Political Realities

Political considerations have always affected business and economic conditions. Business in general never thrives well in politically uncertain environments. Unstable political conditions in Russia make European and American corporations nervous about investing in the country, but because of political stability in China, pour billions into that nation. Ineffective political policies that cause inflation to surge and subside, as often occurred in Latin America during the last three decades of the twentieth century, kill business development. There is no reason to think that this situation will change. Political states have long been the most influential element in society in providing the kind of social and economic stability that nurtures business prosperity. To be sure, there are social and political commentators who argue that the political state is on a slow decline, to be replaced by some borderless federated environment. One has only to see how Iran is governed, observe the activities of military leaders in Africa or in Bosnia, or witness the painful transformation to a free economy in portions of the old Soviet Union, to realize that such commentators were premature in their haste to announce the demise of the political state. Governments are not going away; their influence, both positive and negative, remains a crucial reality. Furthermore, governments and societies just do not change that quickly. They certainly will remain major realities throughout the life of every person working in business today, complete with political agendas, social turmoil, wars, and variations in economic policies. The whole issue of the role of the state is important because the degree to which businesses can operate in either the old or new economies, and the extent to which they can do their work, is profoundly affected by the activities and existence of political states.

Therefore, let's begin by recognizing a basic reality, namely, that governments and their supportive sectors within their societies will remain in place, regardless of what happens with computers, microprocessors, or the Internet. Having said that, however, there are patterns evident in society that reflect some changes stimulated by technology. Some trends that are significant are both political and social. Parallelisms operate here too. Some nations are more democratic than others, societies vary in their approval of women in the workforce, some are more inclined toward open dissemination of information than their neighbors, and so forth. Even then, there are some emerging realities to contend with which have a global quality to them.