VIRTUALLY all business concerns from antiquity to date are powered by ideas. It is nearly impossible to start and manage a business enterprise without a steady and regular flow of ideas.
Ideas are to business enterprise what fuel is to a car.
Without ideas it is impossible for businesses to exist and if business did not exist there would be many unpalatable problems in this world.
The necessity of business enterprise in the modern world does not need overemphasis. Modern history has recorded numerous intra-country and inter-country conflicts which were triggered by business imperatives.
There is an inextricable link between modern-day diplomacy and entrepreneurship. When one observes countries engaged in meetings, workshops, dialogues and symposia in the name of strengthening historic and cultural ties, one can certain that business talk is also part of the agenda as well.
Polities such as the United States, EU and Britain have worldwide acclaim not only as politically powerful regions of the world but also as economic economically aggressive countries. Many transnational companies trace their origins or ties to western countries.
If business enterprises are so critical to modern life, why do many companies, including promising ones collapse regularly? There are basically three major reasons why most companies collapse. Ideas When a firm runs out of ideas on how to solve problems that characterise life in the contemporary world, one can be certain that such a firm is on the road to business failure and possible oblivion. Generation and propagation of ideas lie at the heart of any successful business concern.
The moment a business organisation gets stuck in a cultural and historical rut and grows accustomed to resisting new ideas, one can be certain that such a business concern is dying.
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A sick company is an entity which is caught in a time warp and which has developed an unfortunate tendency of inhibiting new ideas.
Companies such as Yahoo, Twitter and Google are powered by revolutionary ideas. They are known for encouraging all their employees to contribute ideas that may take their businesses forward.
Change The second most important reason why companies fail is inability to properly manage change. Myles Munroe of Bahamas argues that the only thing which is constant about human life in this world is change. Change defines life and the opportunities that come and go.
If there was no change in society life would be boring. Life is interesting and worth living because change introduces an element of randomness to life which makes intellectual enquiry and solving of problems worthy exercises.
It is important that all people everywhere realise that change is not our enemy but our ally in the quest for meaning and relevance in the modern world.
If there was no change life would still be the same as it was 4 000 years ago and obviously that is not desirable because the passage of time necessitates new ideas and better ways of solving the problems of yesteryear.
External factors Many business enterprises collapse because of external factors such as wars, high interest rates, inflation, too much government borrowing from the money markets, negative publicity, macroeconomic policy misalignment as well as depletion of natural resources.
All businesses are affected by external factors, but not all business entities respond to those factors in the same way. The reason why this is the case lies in the sort of people who form the human resources base of a firm.
There are companies that seem to emerge from every cataclysmic situation stronger than they were before the crisis.
Change must not be resisted, but it should be embraced and properly managed. When change occasioned by external factors is prepared for and managed appropriately, it enhances business enterprise.
Ian Ndlovu is an economics lecturer based at the National University of Science and Technology. His research interests cover business, development, economic and e-commerce issues. He writes in his personal capacity.
