Future demographic change in the UK will include growth in the overall population and a further increase in the proportion of the population aged over 55. To what extent does demographic change in the UK represent more of an opportunity then a threat to UK businesses? Justify your answer with references to organisations and industries that you know. Demographic change is the studies of a population based on factors such as age, race, sex, and economic status, level of education, income level and employment.
Demographics are used by government, corporations and non-government organisation to learn more about population’s characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research. At this stage I agree that demographic change in the UK represents more of an opportunity then a threat to UK businesses. However whether change is an opportunity or threat depends on whether management prepares for it.The ageing population changes have been known about for a long time giving plenty of opportunities for businesses to prepare for them, with planning managers might be expected to minimise the damage or create opportunities.
In some ways I feel that demographic change in the UK represents more of an opportunity because it may create marketing opportunities as market demands change. If the business can adapt or develop their marketing strategies and tactics then this may create sales opportunities.For example for the company IKEA their traditional product value is low price high volume product but the movement into mid to higher price points will see an opportunity to move the demographic base and increase the average basket value with less confidence on a limited demographic collection. At a time of recession in the global economy, it may appear that some companies will reduce take up of services that Ikea's offers.
However, in tough times clients tend to focus upon cost reduction and outsourcing - with are strategies that Ikea's offers.By creating marketing opportunities could allow the business to increase their sales which could therefore lead to an increase in profit. This point is significant because the growing population will increase demand on consumer products which will create sales opportunities for businesses. On balance, the evidence in this paragraph suggests that demographic change in the UK represents more of an opportunity then a threat to UK businesses. In some ways I feel that demographic change in the UK represents more of a threat then an opportunity to UK businesses.This is because the ageing population may mean businesses need to review their workforce planning.
Workforce planning is the process of analysing organisations likely future needs for people in terms of numbers, skills and locations. The demographic change might mean that the business will have to retrain or recruit new staff. For example in 2008/09 Tesco calculates that its business growth there will be a demand for around 4,000 new managers.It’s important that employers are kept up to date with the changing demand of the business and will mean that employers will benefit from and active and well-functioning workforce. However reviewing their workforce planning can be very expensive and time consuming for businesses. This is because workforce plan needs to be supported by sufficient financial resources for it to be effective; every decision made as a result of the plan has a cost implication.
On balance, the evidence in this paragraph suggests that demographic change in the UK represents more of a threat then an opportunity to UK businesses.
