SA well placed – but businesses must adapt or die

In the dramatic and volatile world in which we live, businesses must be able to adapt quickly to remain in the running. “And it is important for our businessmen to be aware of what is happening not just locally but globally, because if you are aware, you can react.” That’s the message from Daniel Silke, an independent political analyst and futurist who says an example of this is the American bookstore Barns and Noble which adapted to technology, changing its store layouts and incorporating electronic books and coffee shops. “They are hugely successful in comparison to their biggest competitor Borders that did not develop and invest in technology – continuing the same trend of just selling books. They have gone out of business.” Silke said South African companies had more positives than negatives as they moved into the future. “The government has said it will roll out a massive infrastructure programme that if done well will lead to the re-industrialising of the country. We have good trade ties with China that today exports more goods in a single day than it exported in all of 1978.” He said the competiveness that China provides the world in terms of infrastructure spend should be welcomed as it was encouraging similar spend at home and the rest of the world. “Africa and South Africa can only benefit from the growth of the emerging markets.”