TRENDS

Trends Affect Your Organizations
in Many Ways

by
Kathy Cassens

This month's Trends column presents a series of ideas gleaned from various periodicals or books that indicate trends that may affect your organization.

In a study of Chicago area lifestyles by the Metropolitan Chicago Information Center, four of every 10 people questioned said they have less free time than a year ago. That's more than double the number of those who said they have more time. (Chicago Tribune April 29, 1991).

Successful organizations of the future will encourage and accept leadership, not just from the top, but from wherever it emerges in the organization. "Leaders" will be the intuitive individuals who are committed to experimentation rather than bureaucracy. (The Futurist, November/December 1989).

Athletes who play hard to win are more apt to get hurt than those who just play for fun,University of Florida researchers find. They say those who take a game too much to heart are more likely to put themselves in a risky situation in an effort to come out ahead. (Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1991).

Concern for the environment has been accepted as an ongoing trend, not a short term fad. Buying "green" is creeping into the corporate culture. (Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1990).

Employers will increasingly hire more experienced retired workers in traditionally entry-level jobs, thus casing the need to provide remedial education in their programs. (The Futurist, March/April 1990).

A powerful new wave is about to hit the already turbulent business world. It's the wave of service, or more specifically, a new and intense preoccupation with the quality of service. People are getting more and more critical of the quality of service they experience in their everyday lives, and they want something done about it. (Service America!).

George J. Ball, Inc. acquired a controlling interest in the W. Atlee Burpee Co. last year. The acquisition ties together Ball's experience in seeds and Burpee's pipeline to consumers. The company hopes to make bigger inroads into a home gardening industry that chalked up sales of $3.7 billion for vegetable and flower garden supplies in 1990, all at a time when the majority of baby boomers are entering middle age — the stage at which people typically take up gardening. (Chicago Tribune May 28, 1991).

Golf has more players who are playing more often. Rod Wamick, a University of Massachusetts professor who tracks leisure trends, calculates that the number of adult golfers increased about 6 percent in the 1980s while the number of days played grew about 7 percent. The increasing number of retirees, the aging of the baby boomers, and more women and minorities taking up the game have all contributed to the increase. (Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1991).

Have You Read... ?

Editor's Note:

Submit your two or three page, double-spaced typed Trends article to: Trends Editor, 211 East Monroe, Springfield, Ill. 62701. For more information on this column, call Kathy Cassens, Roselle Park District, at (708) 894-4200.

Illinois Parks and Recreation

34

May/June 1992