Current Affairs in B2B Space that You Need to Pay Attention To

As an entrepreneur and business leader, it’s critical to stay on top of everything that’s happening in the business world, especially those that might impact yours. One development in the market can either help you grow or become more insignificant. Remember movie and rental businesses that closed shop because of the rise of streaming services? Or social media sites that were once a thing but now aren’t? Their fate could have been reversed if they had adapted to the changing times. That is why it’s important to keep abreast of what’s ahead and more importantly, employ a futuristic and sustainable business model.

To help you get started, we’ve ran down some topics that may impact your businesses.

Human Resources: International Migration, Current Job Scenario and Policies

Leading this list is something that concerns your most valuable assets — people. In 2021, many businesses saw an HR phenomenon called the “Great Resignation” where people left their jobs to either pursue opportunities that pay better and have flexible working options, or take a break amidst the stressful backdrop of the ongoing pandemic. This created a shift in HR from an Employer-Driven Market to a Candidate-Driven one where candidates have more power over the process and there are a lot of opportunities everywhere.

International migration is also a buzzword recently in HR as people go back to their homes with remote work options now available. This becomes a challenge for companies who are not yet open to remote work but also presents a great opportunity for companies who are looking to hire top talents. The barriers are few and you can now tap into global talent quickly.

In terms of policies, more and more companies are updating theirs to promote diversity, equality and inclusion. This is to create and sustain a diverse yet harmonious workplace environment, no matter what an employee’s ethnicity, preferences or disability may be.

Data Security

Businesses regularly gather and retain crucial data, ranging from the personal data of their clients to sensitive financial data. The need for organizations to protect their data has increased due to the enormous volume of processed data and constantly changing data protection laws, such as the GDPR and CCPA. This is where data security comes into play. Data security is the process of securing data in compliance with legal requirements and professional norms. Strong data security measures can reduce risks and stop cyberattacks and data breaches for businesses.

Although data security has always been crucial, its significance is growing daily. Data is used in business processes more than ever, and the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly changed how some businesses interact with data. Retailers and the personal data they gather and retain as a result of rising online shopping activity have become major targets for hackers. While seeking to maintain productivity in the face of the widespread adoption of remote work, many other companies are compromising security by transferring data across external networks. When preparing for evolving dangers, these businesses need to take into account items like endpoint laptop devices. Holistic data security solutions must take into account the entire data lifecycle.

Growth Crisis

Growth crisis simply refers to the not so impressive revenue growth in the recent years. Even more troubling is the reality that many businesses with ostensibly good records of growth really earned them by unsustainable, incremental actions rather than through consistent growth from the core business, such as foreign expansion, acquisitions, or aggressive price rises.

The harsh reality is that, whether they are produced commodities or the “products” of a service organization, the majority of companies have begun to hit growth constraints based only on products. This is due, among other things, to the saturation of many markets. The innovation slowdown in many conventional industries, which has led to the production of essentially performance-undifferentiated goods, is another factor contributing to the growth dilemma. Additionally, the creation of wholly new items has recently shown to be an inconsistent source of growth. Certain high-tech industries have undoubtedly continued to see breakthrough innovation. But even there, long-term expansion is uncommon.

Intellectual Property

Patent litigation activity has been steadily declining for several years, but non-practicing entities (NPEs) are now driving the increase. The past two years have seen a roughly 10% increase in NPE patent litigation, with 2021 being the busiest year for NPEs since 2016. Industries include automotive, consumer electronics, e-commerce/software, financial services, medical, mobile communications and devices, and networking have been targeted by the recent spike in NPE activity.

Companies should plan ahead and include this risk in their contingency litigation expenditures in case they end up the target of an NPE litigation campaign. In order to detect and reduce potential risks, a proactive strategy could also involve routinely keeping an eye on the patent litigation activity in their sector and doing patent clearances on their goods and services.

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