I just found a paper that I wrote when I was CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership about the forces that were at play that would impact the business community and Houston in general in 1999.. I was really surprised at how those forces are still working and the immeasureable impact they have had.
This is what I wrote in late 1998..
In looking at the 1999 planning season and potential changes for our Planning & Budget activities, we think that these are some of the key forces that will impact the Greater Houston Partnership next year.(1999)
- Consolidation at multiple levels - Corporate and global.
- Technology change and information flow accelerates. (exponentially for certain.!)
- Shortened CEO tenure - according to Harvard and our experience as well.( Went from 5 years to 18 months in the Fortune 500 firms.)
- Disintegration/ fragmentation - companies and markets.
- Pace of change accelerates. (And Facebook wasn't even a gleam in the eye of anyone.)
- Me. Inc. culture shift (Little did we know!)
- Asian Flu - the impact has hit Vancouver and the West Coast - will likely continue inland. ( We were talking sickness, not the economy.)
- Service Economy shift continues - the growth of this subsection outstrips the manufacturing sector.
- Demographic shifts continue - Houston business and politics.
- Competition - possible consolidation and aggressive new organizations. (Women's chamber, Hispanic Chamber, etc.)
- Millenium Madness - prospects, projects, and rejects. (Not a disaster, but it did produce lots of excitement.)
- The Body Politic - It is a legislative session and election year. (Boy is it ever.)
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