Exciting new world of Generation C

This paper was the first to herald the advent of Generation X-ers in the industrial countries in this column published in 1995. X denoted an identity crisis of sorts that they suffered from. They were unsure of ‘where they belonged', and alienated from their cultural bearings and moorings. They were also portrayed in contemporary writings as ‘apathetic, disaffected twenty somethings… grunge-listening, Starbucks-drinking, flannel-donning slackers… with no course in life'.

The ‘Baby Boomers' born between 1946 and 1964, thanks largely to the vast numbers of soldiers returning home following the end of the Second World War, were, by contrast, said to be over-bearing and over-achieving. Somewhere along the line, a new label of Generation Y was stuck on those born in mid-1980s or later whose predominant traits were their being tech-savvy, family-centric, team-playing and attention-demanding, besides being bitten by the bug nAch (need to achieve).

Always clicking

It would seem, from a write-up in the Strategy+Business Web site of February 22, that we have left all those generations behind us and are now face to face with Generation C. As a rule, the write-up says, the members of the generation were born after 1990 and lived their adolescent years after 2000. By 2020, they are expected to make up 40 per cent of the population in the US, Europe, and the BRIC countries, and 10 per cent of the rest of the world, constituting the largest single category of consumers worldwide.

The Gen C's profile, as constructed by the authors of the article (Roman Friedrich, Michael Peterson and Alex Koster), is truly formidable. Their fascinating narration of its many interesting facets has provided much of the inspiration for this column.

First of all, Gen C is so called because it is ‘connected, communicating, content-centric, computerised, community-oriented, always clicking'.

This is a generation which is inextricably intertwined with Internet, mobile devices, and social networking. They cannot live for a moment without handheld devices. More than 95 per cent of them have computers, and more than half use instant messaging to communicate, have Facebook pages, and watch videos on YouTube.

Virtualisation of enterprises

They have grown up under the influence of Harry Potter and iPods, iPads, iTunes, iPhones and iEverything! Their addiction to mobile communications does not arise from just the prompting of idle curiosity.

The large networks they have built up of family members, friends, business contacts, and people with common interests, their mastery of the intricacies of current and emerging applications of technology and their willingness to experiment and innovate bids fair to launch a veritable new wave in the lifestyles, business models, consumption patterns and even the economy as a whole in the coming years.

To quote from the article: “….The vast pool of information available will allow consumers (of this Generation) to pick and choose the information they want, as well as how they want to consume it…..As 24/7 connectivity, social networking, and increased demands for personal freedom ….penetrate the walls of the corporation, corporate life will continue to move away from traditional hierarchical structures.

“Instead, workers, mixing business and personal matters over the course of the day, will self-organise into agile communities of interest. By 2020, more than half of all employees at large corporations will work in virtual project groups. These virtual communities will make it easier for non-Western knowledge workers to join global teams, and to migrate to the developed world. As they do, they will bring with them the innovative ideas and working behaviour developed in their home territories.”

Hardly any industry or business will be untouched by the effects of the Generation C and the article (which is compulsory reading for all policy-makers) does not exaggerate when it predicts the sweeping changes that the entire political, economic, social, sociological and cultural landscape will undergo to be as profound and fundamental as in the case of the Industrial Revolution.

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