It is believed that Demographics and World Commerce as a whole are key determinating factors to everyday living and the decisions, both business and non-business alike, that people face everyday. Demographics is a shorthand term for ‘population characteristics’. Demographics include age, income, mobility (in terms of travel time to work or number of vehicles available), educational attainment, home ownership, employment status, and even location. Distributions of values within a demographic variable, and across households, are both of interest, as well as trends over time.Commerce, on the other hand, is the trading of something of value between two entities. That “something” may be goods, services, information, money, or anything else the two entities consider to have value. Commerce is the central mechanism from which capitalism and all other economic systems are derived. (Wikipedia)
In an effort to analyze the relationships between demographics and world commerce, we will focus our attention to several complex questions. How has the diffusion of ideas and technology impacted global commerce? What are the relationships among ideas, events, social climate and commerce? What future trends do you predict in regional demographics? How will these trends affect global commercial patterns? And lastly, what impact will thee commercial patterns have on the natural environment?
Diffusion is the process by which an idea or innovation is transmitted from one individual or group to another across space.
“Diffusion may assume a variety of forms, each different in its impact on social groups. Basically, however, two processes are involved: People move, for any of a number of reasons, to a new area and take their culture with them. And secondly, information about an innovation (e.g., hybrid corn or compact discs) may spread throughout a society, perhaps aided by local or mass media advertising; or new adopters of an ideology or way of life – for example, a new religious creed – may be inspired or recruited by immigrant or native converts. (Fellmann, J., Getis, A., & Getis, J.)
As we consider these two definitions, we can generalize and see exactly how diffusion along with technology has impacted world or global commerce. Process number one suggest that ideas and concepts of things are introduced from cultures during migration from one place to the other. While process number two suggest that information about things are spread through mass media inspired by the people. Technology today has aided society in ways completely unknown to man a little over a decade ago. Ideas from all different cultures have been brought together, analyzed and simplified. Some of the ideas introduced over the years have been adapted, some advanced, and some even credited towards the capitalization of technological advancements. Advancements in technology are rapidly evolving; evolving so fast that we have already simplified most forms of trading and commerce to “electronic transactions.” These such transactions happen almost instantaneously; making it so much easier for things to be done without the hassle of “pony express”, “snail mail” or any other, now less effective, means of conversion.
The relationships among ideas, events, social climate and commerce play important roles as to ensure the survival of society. All of these factors contribute to the efficacy of commerce. Ideas, such as innovations, simplified versions of technology; events such as bills, treaties and legislative measures; and social climate are all attributed to the inhibitions as well as the maintenance of commerce today.
Now lets take a look at demographics. Many demographic trends are quite easy to determine. This is due to the predictability of many demographic relationships. For example, if the birth rate increases during certain years (as indeed happened during the baby boom years), we can determine that there will be an increase in the demand for baby food and diapers in the very near future. (Wikipedia) Regional demograpics trends differ very little. Studies have shown that demographics, no matter what kind can be determined or estimated based on simple cause and effect strategies. Peter F. Drucker, author of article, “The Future That Has Already Happened,” suggest that “…it is pointless to try to predict the future, let alone attempt to look ahead 75 years. But in fact, it is possible to identify major events that have already happened, irrevocably, and that will have predictable effects in the next decade or two.” Research has suggested that the dominant factor for business in the next two decades – absent war, pestilence, or collision with a comet – is not going to be economies or technology. It will be demographics. The key factors not being overpopulation of the world, but in fact the increasing underpopulation of the developed contries – Japan and the nations of Europe and North America. (Drucker) Statistics from the United States Census Bureau, support this rationalization by stating that in theUnited Statesalone, the number of birth, 2.4 or so per woman, is barely enough to maintain the current population now. Without the maintenance of the population, in my opinion, how are we to evolve? How will we be able to support a dominant world-economic power without the strength of a viable population base?
Demographics obviously plays an important role in the effect on global commerce, the real question is how? The trend of demographics show one of two options, the rise or global commerce or the fall of global commerce. Quite frankly, with current trends now, and technological advancements, global commerce will only get simpler, faster and more independent; but where does that leave the demographics view point. Well, with so many modern advancements in technology, will people, figuratively speaking, be outsorced by robots? I don’t think so. “Knowledge is different from all other kinds of resources. It constantly makes itself obsolete, with the result that today’s advanced knowledge is tomorrow’s ignorance” (Drucker) All he seems to be suggesting is that demographics and global commerce go hand in hand. Even though advancements in innovations, ideas, social climate, technology, and so forth are inevitible, they all have to constantly evolve together to maintain the global commerce.
Commercial patterns are the same. Trends in demographics as well and world commerce will attribute itself to the trends of commercial patterns. Very little difference is seen with regards to the effects on commercial patterns. However, the impacts on global commerce, commercial patterns and demographics all play a significantly important role towards the natural environment. These roles include the overall success and or failure for that matter of the economy and the people that survive in it. Again in relation to the cause and effect strategy. It takes one thing to lead to another and visa versa, if this happened, it was a direct result of that happening.
Either way, it is and always will be believed that Demographics and World Commerce as a whole are key determinating factors to everyday living and the decisions, both business and non-business alike, that people face everyday. Without one the other can not happen. And evolution of these determining factors will only result in increased productivity with relation to World Commerce.
References
Census Bureau. U.S.Statistics. http://www.census.gov/.
Drucker, P. A Future That Has Already Happened: Harvard Business Review. EBSCOhost database.
Fellmann, J., Getis, A., & Getis, J. Human geography: Landscapes of human activities (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Wikipedia. Demographics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics.