Rethink - Emerging priority business issues

Clients are telling us they want to know what BDO can do for them. Rethink helps move the conversation away from what we sell, to what we solve.

BDO is at the frontier of emerging priority business issues, leading our markets and bringing to you the key trends for the here and now as well as the future.

We have identified 4 key emerging trends that businesses need to be aware of:
 

Changing demographics

Social and workforce change affecting how we work and how we consume

People are changing - the way they want to work, the way they want to be rewarded and the way they want to spend their money. The future of behaviour is upon us. Many businesses fail to rethink the skills and behaviours they need for the future and add to existing structures rather than fundamentally transform.

  • Businesses are struggling to retain and recruit new staff
  • Supporting aging workforces
  • Businesses need to be ready for the next gen of talent
  • Buying behaviours and demand for sustainable products is changing
  • Future of work trends and changing workforce models impact day to day operations.​
     

Supply chain resilience

Climate change and resource scarcity/supply chain

Following COVID-19, the Ukraine situation, super-ships stuck in the Suez Canal and growing global uncertainty, it is clear that our understanding of supply chains is disrupted. Aligned to the move to purpose led culture and synonymous with ESG, this recognises that we live in a world of finite resource whether that is people or the environment we live in.

The sustainability issue also leads to displacement of suppliers to seek the right value chain from source to customer. This leads to a complex environment with shifts to near-shore or on-shore delivery models, growing pressures for disaster recovery through the whole supply chain and a need to find substitutes and alternative business models.

  • The world and economic climates are changing fa​​ster than ever before
  • Businesses need to respond to unexpected events and uncertainty
  • Supply chains are changing on a global scale - operationally, resource and visibility perspective
  • ESG and Sustainability has a much higher priority and supply chains are changing and adapting.​
     

​​​​​​Technology transformation

Transforming to improve efficiency, value or innovation​

Technology is profoundly changing how we think. The digital revolution has no boundaries or borders. Breakthrough innovation is necessary to address large-scale challenges (e.g. ageing economies, climate change), while new solutions are also targeting relatively minor problems (e.g. payments, streaming). This backdrop has created a fertile ground for disruptive innovation.

This is changing behaviour and expectations as much as the tools used to deliver new services and experiences. Delivering digital change is a complex proposition. It creates significant challenges for not only us as individuals, but for companies and governments in terms of how they interact with customers, employees and citizens.

  • ​Digital Transformation - streamlining operations, compliance, managing risk, data protection
  • Consumer channel habits and consumption are​ changing
  • Innovation presents a lot of opportunity for businesses (particularly green/ESG)
     

Shifting global ecomonics

Changing economics/funding and inflation

​The stresses created by COVID-19 and Brexit have led to supply chain disorder and the rethinking of globalisation. There isn’t an easy fix though; reimagining domestic supply chains and economies is a long-term task.

Combining current economic vulnerabilities with demand spikes, skills shortages and weather events has​ created massive shortages of goods and components, raised consumer prices and increased inflation. Globalization has recovered from severe setbacks in the past and remains at historically high levels. But whilst global digital connectivity helped many businesses survive COVID, it opened a digital divide, where poorer, less connected countries have fallen behind.

  • ​Funding and investment opportunities to drive growth are shifting due to economic environment
  • Profitability and cost pressures mean businesses need to navigate uncertainty
  • Businesses will also need to adapt supply chains and respond to shifts in markets.​