ABSTRACT
Organisations of all kinds, large and small, private and public are experiencing profound changes in their business environment during the opening decades of the twenty-fi rst century. Many organisations are being affected by developments in their operational arenas and markets that are severely challenging managers. Natural resources and energy supplies are becoming more expensive. Advances in technology have revolutionised connectivity leading to the rapid expansion of virtual markets. In addition shifts in the economic fortunes of individual nation states and their consequent social and political ramifi cations, together with an emerging shift in global power dynamics as developing economies rival established ones, have all presented organisations with the necessity of seriously reviewing their established modus operandi .
