Eco. 122 (Online Discussion/Quiz 2-23/01/2022–Trends in shaping a business)

Chukwu Gift Onyinyechi
2016/234636
Economics
1. Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

2. Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.

To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.

Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.

Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

3. Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.

To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

4. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.

Let us identify some considerations businesses must have in mind as they move with the cloud, i.e, how the COVID-19 pandemic crises and the world’s recovery are shaping the global economy.

*The return of confidence unlocks a consumer rebound.
*Leisure travels bounces back but business travels lags.
*The crisis sparks a wave of innovation and launches a generation of entrepreneurs.
*Digitally enabled productivity gains accelerate the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
*Pandemic-induced change in shopping behaviour forever alter consumer businesses.
*Supply chains rebalance and shift.
*Healthcare systems take stock and make changes.
*The hangovers begin as governments tackle rising debts.
*Stakeholder capitalism comes of age.

Trends in Shaping Businesses

•The aging workforce
•The rise of the millennial generation
•A more culturally diverse population
•The growth of virtual market places
•The automation of business activities
•The rise of the data economy

Prominent trends in shaping a business are:-

1. The rise of the millennial generation
As baby boomers retire, millennials will become predominant in the workplace.

What your business can do:

Position your business on social media—Social media is a must for recruiting younger employees and to position your company as a great place to work.
Partner with schools—Collaborating with universities and colleges through such initiatives as internships is a great way to find top young talent.
Invest in training—Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones.
2. The aging workforce
As the baby-boom generation retires, the labour pool will grow more slowly and even shrink in some regions.

What your business can do:

Create a more flexible workplace—Offering flexible hours, part-time jobs and temporary work are ways to keep older workers on board and attract millennials.
Improve benefits and compensation—Consider offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.
Boost your productivity—To make up for labour shortages, look for ways to become more productive through investments in equipment, technology and operational efficiency.
3. A more culturally diverse population
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market.

What your business can do:

Reach out to specific communities—Get started recruiting more immigrants by targeting specific immigrant communities through business associations and networks.
Adjust your training—Entrepreneurs who hire from culturally diverse groups need to ensure their training is customized to meet those groups’ needs.
Take advantage of the strengths of immigrant workers—A diverse workforce can improve your company’s capacity to expand globally.
4. The growth of virtual marketplaces
The Internet and mobile devices are completely changing the way consumers shop.

What your business can do:

Build your online presence—Create a digital ecosystem for your business, including a mobile friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages.
Learn how to attract customers online—Once your digital ecosystem is set up, launch a few simple campaigns, using tools such as Facebook ads or Google AdWords to learn how to bring in traffic at a price you can afford.
Work to improve continuously—Take action, measure the results and make changes to improve. Repeat.
5. The automation of business activities
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used to perform a vast range of activities. But automation is not only about robots—tech systems such as ERP and CRM can boost productivity and reduce costs by automating functions.

What your business can do:

Map out your business processes—Process mapping can provide insights into what functions should be automated first. This analysis, in turn, will lead you to the technology solutions that provide the most value for your business.
Involve your employees—Employees have intimate knowledge of your business processes and are invaluable resources in selecting and implementing systems. If they’re left out, they may resist using new technology.
Shop around—Make a careful assessment of what’s available to find the systems best-suited to your company. Many entrepreneurs are attracted to customized systems, but off-the-shelf products will often do the job at a lower cost and with fewer headaches down the road.
6. The rise of the data economy
Businesses now have the ability to collect and crunch huge amounts of data to uncover important business insights, thanks to the Internet and mobile communications.

What your business can do:

Know your customers—Small businesses can understand their customers better and capitalize on sales opportunities by using such tools as online surveys, data analytics programs and social media listening software.
Personalize your offerings—Data collected from your website, CRM system and other sources can help you personalize your products and services according to your customers’ needs and tastes.
Improve your efficiency with dashboards—By measuring your performance in key areas, you can evaluate how you are doing compared to internal goals or external benchmarks, such as industry averages. Select key performance indicators and use them to create performance dashboards

NAME : NWOSU ANGEL CHIAMAKA

DEPARTMENT : ECONOMICS

LEVEL : 400 LEVEL

REGISTRATION NUMBER : 2017/249536

The seven major business trends

1. Sustainable, resilient operations

Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

2. The balance between human
workers and intelligent robots

We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

3. The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience:

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

4. Flatter, more agile organizations:

Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.

This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure

5. Purposeful business:

This trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

6. Co-opetition and integration:

We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

7. New forms of funding:

The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

NAME: AMAEFULE RAPHEAL IZUCHUKWU
REG NO:2020/246139
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
Prominent trends in shaping a business
As trends come and go, emerging technologies allow new marketing and business management methods to emerge. People in the world of business do well when they have a good grasp on these new trends and concepts.
Among the many emerging trends changing the business world today, three stand out as perhaps the most influential: online marketing, data collection and video strategy. Getting a clear understanding of these methods early on is important to later success.
Here’s what leaders need to know about each of them:

Online marketing
The internet has changed the way people do business. Rather than making phone calls and sending faxes, people communicate through email; and instead of taking out ad space in magazines and newspapers, or spots on television and radio, companies invest in online marketing initiatives.
That’s not to say that traditional methods of doing business aren’t relevant anymore. People still use phones and purchase television advertising. However, executives are increasingly turning their focus to digital strategies.
Between February 2016 and February 2017, digital marketing spend increased 14.6 percent, according to The CMO Survey. In the same time period, traditional advertising spend increased just 0.6 percent, following five years of decline.
One of the major differences between traditional advertising and digital marketing is how the consumer perceives the message. In an online space, consumers want to be in charge of their experiences. They don’t want to see advertisements, and many people install ad blockers to reduce interference, Forbes contributor AJ Agrawal pointed out.
This has forced people to rethink what an “advertisement” looks like. Today, an advertisement can be a free e-book, a contest entry, an industry blog or a contributed article.
A huge benefit of online marketing is its targetability. Platforms like TV spots or billboards reach a wide range of people, some of whom might be interested in a certain product or service. But website data can tell marketers exactly who is looking at what, allowing them to pick and choose where to focus their advertising dollars and what the message should be, Startup Grind pointed out.
There are countless websites and blogs on the web today. Many have space for advertisements in their margins, news feeds or even directly in their content. It’s important to choose which websites will reach your target audience best, Boostability pointed out. Finding a niche blog that shares a similar audience as yours can help get your message out through new channels.

Data collection
Marketing makeovers aren’t the only benefit that businesses have realized through online tools. Businesses today can collect data on nearly anything: Who is visiting their website; how long it takes for their package to be delivered; how consumers use their products, and more, Forbes contributor Bernard Marr explained.
Every business, no matter how big or small, has access to some form of data that can give it greater insight into its consumer base, its internal company culture or its audience’s opinion of the company.
One form of data collection every business should already be using is website analytics, Analytics Ninja pointed out. These tools are installed into your website’s HTML and collect information about:
• How people access your website (such as through a computer or mobile device, as well as how they found your website, like through a Google search or a social media post).
• Where they live (such as the country, state or city, as well as the language their browsers are set to).
• What time of day they access your website.
• How much time they spend on your website, and which page they left from.
From this information, companies can learn how to improve their websites; if bounce rates are much higher on a certain platform, for example, they might investigate to determine whether a particular form, image or other object doesn’t load correctly on that device or browser. They can identify what time is best to have their live chat software active on their website based on the time of day they have the most web traffic. They might also use that to determine when to send out social media posts or newsletters for best engagement.
Another method to collect data is through loyalty programs, Entrepreneur pointed out. With the data collected through loyalty programs, businesses can customize the consumer experience. This not only reinforces the bond between company and consumer but also allows the business to learn more about its target audience.

Video strategy
Your online marketing campaign might contain a plethora of initiatives, like social media, blog posts and website ad spots. But if it doesn’t include video, you may be missing an important element in your messaging.
Consumers turn to videos for easily digestible yet highly informative content. They’re more likely to watch a video in its entirety, as opposed to reading a full blog post or article, according to data collected by Hubspot. Nearly half of respondents to Hubspot’s survey stated they spend at least one hour per day watching videos on Facebook or YouTube.
Business leaders are also using video to learn more about new trends and potential investments. Three-fourths of business executives told Forbes that they watch work-related videos on business websites on a weekly basis. More than half of senior executives said they share work-related videos with colleagues and that their peers share videos with them regularly.
Additionally, 42 percent of executives said they made a business-related purchase after watching a work-related video online. That number jumps to 51 percent when looking just at younger professionals, indicating that coming generations may value video even more than today’s leaders.
These three trends are changing the way leaders conduct business today. It’s important to have a solid understanding of these concepts and the many other ways business is evolving. by learning new business trends and staying up to date on the way business is changing, professionals may be more likely to find success in their careers.

Okeke Juliet Kelechi
2020/242642
Economics Dept.

Some of the most prominent trend in shaping a business are:
1. Social media engagement: Taking a business to social media opens it up to a whole new customer base, so beyond the business website, business owners must consider social media presence.
2. Low contact & cashless: Most business now often operates on cashless transactions and may not even come in contact with the customer with the help of social media and other platforms.
3. Sourcing local materials: Most businesses are now replacing their foreign raw materials with local substitutes in order to protect the company from problems arising from border restrictions.
4. Online customer service: Businesses are now following the trend of online customer service. A customer can now lay complaint or make enquires online through the business app or website, instead of stressing his/her self to go to the business premises.
5. Invest in training: Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones. Old and new workers should be trained at regular intervals to increase or retain their skills.

Name: UGWUOKE CHIKWADO
Reg. Number:2020/242634
E-mail: ugwuokechikwado599@gmail.com
The most prominent trends in shaping a business:
1. The social media space:With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.

Now is the time to place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.
2. Personalized content: Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.
3. Innovative technology: In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new customer relationship management (CRM) or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.

Name: Umeh Success Precious
Regno: 2020/243839
Course: Education Economics
Email: successprecious41@gmail.com

Trends in a business are those things that helps businesses grow financially and otherwise.
There are many trends but we look into 5
1. Entrepreneurship Is On The Rise:
Millions of people were laid-off or let go from their jobs entirely during the pandemic.
2.E-commerce: they re those businesses done online, and it’s the current trend of the world now.
3. Companies embrace Digital process: Digital process automation can help companies implement new offerings faster, scale up services efficiently, reduce errors, ensure consistency, help with regulatory compliance, and provide novel solutions to customers.
4. Revamping human resources: working from the house has become the idea of the time since the pandemic started. Data collected shows that 89% of employees want to be able to work remotely, at least part time.
5. Ad markets consolidate: Worldwide Google searches for the term influencer marketing have increased 45% in the past 5 years. Companies aren’t just relying on famous names either, they’re also turning to influencers with small but targeted audiences.

NAME: OSUCHUKWU VIVIAN CHIAMAKA
REG NO: 2020/245659
DEPT: ECONOMICS MAJOR
EMAIL: Vivianosuchukwu@gmail.com

1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.

4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name: Onyebueke Peace Oluchi
Reg number: 2020/242616
Email: peace.onyebueke.242616@unn.edu.ng
1. Research the Competition
2. Identify New Opportunities
3. Build an Email List
4. Consider a Franchise Model
5. Outsourcing
6. Globalization

Name: Mbibe Martha Queen.
Department: Combined Social Science (Economics and Political Science).
Reg No: 2020/242938
Course code: Eco 122( Introduction to Business Management).
QUESTION
BbTrends in shaping a business.
A Business is defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial or professional activities. Business types range from limited liability companies, sole proprietorship, corporation and partnership.
Business trend is a general change in the way business is developing. It is a shift or change in the fundamental business dynamics within an industry. Business trend the too drive Enterprise wide strategic decisions and are the result off shift’s in attitude, values, technologies and the economic landscape.
SOME TRENDS SHAPING A BUSINESS include:
1. Making the move online.
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to have to a must-to have . Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, a you may need to boost your back- to end technology to provide real time Information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay individuals decision n automating annual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.
2. Low contact and cashless.
The switch to cashless transaction has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk to theft, lower storage, transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.
3. Distributed Work.
The businesses that embrace flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal to trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there, the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractions.
4. Less Splurging, more Sharing.
The hit on business and subsequent job losses of the pandemic has swept in a wave of caution about how our hard_earned money is spent. Even businesses doing well this year are acting cautiously with conservative spending patterns tipped to extend into the future. The high uptake of buy- now pay- later services reflect the customer’s desire to spread their cash flow to suit their budget. It’s more important than ever to think about how your products and services are positioned, and offer customers flexible payment options.
5. The Volatile Demand.
The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves, stripped bare, and some business shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.
6. Local First
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession.
7. Well-being
The shift to a slower, simpler lifestyle has led to an inward focus on well-being. Many customers are now aspiring to be physically fitter, healthier any pay more attention to their mental health.

Definition: A business trend is. [a] shift or change in the fundamental business dynamics within an industry. Business trends tend to drive enterprise-wide strategic decisions and are the result of shifts in attitudes, values, technologies and the economic landscape.

Here are 7 business plans in shaping a business:

-Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

– Up Your Social Engagement
Today’s buyer spends an average person of 116 minutes on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, MailMunch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.
With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.

– Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.
To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.
Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.
Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

– Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

– Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

– Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
– Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.
To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

Name:Ekwe Okwuchukwu Cletus
Department: Economics
Reg. No:2020/242587
Level:100

The most prominent trends in shaping a business are:
1. Cashless society
2. Loneliness
3. Climate resilient infrastructure
4. Battery Revolution

1. Cashless society
It’s no secret that digital transactions are taking over in everyday business transactions.But, according to the study,we may become truly cashless economy within the next few years despite resistance from arguing that it enhances social inequality and that it can contribute to vulnerabilities in the digital and financial ecosystems.

2. loneliness
Levels of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s.What’s even devastating is that urban cities including New York, Hong Kong are amongst the loneliest.This is not good for health,nor is it good for businesses.The Hearn suggests offering multiple channels to employees so they can speak with each other, along with managers directly.

3. Climate resilient infrastructure
Last year was the hottest year on record.In addition, there were severe climate events throughout the World, contributing to $160 billion in changes.Annual loss caused by flooding is expected to reach $52 billion by 2050,up from just $6 billion in 2015.This is a major threat to businesses, which will need to adopt to climate change driven weather events as the number of natural disasters continue to increase.

4.Battery Revolution
Good scale batteries are expected to expand thirteen fold over the next 5 years,in the United States, 44 states have proposed or under construction battery storage projects.This is expected to play a major role in decarbonization, although there are many hurdles to overcome.Solar power can only be produced with sun,and wind turbines need wind.Within the battery storage industry,there are supply chain risks for lithium-ion battery input metals.

BUSINESS TRENDS
A business trend is a general change in the way business is developing. Business trends tends to drive enterprise wide strategic decisions and this is as a result of attitudes,values, technologies and the economic landscape.

THE MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS

1. BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain is a distributed database that runs on millions and millionsof computers. It uses an art of cryptography to record movement of digital assets along a distributed ledger. Transactions are updated simultaneously and this can only go through when enough parties on the network sign off on them. The future looks better with Blockchain.

2. EMBRACING MILLENIALS
The millennials tends to seek creative ways to perform roles better and constantly looking for ways to improve the workplace. This leads to innovation and helps jumpstart change within large organisations.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA
Most businesses are now active on the social media and they do connect with existing and potential customers on the media platform. So many companies use the social media as a platform to promote their businesses.

NJOKU CHISOM PRECIOUS
Department: ECONOMICS
Reg no.2020/245277
Course:ECO122

NAME: Edozie Adaugo Olivia
REG.NUMBER: 2020/248247
EMAIL: adaugolivia2004@gmail.com

TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS
Some of the trends that can shape a business are:
1. More paid placement advertising
paid placement is coming into its own, with immersive, targeted and video – centric content. With this means; you appear in the search results alone with organically – ranked article. This is powerful because customers who are searching for what you sell will see your content.

2. The automation of business activities
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used to perform a vast range of activities which helps boost productivity and reduce cost.

3. E – commerce
Internet (social media) has made it easier and faster for businesses to be distributed. With this means customers find it more reliable and efficient to shop online rather than going physical to stores.

4. A more culturally diverse population
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market which will increase growth and speed of the business.

5. Growing an online community
Creating an online community of like minded individuals can foster valuable connections around your brand by sharing quality content about your field of expertise, from webinars to blogs; you will be able to establish yourself as an authority in your industry and gain the trust of your audience.

6. Total data transparency
This requires openness and clear communications of values and ethics and it must be continuously earned in other to capture the markets love and believe.

Name: Ogbuagu daniella Agnes
Reg Number: 2020/242618
Department : Economics
Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operation

Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

Trend 2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots

We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

Trend 3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

Trend 4:
Flatter, more agile organizations
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.
This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

Trend 5: Authenticity

Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

Trend 6: Purposeful business

Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

Trend 7: Co-opetition and integration

We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

Trend 8: New forms of funding

The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

NAME:Nnaji Chinaza Edith
REG NO:2020/245658
DEPT: Economics
There five prominent trend shaping a business
Trend 1:
sustainable resilience operation: every organisation must seek to eliminate or reduce environmental cost of doing business. Decarbonising the supply chain is a sensible way to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve stability across all business operations. And of course stability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for a long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption .
Trend 2
Thee shifting talent pool and changing employee experience: the way we work is evolving with more younger people entering the workforce more gig workers and more remote workers. In the book human cloud Matthew Mottola coatney argued that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past as organisations shift from hiring people on contract basis with those contractors working remotely.
Trend 3
Flatter,more agile organization: traditionally organisations has been very hierarchical and rigid in their structure. This is changing as leaders recognise the need to flatter, more agile structure that allows businesses to quickly reorganize teams and respond to changes. It is also, in part, a respond to changing nature of work particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.
Trend 4
Authenticity: today’s customers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And also this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as the business trend in its own way. Authenticity helps to Foster human connections because as humans we like to see brands display important human qualities like honesty integrity reliability commitment and empathy and maybe even a little bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands to care about issues and not just a turning profit.
Trend 5
Purposeful business: linked to authenticity this trend is all about ensuring that your company serves a meaningful purpose and not just serve up profit to shareholders. Purpose defines why an organisation exist not what the organisation is or what it does or form therefore purpose is different from mission and visions of an organisation. Importantly a strong purpose have the promise of transformation and striving for something better.
Trend 6
New form of funding: the ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing, new platforms and mechanism has sprung up to connect investors and donors_think crowdfunding initial coin offering (ICOs) tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) meaning of this new method are driven by decentralization finance movement in which financial services like borrowing and trading takes place in peer-to-peer network via a public decentralized blockchain network

Name:-Chianumba precious Chioma
Reg no;-2020/242581
Email:- chianumbap@gmail.com
1. Making the move online
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.

Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk

Tip: Replicate your in-store experience with high resolution images showcasing multiple angles and detailed descriptions of the product.

Tools from the Xero app marketplace we love: Shopify, Deputy, Tanda and Stripe.

2. Low contact and cashless
The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.

Tip: Consider moving all your transactions to cash-free, tap-and-go. Explore new checkout options, including digital wallets, and contact-free ways to service your customer such as home delivery.

Tools from the Xero app marketplace we love: Kounta, Vend, ServiceM8

3. Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.

Tip: Check in with your team to understand their working preference, and make sure your IT systems and in-home devices used for work purposes are secure from cyber attack.

Tools from the Xero app marketplace we love: WorkflowMax, Accelo and Roll.

4. Continuity planning
If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.

Tip: Develop and rehearse contingency plans with your team and seek advice from business owners who have been through similar disruptions.

5. Less splurging, more sharing
The hit on business and subsequent job losses of the pandemic has swept in a wave of caution about how our hard-earned money is spent. Even businesses doing well this year are acting cautiously, with conservative spending patterns tipped to extend into the future. The high uptake of buy-now pay-later services and pay-as-you-go subscription services reflect the customer’s desire to spread their cashflow to suit their budget. It’s more important than ever to think about how your products and services are positioned, and offer customers flexible payment options.

Tip: Consider offering customers flexible buy-now, pay-later payment options.

6. Volatile demand
The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves stripped bare, and some businesses shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly, predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.

Tip: Develop plans to shorten lead times and scale production up or down as required.

7. Local first
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers).

Tips Review your suppliers with an eye to reducing risk, and highlight local sourcing in your product descriptions to harness the power of storytelling.

8. Health front and centre
Suddenly, health and hygiene are front of mind every time we leave the house. We’ve all learned how to wash our hands properly, we’re sanitising like never before, and we’re no longer ignoring that lingering cough or cold. These habits are here to stay, and your customers are likely to remain vigilant around potential sources of infection as we move into the future. We’re also seeing a growing desire to better understand our own health, so businesses operating in the health and wellbeing sector have the opportunity to adapt to a whole new world of healthcare, including wearable tracking devices, home testing and home-delivery.

Tip: Keep on top of government regulations to ensure your business is compliant, and ensure this is clearly communicated to staff and customers.

9. Cocooning
Our homes have provided a sanctuary during the pandemic, and the desire to spend our leisure and working time in our safe space will likely be sticking around. This presents an exciting opportunity for businesses offering products or services for the home, as customers invest in setting their space up for leisure, work and exercise.

Tip: Promote existing services that allow your customers to be self-sufficient and trial ways of providing your services at home.

10. Wellbeing
2020 has been labelled by some as the “great pause”. While this year has been incredibly challenging, it has also allowed non-essential workers to spend more time with their families. The shift to a slower, simpler lifestyle has led to an inward focus on wellbeing. Many customers are now aspiring to be physically fitter, healthier, and pay more attention to their mental health

Tip: Check in with your own team to see how they are coping and share stress-relief strategies to support their mental health.

As we move through 2020 it’s important for business owners to be kind to themselves. Plateaus and struggles are a reality for everyone right now (especially in light of increased restrictions in Victoria), but the resilience gained through these challenges will put you in good stead to tackle the future. If you’re struggling with which steps to take next, you can find more support and practical insights to help keep your business moving inside Xero’s handbook.

Business Chicks have partnered with Xero to provide you with a host of informative and inspiring content on everything from tax and cash flow to mental health and wellbeing (and all that lies in between). All so you’ll be prepared to master the ins and outs of small business life – now, and into the future. For more, check out our Small Business Hub.

NAME: ADONU CHISOM PETER
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCES (ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY)
REG NO.: 2020/246581
COURSE: ECO 122

1. THE RISE OF MILLENNIAL GENERATION:
As baby boomers retire, millennials will become predominant in the workplace.

What your business can do:

Position your business on social media—Social media is a must for recruiting younger employees and to position your company as a great place to work.
Partner with schools—Collaborating with universities and colleges through such initiatives as internships is a great way to find top young talent.
Invest in training—Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones.
2. THE AGING WORKFORCE:
As the baby-boom generation retires, the labour pool will grow more slowly and even shrink in some regions.

What your business can do:

Create a more flexible workplace—Offering flexible hours, part-time jobs and temporary work are ways to keep older workers on board and attract millennials.
Improve benefits and compensation—Consider offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.
Boost your productivity—To make up for labour shortages, look for ways to become more productive through investments in equipment, technology and operational efficiency.
3. A MORE CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATION:
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market.

What your business can do:

Reach out to specific communities—Get started recruiting more immigrants by targeting specific immigrant communities through business associations and networks.
Adjust your training—Entrepreneurs who hire from culturally diverse groups need to ensure their training is customized to meet those groups’ needs.
Take advantage of the strengths of immigrant workers—A diverse workforce can improve your company’s capacity to expand globally.
4. THE GROWTH OF VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE:
The Internet and mobile devices are completely changing the way consumers shop.

What your business can do:

Build your online presence—Create a digital ecosystem for your business, including a mobile friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages.
Learn how to attract customers online—Once your digital ecosystem is set up, launch a few simple campaigns, using tools such as Facebook ads or Google AdWords to learn how to bring in traffic at a price you can afford.
Work to improve continuously—Take action, measure the results and make changes to improve.
5. THE AUTOMATION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES:
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used to perform a vast range of activities. But automation is not only about robots—tech systems can boost productivity and reduce costs by automating functions.

What your business can do:

Map out your business processes—Process mapping can provide insights into what functions should be automated first. This analysis, in turn, will lead you to the technology solutions that provide the most value for your business.
Involve your employees—Employees have intimate knowledge of your business processes and are invaluable resources in selecting and implementing systems. If they’re left out, they may resist using new technology.
Shop around—Make a careful assessment of what’s available to find the systems best-suited to your company. Many entrepreneurs are attracted to customized systems, but off-the-shelf products will often do the job at a lower cost and with fewer headaches down the road.
6. THE RISE OF THE DATA ECONOMY:
Businesses now have the ability to collect and crunch huge amounts of data to uncover important business insights, thanks to the Internet and mobile communications.

What your business can do:

Know your customers—Small businesses can understand their customers better and capitalize on sales opportunities by using such tools as online surveys, data analytics programs and social media listening software.
Personalize your offerings—Data collected from your website, and other sources can help you personalize your products and services according to your customers’ needs and tastes.
Improve your efficiency with dashboards—By measuring your performance in key areas, you can evaluate how you are doing compared to internal goals or external benchmarks, such as industry averages.

NAME: OKORAFOR CHINONYEREM MGBO
MATRIC NUMBER:2020/242636
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
COURSE CODE: ECO 122
COURSE TITLE: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

1: Sustainable, resilient operations.
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots.
We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience.
The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers.

4: Flatter, more agile organizations.
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.
This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

5: Authenticity.
Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

6: Purposeful business.
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

7: Co-opetition and integration.
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

8: New forms of funding.
The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors. Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

In addition to these eight trends, there will also be transformative technology trends in 2022 including artificial intelligence and increasing digitization, which every company must be ready for.

Name : Orji David Kenechukwu
Reg no : 2020/242635
Department: Economics
E-mail : orjid9881@gmail.com
Level : 100

(1). Most prominent trends in shaping a business includes

(A). E-business
(B). Sales promotion
(C). Online marketing
(D). Online ads

NAME: REMIGIUS CHIDEBERE RICHARD
REG NO.: 2020/242621
DEPT.: MAJOR ECONOMICS
EMAIL: bcrichardremigius@gmail.com

4 Factors That Shape Market Trends

Trends are what allow traders and investors to capture profits. Whether on a short- or long-term time frame, in an overall trending market or a range of environment, the flow from one price to another is what creates profits and losses. There are four major factors that cause both long-term trends and short-term fluctuations. These factors are government, international transactions, speculation and expectation and supply and demand.

Here are the four major factors:

1. Government:

Government holds much sway over the free markets. The fiscal and monetary policies that governments and their central banks put in place have a profound effect on the financial marketplace. By increasing and decreasing interest rates, the U.S. Federal Reserve can effectively slow or attempt to speed up growth within the country. This is called monetary policy. If government spending increases or contracts, this is known as fiscal policy and can be used to help ease unemployment and/or stabilize prices. By altering interest rates and the amount of dollars available on the open market, governments can change how much investment flows into and out of the country. (Learn more in our Federal Reserve System tutorial.)

2. International Transactions:

The flow of funds between countries effects the strength of a country’s economy and its currency. The more money that is leaving a country, the weaker the country’s economy and currency. Countries that predominantly export, whether physical goods or services, are continually bringing money into their countries. This money can then be reinvested and can stimulate the financial markets within those countries.

3. Speculation and Expectation:

Speculation and expectation are integral parts of the financial system. Consumers, investors and politicians all hold different views about where they think the economy will go in the future and that effects how they act today. Expectation of future action is dependent on current acts and shapes both current and future trends. Sentiment indicators are commonly used to gauge how certain groups are feeling about the current economy. Analysis of these indicators as well as other forms of fundamental and technical analysis can create a bias or expectation of future price rates and trend direction.

4. Supply and Demand:

Supply and demand for products, services, currencies and other investments creates a push-pull dynamic in prices. Prices and rates change as supply or demand changes. If something is in demand and supply begins to shrink, prices will rise. If supply increases beyond current demand, prices will fall. If supply is relatively stable, prices can fluctuate higher and lower as demand increases or decreases.
These factors can cause both short- and long-term fluctuations in the market, but it is also important to understand how all these elements come together to create trends. While all of these major factors are categorically different, they are closely linked to one another. Government mandates can effect international transactions, which play a role in speculation and changes in supply and demand can play a role in each of these other factors..

Name: igbokwe Gloria somtoochukwu
Reg number: 2020/245316
Economics
Email: igbokwegloria2003@gmail.com

TRENDS IN SHAPING IN BUSINESS

1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.

4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name: Okaome Esther Chioma
Reg no 2017/249554
Email address: estherokaome@gmail.com
Dept: Economics Tooic: Trends in shaping a business.

Business world has always been buffeted by change, but current shifts in everything from communication techniques to consumer expectations appear little short of seismic.

Look beyond the ‘bottom line’ and competition to nurture valueConverting from a business culture where the bottom line takes priority may sound like a tall order – especially in a tough economic climate – but speaker and author on business model innovation Alex Osterwalder(fans of his latest co-created bestseller Business Model Generation include GE and Sony Ericsson) says all too often the focus is on balance sheets and business rivals at the expense of product. “We focus too much on competition and financial objectives rather than being value and customer centric. Apple is a great example where design thinking comes first, and profit has followed.”Osterwalder adds that experimentation through disruptive business models is crucial to future business innovation, but it should not be at the expense of the current game plan: “Keep focus on the core business while building teams that experiment with business tools for tomorrow. This is a challenge, but major companies must do this to maintain number one market position.”

The trends in shaping a business:
Making the move online. Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. … 
Low contact and cashless. … 
Distributed work. … 
Continuity planning. … 
Less splurging, more sharing. … 
Volatile demand. … 
Local first. … 
Health front and centre.
some other trends are;
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.
2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Big data, the cloud, the internet of things, robots, automation, video, collaboration platforms, and other technologies are changing the way we work and live.

NAME: ONOKA ESTHER CHIKA
REG NUMBER:2020/242905
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS AND PSYCHOLOGY)
COURSE:ECO 122
MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS

Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operations

Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

Trend 2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots

Capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry.
Trend 3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers.

Name: Nsude Onyinyechi Gift
Reg No: 2020/245128
Trends in shaping a business
1Continuity planning:If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.
2. Making the move online
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have.  Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.
Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk
3. Customers Reviews: the critics or reviews are crucial to shaping a business. It helps the individual to know where to improve and how to do so
4.Record keeping: keeping of records is essential to the business. To ascertain the financial position of the business to know if the business is making profit or loss.

Name : Ezeme Lilian ifeoma
Department: Economics
Reg no: 2020/249501

1. Improved AI :
it is being seen as a tool that brings machines a wee bit closer to mimicking human.
In July, San Francisco-based OpenAI stunned everyone with the capabilities of its AI language model, the GPT-3. The text generator can pen fiction, compose poetry and write business memos — all without any human intervention.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner. Consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.
PWC discovered that AI will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. In 2021, accelerated investment from businesses in machine learning and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve operations will take place.

2. New forms of funding:
The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and
special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

3.cashless society : Digital transaction are taking over the business transactions in most of the world today.
According to Global findex databased,they presume that the cashless transaction is expected to rise by 21% in the emerging markets and by more than 7% in developed market over two years.
Sweden is the first nation to go on cashless transaction followed by Rwanda.
In Nigeria people no longer Carry a lot of money around ,they pay in and cash out through POS which is more faster saving the stress of long queue in the bank and risk of being robbed .

4. Security & Access Control :
As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements. These industries stand to benefit most from a digital transformation but require protections in the process. Not only to limit the risks and maintain compliance but also to bring confidence to decision-makers. Together with IT teams and end-users, these leaders will work to build processes and trust in analytics and databases .

5. Connected Cloud :
Business intelligence is also making its
move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses.

With years of experience in cloud computing, UX/UI, mobility, big data, analytics, robotic process automation, agile software development methodologies, and DevOps, our team knows what’s needed to enhance the customer experience, optimize business processes and help businesses become more agile.
Business Intelligence services can assist you in understanding your customers better, and designing and delivering reports to manage your business. In addition, VLink’s information management capabilities can help your organization transform data into actionable insights which then allows you to make critical decisions with confidence.

Name: Uzoigwe ogechukwu
Department: economics
Reg number: 2020/242627
Topic: trends in shaping a business.

As business evolved, different changes were made, which made business as a whole become more flexible and conform to the changing society. The development of technology has in many ways improved the business world at large and many more new discoveries.
However, I have chosen to highlight 6 major trends which are made room for a better and more convenient business society/ world. Below are the few points;
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.
2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.
3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.
4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.
5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name: Dickson Ezinne Edith
Reg no: 2020/242619
Department: Economics

Prominent Trends in Shaping a Business:
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.

4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Making the move online. Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. …
Low contact and cashless. …
Distributed work. …
Continuity planning. …
Less splurging, more sharing. …
Volatile demand. …
Local first. …
Health front and centre.

Name : okoye Ogechim yegra-owo
Dept :Combined social science( Eco /pol)
Reg no:2020/242986

A trend is a pattern of gradual change in a particular condition.the following are some of the most important and well known business trends.
1. Sustainable operations.
2. Authenticity:. A lot of customers seek meaningful connection with products and they want them to care about issues other than profit making
3. Empathetic and personalized customer service
4. Using social media as a marketing and advertising platform for your business
5. Training all employees irrespective of their past experience with the business
6. E-commerce: the is buying and selling over the internet and it uses social media as a platform.
7. Producing content in multiple formats for multiple channels.

Name} Onah Lotanna Favour
Reg No.} 2020/242607
1} Making the move online

Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have.  Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.

2} Low contact and cashless

The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.

3} Distributed work

Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.

4} Continuity planning

If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.

5} Less splurging, more sharing

The hit on business and subsequent job losses of the pandemic has swept in a wave of caution about how our hard-earned money is spent. Even businesses doing well this year are acting cautiously, with conservative spending patterns tipped to extend into the future. The high uptake of buy-now pay-later services and pay-as-you-go subscription services reflect the customer’s desire to spread their cashflow to suit their budget. It’s more important than ever to think about how your products and services are positioned, and offer customers flexible payment options.

6} Volatile demand

The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves stripped bare, and some businesses shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly, predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.

7}Local first
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers).

Name: Ekwegbara Everestar Chibugo
Reg no: 2020/243840
Dept: Education Economics

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS;

1. Improved AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner. Consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.
According to a report by PwC, AI will contribute, accelerated investment from businesses in machine learning and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve operations will take place.

2. SECURITY & ACCESS CONTROL
As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements. These industries stand to benefit most from a digital transformation but require protections in the process. One layer of this is data governance. Not only to reduce risks and maintain compliance but also to bring confidence to decision-makers. Together with IT teams and end-users, these leaders will work to build processes and trust in analytics and databases.

3. CONNECTED CLOUD
Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses. we’ll see a merging of multi-cloud, hybrid, and edge solutions to allow companies maximum flexibility and the best results.
With years of experience in cloud computing, UX/UI, mobility, big data, analytics, robotic process automation, agile software development methodologies, and DevOps, our team knows what’s needed to enhance the customer experience, optimize business processes and help businesses become more agile.

4. TOTAL TRANSPARENCY : brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – an

5. EQUALITY FOCUS : is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

6. CULTURAL CAPITAL – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

NAME: ONAH JUDITH UGOCHI
REG NO: 2020/242646
DEPT: ECONOMICS
EMAIL: onahjudith4@gmail.com

The most prominent trends in shaping a business includes;

1. INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES:
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.
Investing in innovative technology that makes your clients happier is a wise and profitable trend to follow in order to shape your business positively. Especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.
A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.
The key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients. through seamless and enhanced experiences across communication platforms.

2) SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENTS:
Today, an average person spends an average of 116 minutes and some spend hours on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.
And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, Social media has a higher engagement rate.
With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.
Through social media you can place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.

3) BUILDING ONLINE PRESENCE:
Create a digital ecosystem for your business. Include a mobile friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages learn how to attract customers online. Once your digital ecosystem is set up, launch a few simple campaigns, using tools such as Facebook ads or Google AdWords to learn how to bring in traffic at a price you can afford. This trend can only continue.

4) MOBILITY:
Today, as long as you have a mobile phone that can connect to the internet, your location doesn’t matter anymore when it comes to being able to do your job, sell, or advertise your business. That’s the new trend.
For as long as you can connect to the internet, you can access the same people and information as if you were working in an office building. Through mobile devices, we can get connected anywhere and everywhere we go.
More than half of all internet searches and email opens, now take place on mobile devices and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, you are at the risk of hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.
To prevent such from happening, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance on a phone or tablet.

5) GLOBALIZATION:
The world is becoming just like one big city. The language you speak, the currency you transact in, and your physical location are starting to matter less. This is essentially the ability for organizations to work in a world where boundaries do not exist.
You can work in Nigeria, yet have clients in Ghana, China, or South Africa and same goes for employees. Boundaries to working with anyone, anywhere are disappearing and this trend can only continue.

6. MILLENNIALS IN THE WORKPLACE:
The important thing about millennials is not the fact that they might bring new approaches, ideas, values or styles of working, it’s that there are going to be so many of them.
This is a generation of employees with technological fluency who are willing to live at home longer until they find a company they truly want to work for.
Therefore, organizations must shift from creating an environment where they assume that people need to work there to one where people want to work there.
By offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.

NAME: OKECHI FRANCIS UCHE
REG NO: 2020/242648
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
Trends in shaping a business in the modern century are:

1. Making the move online
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.
Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk

2. Low contact and cashless
The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.

3. Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.

4. Continuity planning
If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.

5. Volatile demand
The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves stripped bare, and some businesses shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly, predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.

6. Local first
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers).

7. Health front and centre
Suddenly, health and hygiene are front of mind every time we leave the house. We’ve all learned how to wash our hands properly, we’re sanitising like never before, and we’re no longer ignoring that lingering cough or cold. These habits are here to stay, and your customers are likely to remain vigilant around potential sources of infection as we move into the future. We’re also seeing a growing desire to better understand our own health, so businesses operating in the health and wellbeing sector have the opportunity to adapt to a whole new world of healthcare, including wearable tracking devices, home testing and home-delivery.

8. Cocooning
Our homes have provided a sanctuary during the pandemic, and the desire to spend our leisure and working time in our safe space will likely be sticking around. This presents an exciting opportunity for businesses offering products or services for the home, as customers invest in setting their space up for leisure, work and exercise

NAME: OHA UJUNWA EMMANUELLA
REGISTRATION NUMBER: 2020/242643
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS

THE PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS ARE:

1). The rise of the millennial generation

As baby boomers retire, millennials will become predominant in the workplace.
Position your business on social media—Social media is a must for recruiting younger employees and to position your company as a great place to work.
Partner with schools—Collaborating with universities and colleges through such initiatives as internships is a great way to find top young talent.Invest in training—Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones.

2). Create a more flexible workplace—Offering flexible hours, part-time jobs and temporary work are ways to keep older workers on board and attract millennials.
Improve benefits and compensation—Consider offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.
Boost your productivity—To make up for labour shortages, look for ways to become more productive through investments in equipment, technology and operational efficiency.

3). A more culturally diverse population
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market.
Reach out to specific communities—Get started recruiting more immigrants by targeting specific immigrant communities through business associations and networks.
Adjust your training—Entrepreneurs who hire from culturally diverse groups need to ensure their training is customized to meet those groups’ needs.
Take advantage of the strengths of immigrant workers—A diverse workforce can improve your company’s capacity to expand globally.

4). The growth of virtual marketplaces
The Internet and mobile devices are completely changing the way consumers shop.
Build your online presence—Create a digital ecosystem for your business, including a mobile friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages.
Learn how to attract customers online—Once your digital ecosystem is set up, launch a few simple campaigns, using tools such as Facebook ads or Google AdWords to learn how to bring in traffic at a price you can afford.Work to improve continuously.

5).The rise of the data economy
Businesses now have the ability to collect and crunch huge amounts of data to uncover important business insights, thanks to the Internet and mobile communication
Know your customers—Small businesses can understand their customers better and capitalize on sales opportunities by using such tools as online surveys, data analytics programs and social media listening software.

6). Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

7). Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

8). Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

9). Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

10). Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

ORAJIAKU CHIDERA PRINCEWILL
2020/242647
ECONOMICS

The prominent trends in shaping a business include:

IMPROVED AI:

Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner. Consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.
According to a report by PwC, AI will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. In 2021, accelerated investment from businesses in machine learning and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve operations will take place.

SECURITY AND ACCESS CONTROL:

As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements. These industries stand to benefit most from a digital transformation but require protections in the process. One layer of this is data governance, and we’ll see more of it in 2021. Not only to reduce risks and maintain compliance but also to bring confidence to decision-makers. Together with IT teams and end-users, these leaders will work to build processes and trust in analytics and databases throughout 2021.

CONNECTED CLOUD

Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses. In 2021, we’ll see a merging of multi-cloud, hybrid, and edge solutions to allow companies maximum flexibility and the best results.
With years of experience in cloud computing, UX/UI, mobility, big data, analytics, robotic process automation, agile software development methodologies, and DevOps, our team knows what’s needed to enhance the customer experience, optimize business processes and help businesses become more agile.

NAME: NWANOSIKE CHINONSO AMOS
MATRIC NO: 2020/242603
COURSE CODE: ECO 122
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
LEVEL:100

1.MAKING THE MOVE ONLINE
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.
Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk.

2. LOW CONTACT AND CASHLESS
The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.
Consider moving all your transactions to cash-free, tap-and-go. Explore new checkout options, including digital wallets, and contact-free ways to service your customer such as home delivery.

3. DISTRIBUTED WORK
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.

Check in with your team to understand their working preference, and make sure your IT systems and in-home devices used for work purposes are secure from cyber attack.
Tools from the Xero app marketplace we love: WorkflowMax, Accelo and Roll.

4. CONTINUITY PLANNING
If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.
NOTE: Develop and rehearse contingency plans with your team and seek advice from business owners who have been through similar disruptions.

5. LESS PLURDGING MORE SHARING
The hit on business and subsequent job losses of the pandemic has swept in a wave of caution about how our hard-earned money is spent. Even businesses doing well this year are acting cautiously, with conservative spending patterns tipped to extend into the future. The high uptake of buy-now pay-later services and pay-as-you-go subscription services reflect the customer’s desire to spread their cashflow to suit their budget. It’s more important than ever to think about how your products and services are positioned, and offer customers flexible payment options.
HINT: Consider offering customers flexible buy-now, pay-later payment options.

6. VOLATILE DEMAND
The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves stripped bare, and some businesses shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly, predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.
Tip: Develop plans to shorten lead times and scale production up or down as required.

7. LOCAL FIRST
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers).
Tips Review your suppliers with an eye to reducing risk, and highlight local sourcing in your product descriptions to harness the power of storytelling.

Suddenly, health and hygiene are front of mind every time we leave the house. We’ve all learned how to wash our hands properly, we’re sanitising like never before, and we’re no longer ignoring that lingering cough or cold. These habits are here to stay, and your customers are likely to remain vigilant around potential sources of infection as we move into the future. We’re also seeing a growing desire to better understand our own health, so businesses operating in the health and wellbeing sector have the opportunity to adapt to a whole new world of healthcare, including wearable tracking devices, home testing and home-delivery.
Tip: Keep on top of government regulations to ensure your business is compliant, and ensure this is clearly communicated to staff and customers.

8. WELL-BEING
Last year has been labelled by some as the “great pause”. While this year has been incredibly challenging, it has also allowed non-essential workers to spend more time with their families. The shift to a slower, simpler lifestyle has led to an inward focus on wellbeing. Many customers are now aspiring to be physically fitter, healthier, and pay more attention to their mental health

As we move through 2020 it’s important for business owners to be kind to themselves. Plateaus and struggles are a reality for everyone right now (especially in light of increased restrictions in Victoria), but the resilience gained through these challenges will put you in good stead to tackle the future. If you’re struggling with which steps to take next, you can find more support and practical insights to help keep your business moving inside Xero’s handbook.

The business world has always been buffeted by change, but current shifts in everything from communication techniques to consumer expectations appear little short of seismic.
Top Business Trends
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.

4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

How to measure national income
National income refers to the Sim of the Calle of all the good and service produced by the residents of a country in a year, within it’s sometime boundaries or outside. Whole national income formula refers to the formula that is used in other to calculate value of total items produced by the country.
Forms for finding national income: C+G+I+X+F-D
Where:
C is the consumption
G is the government expenses
I is the investments
X is hey exports (exports let import)
F is the national residents foreign production
D is the non-national residents domestic production.
Methods of calculating national income
1) Income method:
This method we eat bet income payments received bro all the citizens of a country in a particular year.
2) Product method:
To calculate the national income with product method, the aggregate value of final goods and services produced in a country during a financial year is computed at market price.
3) Expenditure method:
The total Expenditure by the society in a financial year is summed up together and includes personal consumption, expenditure, bet domestic investment government Expenditure on goods d and not foreign investment.
4) Value Added Method:
The distinction between the Calle of material output and materials input at every state of production is value added.
Name: Nwankwo Jasper Uchechukwu
Department: Combined social sciences (Eco/Pol)
Reg No: 2020/24282980

Name: Enechukwu Ebube felicitas
Dept:: Economics
Reg No:2020/242592
1.)Micro influencers helps drives sales so it’s needed in shaping a business.
2.) Increase spend on social media::These days social media helps in shaping a business in the sense that it improves sales.
3) Business environment helps as a factor in shaping business , environment helps in shaping a business a developed environment improves sales in a business.
4.)Total Transparency:: A genuine transparent business helps in shaping it .It makes people trust and patronize the business which leads to shaping it.
5.) Customer service needs to be personalised and empathetic.

NAME: EGWIM CHINONSO THERESA
REG NO:2020/242593
LEVEL:100
EMAIL ADDRESS: egwimtheresa2@gmail.com

Trends in shaping a business.
(Based on the post pandemic and my point of view)
Understanding the changes in the psychology of your customer is key to shaping your business for the future, whether you’re currently facing a tightening or easing of restrictions. Here are the top ten trends, tips and tools you can action right now to keep your business moving and growing into the future.
1. Making the move online
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.
Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk
.

2. Low contact and cashless
The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.

3. Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.

4. Continuity planning
If we’ve learned one thing in 2020, it’s the value of a business continuity plan. No one could have predicted that in a few short months we’d be hit with bushfires, smoke pollution, wild storms, a global pandemic and economic recession. While no one has a crystal ball, businesses can put plans in place to prepare for events that may cause disruption. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, recession or equipment failure. Consider the potential impact of such disruptions, and note some actions that you could take should the worst happen.

5. Less splurging, more sharing
The hit on business and subsequent job losses of the pandemic has swept in a wave of caution about how our hard-earned money is spent. Even businesses doing well this year are acting cautiously, with conservative spending patterns tipped to extend into the future. The high uptake of buy-now pay-later services and pay-as-you-go subscription services reflect the customer’s desire to spread their cashflow to suit their budget. It’s more important than ever to think about how your products and services are positioned, and offer customers flexible payment options.

6. Volatile demand
The pandemic has had a severe impact on supply and demand of businesses. In a few short months we’ve seen supermarket shelves stripped bare, and some businesses shut their doors while others boom. Economic progress is not orderly, predictable or linear, with location and population size contributing factors.

7. Local first
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers).

.
8. Health front and centre
Suddenly, health and hygiene are front of mind every time we leave the house. We’ve all learned how to wash our hands properly, we’re sanitising like never before, and we’re no longer ignoring that lingering cough or cold. These habits are here to stay, and your customers are likely to remain vigilant around potential sources of infection as we move into the future. We’re also seeing a growing desire to better understand our own health, so businesses operating in the health and wellbeing sector have the opportunity to adapt to a whole new world of healthcare, including wearable tracking devices, home testing and home-delivery.

9. Cocooning
Our homes have provided a sanctuary during the pandemic, and the desire to spend our leisure and working time in our safe space will likely be sticking around. This presents an exciting opportunity for businesses offering products or services for the home, as customers invest in setting their space up for leisure, work and exercise.

With these trends I feel that our business growth and finances will improve drastically and for the better.

NAME: ANYANWU CHINAZAEKPERE MAVIS
REG NO: 2020/243851
DEPARTMENT: EDUCATION/ECONOMICS

Trends in shaping a business

Across all sectors, organizations are grappling with rapid transformation. On top of that, there are enormous global shifts and challenges to contend with, such as climate change, and shifting political and economic power. To put it bluntly, our world is changing fast. And organizations must learn to adapt accordingly. As the Business world is growing, there are trends that helps it grow.
These eight major trends provide a snapshot of how business operations are evolving to suit our rapidly changing world.

Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operations
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

Trend 2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots
We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

Trend 3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience
The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

Trend 4: Flatter, more agile organizations
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.
This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

Trend 5: Authenticity
Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

Trend 6: Purposeful business
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

Trend 7: Co-opetition and integration
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

8: New forms of funding
The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.
In addition to these eight trends, there will also be transformative technology trends in 2022 including artificial intelligence and increasing digitization, which every company must be ready for.

NAME: Enyi Favour Onyiyechi
REG NO: 2020/242586
DEPARTMENT: Economics
EMAIL: favourenyi9@gmail.com

Understanding the changes in the psychology of your customer is key to shaping your business for the future, whether you’re currently facing a tightening or easing of restrictions. Listed below are some trends in shaping a business:

1. GLOBALISATION; globalization is the word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information. Countries have built economic partnerships to facilitate these movements over many centuries.

2. E-COMMERCE;The pandemic completely changed the way people shop. E-commerce was already on the rise before COVID hit. But in March 2020, it took off at an astronomical rate. Shopify reports that e-commerce experienced 10 year’s growth in just three months. Estimates show that $1 million dollars is spent online every minute.

3. BUSINESSES CONTINUE TO UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA; The importance of social media in business’ marketing and e-commerce plans will likely continue to increase in the years to come. As of 2019, 73% of marketers said that social media was either “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business. An increasing number of businesses are turning to social media influencers to market their products. More than 90% of marketers report using the strategy and it’s working.

4. SUSTAINABLE RESILIENT OPERATIONS; Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term.

5. PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS; Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

1)Making the move online
Having an online presence has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Customers now expect a seamless online process to browse, book and make payments, so you may need to boost your back-end technology to provide real-time information. The benefits of investing in this technology pay dividends in automating manual tasks, giving you more time to take care of your business.Taking your business online opens you up to a whole new customer base, so beyond your website, business owners must consider their social media presence. Whether you focus on one platform or dabble in them all, a social media strategy will help you target your marketing and serve as a digital customer service desk.
2)Low contact and cashless
The switch to cashless transactions has been accelerated by the global pandemic, with benefits to businesses including quicker reconciliation, reduced risk of theft, lower storage, transportation and security costs, and the all-important reason, hygiene. Cashless transactions also present the opportunity to gather data about your customers that can be used for marketing purposes.
3)Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.
4)Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors should the worst happen.
5)Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors customers flexible payment option.
6)Distributed work
Lockdown restrictions and public safety concerns have turned dining tables into desks for millions of Australians. Digital technologies, cloud-based file storage and workplace collaboration apps have boomed as businesses have been forced to work remotely. The businesses that embrace this flexibility into the future may find a boost to the morale of their teams, making the all-important work life balance easier and sending a clear signal of trust. The benefits of remote teams don’t stop there; the talent pool expands significantly when you’re open to remote hires and contractors.
7)Local first
Businesses relying on overseas imports were hit hard as border restrictions came in, and we’re subsequently seeing a trend of businesses reducing their dependency on single suppliers and those based overseas. Not only do local supply chains reduce risk, they help support the local economy, which has never been more important than during a recession (plus, it’s a significant value to many customers.
8)Health front and centre
Suddenly, health and hygiene are front of mind every time we leave the house. We’ve all learned how to wash our hands properly, we’re sanitising like never before, and we’re no longer ignoring that lingering cough or cold. These habits are here to stay, and your customers are likely to remain vigilant around potential sources of infection as we move into the future. We’re also seeing a growing desire to better understand our own health, so businesses operating in the health and wellbeing sector have the opportunity to adapt to a whole new world of healthcare, including wearable tracking devices, home testing and home-delivery.
9)Cocooning
Our homes have provided a sanctuary during the pandemic, and the desire to spend our leisure and working time in our safe space will likely be sticking around. This presents an exciting opportunity for businesses offering products or services for the home, as customers invest in setting their space up for leisure, work and exercise.

Prominent trends in shaping a business are:

1)Increase your social engagements .
2) Invest in trainings.
3) Create a more flexible workforce.
4) Improve benefits and compensations .
5) Grow in virtual marketplaces.
6) Automation of business activities.
7) Listen to your customers.
8) Boost your productivity.
9) Reach out to specific communities.

OKWUDILI ESTHER MMESOMA
2020/242613
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS

1) AUTHENTICITY
Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

2) PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

3) CO-OPETITION AND INTEGRATION
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

4) SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT OPERATIONS.
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

5) THE BALANCE BETWEEN HUMANS WORKERS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENT (AI)
We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations and their people for the changing nature of work.

Okoloaja Vanessa Mmerichukwu
Economics department
2020/245131
mmerichukwunessa77@gmail.com

Trends means the latest fashion, vogue, style etc that may exist during a particular period in order to make things more sophisticated and easy. Trends in Business are different ways aimed at increasing sales and profit margins. Trends are also used to compete with other businesses. There are some types of trends in Business trends;
1. Sustainable resilient operations: Businesses should try to reduce environmental cost in order to achieve sustainability
2. Balancing between humans and Robots: With the aid of AI ( Artificial intelligence) there are systems that carry out tasks, which were previously handled by humans. There’s need for a check… who does it better? Humans or robots and it’s effect on the human society at large.
3. The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience: This look at the aspect of the type of worker that should be employed, that is. Considering a contract staff or fully employee
4. Flatter and less rigid hierarchy: Flexibility is a new trend in most businesses today, the structure allows for quick response to work and other decisions in the business which makes things to be more effective and time saving
5. Cooperation and integration: Business can be promoted through proper outsourcing and business challenges could be eliminated
6. New forms of funding: Generation of finances by companion and Businesses also changes as
there are now new platforms and mechanisms where business owners could connect and communicate with donors, which is aimed at promoting the strength of the business.
Business Trend is not just limited to what I stated above, as Transformative technology, Artificial intelligence and increasing digitalisation are coming up really fast and which could be used to strengthen the root of a business in order to make it more sophisticated and stand out among other businesses.

NAME: ONUIGBO ADAEZE JENNIFER
REG NO: 2020/242608
EMAIL ADDRESS: ADAEZEONUIGBO15@GMAIL.COM

LIST OF THE MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS

1. Online Marketing
2. Video Strategy
3. E-commerce
4. Social Media Marketing
5. Virtual and Digital Services.
6. Entrepreneurship
7. Ad Markets Consolidate
8. Affiliate Marketing.

NAME :AMARA MARVELOUS EZEILO
REG NO 2020/245138
Dept:combined social science (eco/Psy)

1.Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.
2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.
3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.
4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.
5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name: Ndubueze Chigoziri Franklin
Department: Economics
Reg Number: 2020/242606

Question: List clearly the most prominent trends in shaping a business.

Answer: The business world has always been buffeted by change, but current shifts in everything from communication techniques to consumer expectations appear little short of seismic.
The prominent trends in shaping a business are:
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.

2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.

3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.

4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.

5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.

6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Reg No:2020/242940
Dept:CSS(Economics/Sociology)

The use of improved Al is one trend shaping the business world we haveith the use of Artificial intelligence (Al)it has grown importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster,more and accurate and affordable manner.consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.

2)Security & control
As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements. These industries stand to benefit most from a digital transformation but require protections in the process. One layer of this is data governance, and we’ll see more of it in 2021. Not only to reduce risks and maintain compliance but also to bring confidence to decision-makers. Together with IT teams and end-users, these leaders will work to build processes and trust in analytics and databases throughout 2021.

3. Connected Cloud
Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses. In 2021, we’ll see a merging of multi-cloud, hybrid, and edge solutions to allow companies maximum flexibility and the best results.
With years of experience in cloud computing, UX/UI, mobility, big data, analytics, robotic process automation, agile software development.
Our Business Intelligence services can assist you in understanding your customers better, and designing and delivery

To remain competitive a business must identify and respond to trends in a various sectors of business environment as the population ages,large numbers of baby boomers are approaching retirement age.companies must plan for this exodus of employees and find ways to retain vast amounts of knowledge they represent many older workers are choosing to continue working after traditional retirement age,creating a five generation workforce.worldwide demand for energy especially from China and india,is challenging oil companies to increase supplies or to find alternative technologies to produce more oil,such as tracking U.S vulnerability to disruptions in energy supply became painfully apparent.Companies are using strategic alliances to compete effectively in the global economy.

Name: EZEMMA HONEST CHINAZA
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/ PSYCHOLOGY)
REG.NO: 2020/243001

The most important trends in shaping a business includes;

Trend 1: Our relationship with our planet

You only need to look at the abnormal weather patterns and natural disasters we’re experiencing to know that our planet is under immense strain. Couple that with a growing world population, and you have a tinder box of uncertainties around crop production, food security, and migration, to name just a few. By the end of this century, as many as 150–200 million people could be forced to migrate from land that will be underwater. And to keep pace with the growing global population, estimates suggest we’ll have to increase food production by between 26 percent and 68 percent by 2050. That’s a big increase for an already struggling planet to accommodate.

I consider the emerging climate disaster to be the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced.

So what has this got to do with your business? With a global majority agreeing that the world is facing a huge crisis, we can expect consumers to gravitate towards more sustainable options. And this means your organization must do everything it can to maximize its green credentials.

Trend 2: Shifts in economic and political power

Solving the climate crisis requires countries to work together. So the fact that global economic and political power structures are undergoing huge changes makes this job all the more difficult.

What do I mean by changing power structures? In a nutshell, by 2050, the list of the most economically and politically powerful countries in the world will look very different to today.

China’s economy, for example, is now predicted to overtake the United States by 2028, five years earlier than previously thought. And the combined economic power of the E7 economies – China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, and Turkey – could be double that of the G7 by 2040.

The takeaway here? As economic power shifts, it will become more expensive for organizations to outsource services to countries such as India. This is something businesses will have to plan for. On the plus side, these economies could become strong markets for products and services.

Trend 3: Growing divergence and polarization

There have been some notable examples of political fragmentation and growing divergence in recent years. Brexit. President Trump withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement on climate mitigation. Russia announcing it has the ability to completely unplug from the rest of the world’s internet and operate its own independent internet… In short, after decades of countries growing closer together, there are signs that they are beginning to “consciously uncouple.”

When information and analytics company IHS Market set out its prediction of how the world would look in 2025, it said the “fragmented world” scenario – in which the US, China, the EU, and other key global players retreat from globalization and turn their gaze inwards – is the most likely. COVID-19 is likely to exacerbate this further as countries are forced to focus on domestic problems.

This growing divergence may mean companies find themselves locked out of certain markets, which means relying on any one overseas market in our increasingly changing world is a high-risk strategy.

Trend 4: Shifting demographics

The global population in 2050, or even 2030, will look very different from how it looks today. That’s because the population is growing (globally, that is – some countries are experiencing population decline). What’s more, populations are getting older, the middle class is growing, and people are increasingly living in urban areas. As an example, the number of megacities (classified by the UN as cities with 10 million or more inhabitants) is also on the rise; by 2030, there will be 43 megacities, up from 33 in 2018.

Clearly, the business opportunities around the growing urban populations and consuming classes are huge. But participating in these markets successfully will require businesses to adapt to different cultural and political environments.

Trend 5: Social, cultural and workplace shifts

The workplace demographic is also shifting significantly. The number of Gen Z-ers and millennials in the workplace is on the rise, and baby boomers retiring. And with this changing workforce come changing expectations and priorities; as an example, 65 percent of people want to work for an organization “with a powerful social conscience.”

How we work is changing, too. One in five global employees now work remotely at least some of the time, and the coronavirus pandemic will only accelerate this “work from anywhere” culture. Organizational structures will become more fluid, and more people will expect to “float” between teams, roles, and employers. The days of the “job for life” are well and truly gone, and more people will work in the gig economy, as freelancers, and as free agents.

All employers must therefore assess their working practices to see whether they are offering this changing workforce the working environment they want (and expect) – one where people have greater flexibility, a better work-life balance, and a meaningful connection with the brands they work for.

Omeje Deborah Mmesoma
2020/242625
Economics Department
omejedeborahmmesoma@gmail.com
The trends are:
Social engagement: Today’s buyers spend an average of 116 minutes on social media every day, that’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and linking. While email is still better at driving traffic to your website mail munch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.
Mobile optimization: More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices, so we need to build client communications for mobile then optimize our attachments for good performance.
Content Personalization: Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyers journey keeps your brand top of the mind and helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross sell or even resell opportunities.
Exploring technology innovation: In today’s ultra connected world emerging technologies are popping up in every market helping businesses in every kind of Industry create better solution for their clients.

Name:Eleazu Kamcy Godwin
Email:kamcygodwin@gmail.com
Reg no:2020/242589
Department:Economics

1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics – and it must be continuously earned.
2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.
3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.
4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.
5. Cultural Capital – through harnessing the power and passions of local communities – is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
6. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name:ONYENEKE AMARACHI PRISCA
Dep: SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION
Faculty:ECONOMIC EDUCATION
Reg no: 2020/246746

What Is Trend In The Business And Economic:
An economic trend is an indicator that shows how a region or country is doing financially. There are many other economic trends including interest rates and inflation, but the primary take away is that economic trends provide a metric for the region or country and are interrelated.
What Are The Most Prominent Trends In Shaping A Business:
(1). TOTAL TRANSPARENCY: it’s brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics and it must be continuously earned.
(2). SMART TECHNOLOGY: means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.
(3). CLOUD CULTURE and COLLABORATION: are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.
(4). EQUALITY FOCUS: is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business – consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.
(5). CULTURAL CAPITAL: through harnessing the power and passions of local communities is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
(6). AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS: is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

1. The rise of the millennial generation
As baby boomers retire, millennials will become predominant in the workplace.

What your business can do:

Position your business on social media—Social media is a must for recruiting younger employees and to position your company as a great place to work.
Partner with schools—Collaborating with universities and colleges through such initiatives as internships is a great way to find top young talent.
Invest in training—Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones.
2. The aging workforce
As the baby-boom generation retires, the labour pool will grow more slowly and even shrink in some regions.

What your business can do:

Create a more flexible workplace—Offering flexible hours, part-time jobs and temporary work are ways to keep older workers on board and attract millennials.
Improve benefits and compensation—Consider offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.
Boost your productivity—To make up for labour shortages, look for ways to become more productive through investments in equipment, technology and operational efficiency.
3. A more culturally diverse population
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market.

What your business can do:

Reach out to specific communities—Get started recruiting more immigrants by targeting specific immigrant communities through business associations and networks.
Adjust your training—Entrepreneurs who hire from culturally diverse groups need to ensure their training is customized to meet those groups’ needs.
Take advantage of the strengths of immigrant workers—A diverse workforce can improve your company’s capacity to expand globally.
4. The growth of virtual marketplaces
The Internet and mobile devices are completely changing the way consumers shop.

What your business can do:

Build your online presence—Create a digital ecosystem for your business, including a mobile friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages.
Learn how to attract customers online—Once your digital ecosystem is set up, launch a few simple campaigns, using tools such as Facebook ads or Google AdWords to learn how to bring in traffic at a price you can afford.
Work to improve continuously—Take action, measure the results and make changes to improve. Repeat.
5. The automation of business activities
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used to perform a vast range of activities. But automation is not only about robots—tech systems such as ERP and CRM can boost productivity and reduce costs by automating functions.

What your business can do:

Map out your business processes—Process mapping can provide insights into what functions should be automated first. This analysis, in turn, will lead you to the technology solutions that provide the most value for your business.
Involve your employees—Employees have intimate knowledge of your business processes and are invaluable resources in selecting and implementing systems. If they’re left out, they may resist using new technology.
Shop around—Make a careful assessment of what’s available to find the systems best-suited to your company. Many entrepreneurs are attracted to customized systems, but off-the-shelf products will often do the job at a lower cost and with fewer headaches down the road.
6. The rise of the data economy
Businesses now have the ability to collect and crunch huge amounts of data to uncover important business insights, thanks to the Internet and mobile communications.

What your business can do:

Know your customers—Small businesses can understand their customers better and capitalize on sales opportunities by using such tools as online surveys, data analytics programs and social media listening software.
Personalize your offerings—Data collected from your website, CRM system and other sources can help you personalize your products and services according to your customers’ needs and tastes.
Improve your efficiency with dashboards—By measuring your performance in key areas, you can evaluate how you are doing compared to internal goals or external benchmarks, such as industry averages. Select key performance indicators and use them to create performance dashboards.

NAME : EKE JOSHUA OKWUCHUKWU

DEPARTMENT : ECONOMICS

REGISTRATION NUMBER : 2020/242585

G-MAIL : ekejoshuaokwuchukwu@gmail.com

Question:
Clearly list the most prominent trends in shaping a business.

These eight major trends provide a snapshot of how business operations are evolving to suit our rapidly changing world.

Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operations

Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

Trend 2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots

We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

Trend 3:
The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience:

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

Trend 4:
Flatter, more agile organizations:

Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.

This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

Trend 5:
Authenticity:

Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

Trend 6:
Purposeful business:

Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

Trend 7:
Co-opetition and integration:

We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

Trend 8:
New forms of funding:

The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

Name: Mpama Onyinyechi Adaugo
Department: Economics
Reg no:2020/245072
Answer
quality, lasting clients that take your business to the next level—takes significant strategizing. And that can be tough in today’s frequently changing business landscape.

For help energizing your business development strategy, and making sure it’ll stand the test of time, we need these five trends.
1) Up Your Social Engagement
2) Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
3) Personalize Your Content
4) Take Your Marketing Vertical
5) Explore Innovative Technology

1. Up Your Social Engagement:
Today’s buyer spends an average person of 116 minutes on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.
And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, MailMunch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.
With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.
Now is the time to place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.

2.New call-to-action:
Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.
To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

3. Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.
To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.
Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.
Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

4. Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.
To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

5. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.
Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.
But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.
Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.
In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.

NAME : ONYEJE CHIDUMEBI ONYINYECHI
DEPT : ECONOMICS
REG NO : 2020/242644
ASSIGNMENT : TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS .

Among the many emerging trends changing the business world today, three stand out as perhaps the most influential: online marketing, data collection and video strategy. Getting a clear understanding of these methods early on is important to later success. And they are ;

1. ONLINE MARKETING ;
The internet has changed the way people do business. Rather than making phone calls and sending faxes, people communicate through email; and instead of taking out ad space in magazines and newspapers, or spots on television and radio, companies invest in online marketing initiatives.

That’s not to say that traditional methods of doing business aren’t relevant anymore. People still use phones and purchase television advertising. However, executives are increasingly turning their focus to digital strategies.
A huge benefit of online marketing is its targetability. Platforms like TV spots or billboards reach a wide range of people, some of whom might be interested in a certain product or service. But website data can tell marketers exactly who is looking at what, allowing them to pick and choose where to focus their advertising dollars and what the message should be, Startup Grind pointed out.

2. DATA COLLECTIONS;
Marketing makeovers aren’t the only benefit that businesses have realized through online tools. Businesses today can collect data on nearly anything: Who is visiting their website; how long it takes for their package to be delivered; how consumers use their products, and more, Forbes contributor Bernard Marr explained.

Every business, no matter how big or small, has access to some form of data that can give it greater insight into its consumer base, its internal company culture or its audience’s opinion of the company.

One form of data collection every business should already be using is website analytics, Analytics Ninja pointed out. These tools are installed into your website’s HTML and collect information about.

3. VIDEO STRATEGY ;

Your online marketing campaign might contain a plethora of initiatives, like social media, blog posts and website ad spots. But if it doesn’t include video, you may be missing an important element in your messaging.

Consumers turn to videos for easily digestible yet highly informative content. They’re more likely to watch a video in its entirety, as opposed to reading a full blog post or article, according to data collected by Hubspot. Nearly half of respondents to Hubspot’s survey stated they spend at least one hour per day watching videos on Facebook or YouTube.

Business leaders are also using video to learn more about new trends and potential investments. Three-fourths of business executives told Forbes that they watch work-related videos on business websites on a weekly basis. More than half of senior executives said they share work-related videos with colleagues and that their peers share videos with them regularly.

NAME: IROEGBU RACHAEL NWANGAJI
REG NUMBER: 2020/244930
DEPARTMENT:ECONOMICS
EMAIL;iroegburachael@gmail.com

Buisness trends is relatively a shift or change in the fundamental buisness dynamics within an industry . They are certain developments that improve a buisness.

Examples of the most prominent buisness trends implemented in the shaping and improvement of a buisness include;

1. Remote working; Following certain happenings in the world today,it has become inherent that movements are limited, a very good example is the cover 19 pandemic. Because of this pandemic,people’s movements were limited . Majority of people lost their jobs because their job required their presence at work most of the time,also they didn’t put things in place to ensure people could work without necessarily being around at the workplace. With the introduction of technology however,people have been able to work from home and still contribute to their workplaces as necessary.

2. Social media marketing; There are very few buisness today that do not rely on social media for promotions and marketing in general. And with the improvements in social media and appropriate knowledge on how to use it to widen one’s reach,social media has proved to be a very useful tool for promoting one’s buisness. It’s the most prominent trend as a matter of fact.

3. New forms of funding ; Following recent developments,businesses have been encouraged to improve because they now have access to funds required to set up. Today,businesses can easily get loans from banks and other financial institutions, after going through proper processes. This is also a very prominent trend.

4. Improved A.I (Artificial Intelligence ); examples of common A.I are facial detections and E payment. Talk about making work within a buisness more effective and stresd free. With this new development,businesses are able to work more efficiently,carry out daily tasks with ease and produce better results. A.I is oma smart way to improve one’s buisness.

NAME: MAGBO CHIDIMMA JOY
REG NO: 2020/242674
DEPARTMENT: EDUCATION ECONOMICS
COURSE CODE: ECO 122
EMAIL: joychidimma961@gmail.com

ASSIGNMENT
List the most prominent trends in shaping a business

1. Up Your Social Engagement:
Today’s buyer spends an average person of 116 minutes on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.

And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, MailMunch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.

With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.

Now is the time to place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.

2. Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile:
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

3. Personalize Your Content:
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.

To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.

Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.

Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

4. Take Your Marketing Vertical:
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.

To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

5. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

Name: Sunday Morewell Chizuru
Reg no: 2020/242632
Gmail: ginikachim232@gmail.com

THE MOST PROMINENT TREND IN SHAPING A BUSINESS
1. Improved AL
2. Security and access control
3. Connected cloud

1. Improved AL: Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner. Consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.
2. Security and access control: As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements.
3. Connected Cloud: Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses.

Uzoetoh Chinaecherem Clara
2020/245127
Economics department
festusclara2@gmail.com

The most prominent trends in shaping a business are:
1) Sustainable and Resilient Operations:
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

2) The balance between human workers and intelligent robots:
We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations and their people for the changing nature of work.

3) The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience:
The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis with those contractors working remotely.

4) Flatter, more agile organizations:
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers. This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

5) Authenticity:
Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

6) Purposeful business:
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

7) Competition and integration:
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

Name: IKPO NGOZIKA GLORIA
Department: economics
Registration number:2020/245311

1) Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. Try introducing personalization.
Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.
Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.
(2). Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.
To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering.
(3). Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.
Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.
But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.
Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.
In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.

NAME: IZUKANNE CHIBUZOR ABIGAIL
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCES (ECONOMICS/PSYCHOLOGY)
REG NO: 2020/242981
COURSE CODE: ECO 122 (INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT)
ASSIGNMENT

There are three prominent trends that in shaping a business. They are ;

1) E-business

2) Outsourcing

3) Globalization

1) E-business has increased levels of collaboration, reduced transaction costs and improved responsiveness to change.

2) Outsourcing to a third-party allow companies to focus on their core area of expertise and improve efficiency. Apart from improving internal processes, outsourcing also allows companies to reduce their running costs or overhead. This is why over half of small businesses outsource some part of their work.

3) Globalization has enabled firms to specialize – and to increase the intensity of R&D, innovation and capital in their output. Globalization has made it easier for new companies to start competing with old incumbents. The trade sector has increased the number of people that it employs, both through exports and imports.

Name: AGBO EMMANUEL CHUKWUEMEKA.
Reg no: 2020/242571.
Department: Economics department.
Email address: agboss2d@gmail.com.

PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS.

1) Sustainable, resilient operations

Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

2) The balance between human workers and intelligent robots

We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.

3) The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.
4) Flatter, more agile organizations

Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.

This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

5) Authenticity

Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.
6) Purposeful business

Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.

7) Co-opetition and integration

We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors.

8) New forms of funding

The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.

NAME: Edeh loveth ifeoma
MATRIC NO:2020/242988
DEPARTMENT: combine social science
(Economic/political science)
EMAIL: ifeomaloveth33@gmail.com
TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS
Across all sectors, organizations are grappling with rapid transformation. On top of that, there are enormous global shifts and challenges to contend with, such as climate change, and shifting political and economic power. To put it bluntly, our world is changing fast. And organizations must learn to adapt accordingly.
These seven major trends provide a snapshot of how business operations are evolving to suit our rapidly changing world.
Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operation:
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.

Trend 2: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience:
The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

Trend 3: Purposeful business:
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization

Trend 4: Co-petition and integration:
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors

Trend 5: New forms of funding:
The ways in which companies can generate finance is also changing. New platforms and mechanisms have sprung up to connect businesses with investors and donors – think crowdfunding, initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokenization and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Many of these new methods are driven by the decentralized finance movement, in which financial services like borrowing and trading take place in a peer-to-peer network, via a public decentralized blockchain network.
In addition to these seven trends, there will also be transformative technology trends in 2022 including artificial intelligence and increasing digitization, which every company must be ready for. Read more about all these and other future trends in my new book, Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends That are Redefining Organizations. Packed with real-world examples, it cuts through the hype to present the key trends that will shape the businesses of the future.

Trend 6: Flatter, more agile organizations
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.
This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

Trend 7: Authenticity
Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

Name: ogbonna chinecherem Rita
Reg no: 2020/245073
Dept: social science education
Unit: education economics
Email : ogbonnachinecheremrita@gmail.com

5 major trends that can shape the business are
1.Up Your Social Engagement
2.Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
3.Personalize Your Content
4.Take Your Marketing Vertical
5.Explore Innovative Technology

1. Up Your Social Engagement
Today’s buyer spends an average person of 116 minutes on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.

And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, MailMunch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.

With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.

Now is the time to place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.

New call-to-action
2. Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

3. Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.

To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.

Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.

Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

4. Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.

To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

5. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.

NAME: UDEJI BLESSING CHINENYENWA
REG NO: 2020/248616
EMAIL: udejiblesscee@gmail.com
DEPARTMENT: SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION
UNIT: EDUCATION ECONOMICS
COURSE: ECO 122

For help energizing your business development strategy, and making sure it’ll stand the test of time,
This trends will be useful

1. Up Your Social Engagement
Today’s buyer spends an average person of 116 minutes on social media every day. That’s nearly a whole month out of the year tweeting and liking.

And while email is still better at driving traffic to your website, MailMunch reports that social media has a higher engagement rate.

With social networks now commonplace for consumer and business interactions, your business cannot afford to avoid the fray.

Now is the time to place advertisements, participate in industry discussions, and publish content. And you’ve got to do it regularly if you want to expand your reach and pull in new clients.

2. Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

3. Content personalization
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.

To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.

Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.

Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

4. Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.

To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

5. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

NAME : FALETI SEGUN TOBI
REG NUMBER: 2020/242563
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS MAJOR

There are many emerging trends changing and expanding business operation today. I would like to point out three that stand out as perhaps the most influential:

1. Online marketing
The internet has changed the way people do business. Rather than making phone calls and sending faxes, people communicate through email; and instead of taking out ad space in magazines and newspapers, or spots on television and radio, companies invest in online marketing initiatives.
That’s not to say that traditional methods of doing business aren’t relevant anymore. People still use phones and purchase television advertising. However, executives are increasingly turning their focus to digital strategies.
A huge benefit of online marketing is its targetability. Platforms like TV spots or billboards reach a wide range of people, some of whom might be interested in a certain product or service. But website data can tell marketers exactly who is looking at what, allowing them to pick and choose where to focus their advertising dollars and what the message should be, Startup Grind pointed out.

2. Expand into new territories.
The idea here is to market and sell your existing products and services to new customers. These new customers can be in different segments or niches or different locations from where you currently operate. Expanding into new territories will create room for employment of labour and as well increase the revenue of the company

3. Target new customer markets.
Most businesses target their sales and marketing efforts to specific customer markets based on demographics like age, gender, and location or psychographics like interests, activities, and values.
“Being able to reach the right target customers through the right mediums, at the right time, is the first step to expanding your business into new customer markets,” says Network Capital’s Nguyen. “When expanding into new target markets, you need to ramp up your advertising to these markets.

Getting a clear understanding of these methods early on is important to later success.

CHIDIEBERE FAVOUR CHIWEMMERI.
2020/242578.
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS.
ONLINE ASSIGNMENT 2 ON ECO122.
QUESTION: TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS.
ANSWER:
Entrepreneurs will be facing a different business landscape in coming years—one shaped by shifting demographics and an unprecedented adoption of digital technologies. Hence, as trends come and go, emerging technologies allow new marketing and business management methods to emerge. People in the world of business do well when they have a good grasp on these new trends and concepts.
Among the many emerging trends changing the business world today, these below stand out as perhaps the most influential:
1. Online marketing,
2. Data collection,
3. Video strategy,
4. The rise of the millennial generation,
5. A more culturally diverse population,
6. The automation of business activities,
7. The aging workforce.
Getting a clear understanding of these methods earlier on is important to later success.
Online marketing
The internet has changed the way people do business. Rather than making phone calls and sending faxes, people communicate through email; and instead of taking out ad space in magazines and newspapers, or spots on television and radio, companies invest in online marketing initiatives.
That’s not to say that traditional methods of doing business aren’t relevant anymore. People still use phones and purchase television advertising. However, executives are increasingly turning their focus to digital strategies.
Between February 2016 and February 2017, digital marketing spend increased 14.6 percent, according to The CMO Survey. In the same time period, traditional advertising spend increased just 0.6 percent, following five years of decline.
One of the major differences between traditional advertising and digital marketing is how the consumer perceives the message. In an online space, consumers want to be in charge of their experiences. They don’t want to see advertisements, and many people install ad blockers to reduce interference. This has forced people to rethink what an “advertisement” looks like. Today, an advertisement can be a free e-book, a contest entry, an industry blog or a contributed article.
A huge benefit of online marketing is its targetability. Platforms like TV spots or billboards reach a wide range of people, some of whom might be interested in a certain product or service. But website data can tell marketers exactly who is looking at what, allowing them to pick and choose where to focus their advertising dollars and what the message should be, Startup Grind pointed out.
There are countless websites and blogs on the web today. Many have space for advertisements in their margins, news feeds or even directly in their content. It’s important to choose which websites will reach your target audience best, Boostability pointed out. Finding a niche blog that shares a similar audience as yours can help get your message out through new channels.
Data collection
Marketing makeovers aren’t the only benefit that businesses have realized through online tools. Businesses today can collect data on nearly anything: Who is visiting their website; how long it takes for their package to be delivered; how consumers use their products, and more, Forbes contributor Bernard Marr explained.
Every business, no matter how big or small, has access to some form of data that can give it greater insight into its consumer base, its internal company culture or its audience’s opinion of the company.
One form of data collection every business should already be using is website analytics, Analytics Ninja pointed out. These tools are installed into your website’s HTML and collect information about:
• How people access your website (such as through a computer or mobile device, as well as how they found your website, like through a Google search or a social media post).
• Where they live (such as the country, state or city, as well as the language their browsers are set to).
• What time of day they access your website.
• How much time they spend on your website, and which page they left from.
From this information, companies can learn how to improve their websites; if bounce rates are much higher on a certain platform, for example, they might investigate to determine whether a particular form, image or other object doesn’t load correctly on that device or browser. They can identify what time is best to have their live chat software active on their website based on the time of day they have the most web traffic. They might also use that to determine when to send out social media posts or newsletters for best engagement.
method to collect data is through loyalty programs, Entrepreneur pointed out. With the data collected through loyalty programs, businesses can customize the consumer experience. This not only reinforces the bond between company and consumer but also allows the business to learn more about its target audience.
Video strategy
Your online marketing campaign might contain a plethora of initiatives, like social media, blog posts and website ad spots. But if it doesn’t include video, you may be missing an important element in your messaging. Consumers turn to videos for easily digestible yet highly informative content. They’re more likely to watch a video in its entirety, as opposed to reading a full blog post or article, according to data collected by Hubspot. Nearly half of respondents to Hubspot’s survey stated they spend at least one hour per day watching videos on Facebook or YouTube.
Business leaders are also using video to learn more about new trends and potential investments. Three-fourths of business executives told Forbes that they watch work-related videos on business websites on a weekly basis. More than half of senior executives said they share work-related videos with colleagues and that their peers share videos with them regularly.
Additionally, 42 percent of executives said they made a business-related purchase after watching a work-related video online. That number jumps to 51 percent when looking just at younger professionals, indicating that coming generations may value video even more than today’s leaders.
The rise of the millennial generation
As baby boomers retire, millennials will become predominant in the workplace.
What your business can do:
Position your business on social media—Social media is a must for recruiting younger employees and to position your company as a great place to work.
Partner with schools—Collaborating with universities and colleges through such initiatives as internships is a great way to find top young talent.
Invest in training—Training is important for retaining workers and attracting new ones.
A more culturally diverse population
Immigrants will provide the lion’s share of population growth and will be a key source of workers in a tight labour market.
What your business can do:
Reach out to specific communities—Get started recruiting more immigrants by targeting specific immigrant communities through business associations and networks.
your training—Entrepreneurs who hire from culturally diverse groups need to ensure their training is customized to meet those groups’ needs.
Take advantage of the strengths of immigrant workers—A diverse workforce can improve your company’s capacity to expand globally.
The automation of business activities
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used to perform a vast range of activities. But automation is not only about robots—tech systems such as ERP and CRM can boost productivity and reduce costs by automating functions.
What your business can do:
Map out your business processes—Process mapping can provide insights into what functions should be automated first. This analysis, in turn, will lead you to the technology solutions that provide the most value for your business.
Involve your employees—Employees have intimate knowledge of your business processes and are invaluable resources in selecting and implementing systems. If they’re left out, they may resist using new technology.
Shop around—Make a careful assessment of what’s available to find the systems best-suited to your company. Many entrepreneurs are attracted to customized systems, but off-the-shelf products will often do the job at a lower cost and with fewer headaches down the road.
The aging workforce
As the baby-boom generation retires, the labour pool will grow more slowly and even shrink in some regions.
What your business can do:
Create a more flexible workplace—Offering flexible hours, part-time jobs and temporary work are ways to keep older workers on board and attract millennials.
Improve benefits and compensation—Consider offering benefits such as a pension plan, health insurance, and compare what you pay to the competition to see if you should increase your compensation.
Boost your productivity—To make up for labour shortages, look for ways to become more productive through investments in equipment, technology and operational efficiency.
By learning about new business trends and staying up to date on the way business is changing, professionals may be more likely to find success in their careers.

Name: Mbonu Chinazo Kosisochukwu
Department: Economics
Reg number: 2020/2425297

Prominent trends in shaping a business include:
1. Globalization
This is essentially the ability for organizations to work in a world where boundaries do not exist. The world is becoming just like one big city. The language you speak, the currency you transact in, and your physical location are starting to matter less and less.
You can work in San Francisco, yet have clients in Nigeria; and the same goes for employees. Boundaries to working with anyone, anywhere are disappearing and this trend can only continue.

2. Mobility
Today, where you are located is starting to matter much less when it comes to being able to do your job.
As long as you can connect to the internet, the chances are that you can access the same people and information as if you were working in an office building.

3. Technologies
We now have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. Big data, the cloud, the internet of things, robots, automation, video, collaboration platforms, and other technologies are changing the way we work and live. The cloud puts the power of technology into the hands of employees; robots and software are forcing us to rethink the jobs that humans can and should do; big data gives us insight into how we work and how customers transact with us; and collaboration platforms give us the ability to connect our people and information together anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

4. Online marketing
The internet has changed the way people do business. Rather than making phone calls and sending faxes, people communicate through email; and instead of taking out ad space in magazines and newspapers, or spots on television and radio, companies invest in online marketing initiatives. That’s not to say that traditional methods of doing business aren’t relevant anymore. People still use phones and purchase television advertising. However, executives are increasingly turning their focus to digital strategies.Today, an advertisement can be a free e-book, a contest entry, an industry blog or a contributed article.
A huge benefit of online marketing is its targetability. Platforms like TV spots or billboards reach a wide range of people, some of whom might be interested in a certain product or service. But website data can tell marketers exactly who is looking at what, allowing them to pick and choose where to focus their advertising dollars and what the message should be. There are countless websites and blogs on the web today. Many have space for advertisements in their margins, news feeds or even directly in their content. It’s important to choose which websites will reach your target audience best. Finding a niche blog that shares a similar audience as yours can help get your message out through new channels.

5. Cashless society
It’s no secret that digital transactions are taking over in everyday business transactions. But according to study, we may become a truly cashless economy within the next few years despite resistance from those arguing that it enhances social inequality and that it contributes to vulnerability in the digital and financial ecosystems.

MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS
1:Sustainable, resilient operations
2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots
3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience
4: Flatter, more agile organizations
5: Authenticity
6: Purposeful businesses
7: integration
8: New forms of funding
9: Network marketing
10: Franchising
11: Business process outsourcing
12: Aggregator
13: Knowledge process outsourcing
14: Digital Economy
15: E- commerce
16: M- commerce.

OZONWOYE ADAEZE MARYANN
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
100level
2020/242617

THE MOST PROMINENT TRENDS IN SHAPING A BUSINESS
These trends are changing the way leaders conduct business today. It’s important to have a solid understanding of these concepts and the many other ways business is evolving.
By learning about new business trends and staying up to date on the way business is changing, professionals may be more likely to find success in their careers.
Here are business tends in shaping a business:
1. Total Transparency brings trust, but requires openness and a clear communication of values and ethics and it must be continuously earned.
2. Smart Technology means empowering your consumers through seamless and enhanced experiences across communications platforms.Also Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner.According to a report by PwC, AI will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. In 2021, accelerated investment from businesses in machine learning and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve operations will take place.
3. Cloud Culture and Collaborations are creating a dialogue-driven society and businesses must join the conversation.Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses.
4. Equality Focus is redrawing society, leadership styles and the way we do business, consumers now expect businesses to be demonstrably diverse and inclusive.
5. Cultural Capital through harnessing the power and passions of local communities is the way to invest in your brand and establish a lasting legacy.
6. Video Strategy: this is also a trend,it is more like advertisement. Most consumers or customers be it individuals, business leaders or government executives make business-related purchase after watching a work related video online.
7. Authentic Happiness is a sound business proposition and facilitating positive and life-enhancing products and experiences must be a key business driver.

Name:Nsofor Ekperebuike Leonard
Department: Economics
Registration number: 2020/242605
PROMINENT TRENDS THAT ARE SHAPING BUSINESS TODAY
1) Social Engagement: Putting your business into the Internet today goes a long way in promoting your business image and reaching to potential customers that normally you would not be able to access. You can make use of website, WhatsApp and Twitter etc.

2) Explore Innovative Technology: Tinting your product with latest technology can go a long way to attract and sustain your customers, also invest in programs that make your client happy that way you will not loose them.

3) Authenticity: Consumer and employees are looking for brands that do not care only in making profit but cares about the social events that affect their workers and customers life there for company should invest in alleviating this social problems.

4) Co-opetition and integration: They are a lot of problems that company’s encounter but because of the nature of the business they can not be able to provide solutions to it that is why companies can partner up with other businesses in other to solve the problem.

5) New forms of funding: businesses can employ new way of funding themselves by engaging in crowdfunding, peer to peer and tokenization in order to facilitate financial activities with their donors.

NAME: ORJI CHINECHEREM JACINTA.
REG NO:2020/242885
DEPT : COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE

SOME PROMINENT TREND IN SHAPING A BUSINESS.

1: Improved AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown in importance for companies because it helps them to complete tasks and process information in a faster, more accurate, and affordable manner. Consider chatbots that are ready to quickly respond to a customer query or an inventory management system that’s able to improve processing times and reduce losses.
According to a report by PwC, AI will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. In 2021, accelerated investment from businesses in machine learning and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve operations will take place.

2.   Security & Access Control

As more and more company data is created, it’s become especially critical that security of that “intelligence” and the processes involved in extracting and utilizing it are in place. Especially in regulated industries and where there are strict compliance requirements. These industries stand to benefit most from a digital transformation but require protections in the process. One layer of this is data governance, and we’ll see more of it in 2021. Not only to reduce risks and maintain compliance but also to bring confidence to decision-makers. Together with IT teams and end-users, these leaders will work to build processes and trust in analytics and databases throughout 2021.

3.   Connected Cloud

Business intelligence is also making its move to the cloud today because of the ability to access and share data quickly across the company. Easier accessibility to data, greater computing power, and lower costs have all made the move to the cloud more appealing to businesses. In 2021, we’ll see a merging of multi-cloud, hybrid, and edge solutions to allow companies maximum flexibility and the best results.
With years of experience in cloud computing, UX/UI, mobility, big data, analytics, robotic process automation, agile software development methodologies, and DevOps, our team knows what’s needed to enhance the customer experience, optimize business processes and help businesses become more agile.
Our Business Intelligence services can assist you in understanding your customers better, and designing and delivering reports to manage your business. In addition, VLink’s information management capabilities can help your organization transform data into actionable insights which then allows you to make critical decisions with confidence. 

4: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience

The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.

5: Flatter, more agile organizations
Traditionally, organizations have been very hierarchical and rigid in their structures. But that is changing, as leaders recognize the need for flatter, more agile structures that allow the business to quickly reorganize teams and respond to change. It is also, in part, a response to the changing nature of work, particularly the proliferation of freelance and remote workers.

This is the age of flatter organizational structures, which are more like flexible communities rather than a top-down pyramid structure.

6: Authenticity

Today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. And this need for connection has given rise to authenticity as a business trend in its own right. Authenticity helps to foster human connections – because, as humans, we like to see brands (and business leaders) display important human qualities like honesty, reliability, empathy, compassion, humility, and maybe even a bit of vulnerability and fear. We want brands (and leaders) to care about issues and stand for more than just turning a profit.

NAME: OKOAZE DANIEL CHINOSO
REG NO:2020/246577
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS

1. Make Sure You’re Optimized for Mobile
More than half of all internet searches and email opens now take place on mobile devices—and that number is only expected to grow. So if your content doesn’t translate well onto a 5-inch screen, your risk prospects hitting delete or closing your page without a second thought.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, build your client communications for mobile first, and optimize your attachments, like Word documents or PDFs, for performance a phone or tablet.

2. Personalize Your Content
The ability of content marketing, like social media or email campaigns, to engage new audiences and close sales is well established. That’s why 90 percent of B2B marketers use it.

To take yours to the next level (as in six times higher transactional rates), try introducing personalization.

Relevant, personalized content sprinkled throughout the buyer journey keeps your brand top of mind. And it helps you develop relationships with existing clients, increasing upsell, cross-sell, or even resell opportunities.

Keep in mind, for the most accurate personalization, you’ll need to keep your company’s CRM data clean and up-to-date.

3. Take Your Marketing Vertical
It can be tempting to cast a wide net—to try to reach anyone and everyone at once. But wide-range, horizontal marketing is too shallow. To catch more prospects, you’ve got to go deep into the right spaces.

To go after your priority accounts and clients, focus your marketing and development on the executives and decision makers in the verticals that make sense for your unique offering. This is especially true for B2B companies with clients occupying specific business sectors or industries.

4. Explore Innovative Technology
In today’s ultra-connected world, emerging technologies are popping up in every market, helping businesses in every kind of industry create better solutions for their clients.

Investing in tech that makes your clients happier is a no brainer, especially when you consider it’s six times more expensive to replace a client than it is to hang onto them in the first place.

But remember, new technology doesn’t necessarily have to be customer facing to delight them. A new CRM or project management platform that makes your team more productive can have just as much impact, if not more.

Indeed, improving client relationships is at the center of many business development trends, including CRM automation.

In the end, the key is to focus on the innovations that add convenience and value to your clients.