Everything is texting.  Internet, Cellphones, Computers, MP3 devices are found with almost every person walking on the street and they are being used every moment each day.  Not having this update in a company would hurt that business a great amount and it would be very difficult to get your name out there in the business world today.  It is used so much and at a great ease to learn, a company would be considered insane not to use the advances in today’s world.

Not even 2 decades ago people were getting internet in their homes.  Cell phones were still huge blocks that were embarrassing to carry around, and forget about Facebook, or even Myspace.  A main source of advertising would be on television commercials but today many people have TiVo where they don’t even watch the commercials.  TV episodes need to do advertising in their programs and marketers need to find a new way of continuing to bring in new customers.

These advancements in trends impact my career interests a lot because I think about what will they be like in just a few short years.  How will I be able to have my work adapt to those changes and how can I stay up to date?  I also wonder if it is worth it to go into that type of business of making and designing websites.  

Key Terms
Markets - Where buyers and sellers of goods or services carry out transactions, sometimes through an intermediary. Also, the whole group of potential buyers for a good or service.

Globalization - The increasing integration of economies, industries, markets, cultures and policy-making around the world.


Emerging Markets - The financial markets of developing countries. Global index providers sometimes include in this category relatively wealthy countries whose economies are still considered underdeveloped from a regulatory point of view.

Trade Policy - a government's policy controlling foreign trade

Comparative advantage - The idea that a country or region should specialise in making and exporting goods and services that it can produce most efficiently.

Strategy - A plan or series of plans for achieving an aim, especially success in business or the best way for an organization to develop in the future.

- The process of skilful planning in general.

Value Creation - Value creation is the primary financial performance indicator for measuring and evaluating financial performance within the Group. The model links operating income and asset efficiency with the cost of the capital employed in operations. ...

Economics - The study of the way in which wealth is produced and used.

- Calculations of whether an activity or business will be profitable or not.

Monetary Policy - The decisions a monetary authority makes to manage the money supply. The tools at its disposal include modifying benchmark interest rates (such as the Fed funds target and the discount rate in the US), conducting money market operations (which influence short-term interest rates), and changing banks' reserve requirements. Depending on whether the authority wishes to expand money supply, keep it steady or reduce it, monetary policy can be described as accommodative (or loose), neutral or tight.

Fiscal Policy - A government's policy regarding taxation and public spending.

The outcome of a budget on economic activity in particular through changes in tax and interest rates and government programmes.
Inflation - A general increase in prices, normally expressed as the annual rate of growth in the consumer or retail price index (the inflation rate). One can also measure inflation in producer or wholesale price terms. Unless matched by an increase in wages, inflation means a loss of purchasing power for the consumer. It also reduces the value of a country's currency, as more units of currency are needed over time to buy the same goods.

Dow Jones Industrial Average - (DJIA)a price-weighted average of 30 blue chip stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange. One of the oldest and most widely quoted stock market indices.


Weak dollar - Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency.

Strong Dollar - Dollar that can be exchanged for a large or increasing amount of foreign currency.

Weak Dollar vs Strong Dollar - The difference between the value of our dollar and the value of a foreign currency.  Supply and demand makes the dollar strong or weak.  

Sources:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/11/six_social_media_trends.html

http://www.cit.com

http://www.globalfuturist.com/technofutures.html?gclid=CNT90NTXvaQCFQ0-bAodrC17zA

http://lexicon.ft.com/?segid=20001&ftcamp=traffic/sem/us/goog_p4p/lex/auddev