Last year, China experienced a decline in GDP growth, along with a steep drop in consumer sentiment exacerbated by an anti-corruption campaign that dampened the intention to spend in lower-tier cities in particular. This year, although business activity was slow in the first quarter, the economy has shown signs of stabilizing, with improved consumption growth. After dropping to a five-year low in January and February, total retail-sales growth increased in May to 12.5 percent, its fastest pace since December of 2013.
Every economy's ability to compete depends on a steady supply of human capital and talent. When that supply is inadequate, imbalances result, creating serious threats not only to the economy but also to social and political stability and future development. This impact, moreover, extends beyond borders.
Transnational infrastructure programs, such as cross-border railway networks and electricity distribution systems, can increase regional trade, prosperity, stability and integration. That is part of the rationale of the Priority Action Plan of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA PAP), encompassing 51 programs and with an investment need of $68bn up to the year 2020. Such programs face formidable challenges, however.
China is going digital very quickly. By 2016, the country will have more than 730 million internet users and more than 380 million online shoppers, up from 460 million and 145 million, respectively, in 2010.
Success in marketing to U.S. millennials"”the generation of people now 18 to 34 years old"”will be critical to companies across product and service categories. One reason, of course, is that millennials represent the consumer market of the future.
While the press and many companies continue to marvel at the sheer volume of data being generated and captured in the internet era, forward-leaning corporations have already recognized that big data's transformative potential to generate value in both the digital and physical realms will go largely unrealized unless it's complemented by speed. Fast data can unlock the value-creating power of big (and small) data.
What should we make of the volatility that seems to be suddenly sweeping some of the world's most dynamic developing economies, including China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico?
The list of challenges facing corporate leaders today is lengthy. It includes globalization, rapidly shifting market dynamics, fallout from the European debt crisis, and a potential slowdown in Asia. It is unclear how these economic trends will play out and what impact they will have on industries and countries. Companies will also be faced with unexpected turbulence, whether in the form of adverse changes in their business or the arrival of tough new competitors. All this makes it more critical than ever before for corporate leaders to closely scrutinize the cost side of their income statement.
The everyday consumer world of 2020 will look radically different from today's. Most ordinary devices in the home - heating systems, televisions, cars, watches, toys, light bulbs, sporting goods, home appliances - will have gone digital. They will no longer be islands unto themselves: they will be connected to the internet and to each other in altogether new ways.
Pinterest boards, QR code walls, showrooming, mobile couponing, pop-up shops, mobile apps, Tweet Mirror, Facebook walls, digital circulars, augmented reality, flash sales"”it's a digital jungle out there for retailers today. As consumers embrace new technologies and services, companies find it difficult to stay current"”and harder still to determine where and how to invest their budgets. It's all too tempting simply to jump on the next new thing (and the next and the next), just in hopes of keeping pace.
