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There is little doubt that by and large, most people adapt to change pretty well - perhaps better than they would recognize or even admit. Many facets of modern life are taken for granted, and indeed have become virtually indispensable to the functioning of society. So well have these innovations been integrated it is often easy to forget just how recently these changes have happened.
As little as ten years ago, home computing, email, the internet, broadband and mobile telephony were either in their infancy or only available to a handful of corporate users. Now, all these technologies are so fully embedded into the culture of the economy that it is difficult to imagine life without them.
Similarly, the business process outsourcing market of the mid 1990s was in its infancy. Most operators competed to provide billing and call centre services, with clients offered transactional services at the lowest possible cost. The utility industry had only just started to understand the need to meet different customer requirements through the limited application of pre-payment cards for electricity and gas, and some of the significant market changes that have gone on to shape the sector, including the deregulation of electricity and gas markets, the growth of mobile phones and the onset of globalization, were still in the future.
The widespread acceptance of all these innovations has brought both benefits and challenges to society, and it’s also true to say that this unprecedented rush of constant and significant change has impacted on the way in which the business community interfaces with consumers. The period has seen change in the competitive environment, change in consumer expectations and demands, change in how channels are impacting on customer behavior and choice, and change in how businesses and organizations across all sectors need to respond.