Since the 1970s the global environment has become increasingly unstable. In the 1960s a business could assume stable inflation, fixed exchange rates and stable oil prices. The governments of the major industrial economies successfully pursued macroeconomic policies, стоковые фото in the search of full and stable employment. These comfortable conditions no longer exist, and business must be prepared to respond to constant changes and fluctuations in all these variables, as well as fast changing consumer tastes.
National economies can no longer be isolated from change elsewhere, and in this sense every business, however small, is operating in global environment. It must be prepared for the sudden appearance of a new competing product or service, probably from another country, at any time. It follows that business planning must take international factors into account. Thus senior managers must be aware of changes in the following variables:
— the national economy’s performance in the world economy;
— major changes occurring in world markets;
— major changes in key economic variables, е.g. oil prices, exchange rates, etc.
— nature and role of multinational firms, and their current strategies;
— government economic policy on exchange rate and Balance of Payments issues, etc.