In the future the global economy will influence organizations through various social, cultural, economic, and political events. Key questions about the future that will affect International Organizational Behavior are:

• What is the future of human progress?
  
  
• What is the future of the nation-state?
  
  
• Will cultures and economies converge or diverge in the future?
  
  
• What is the future of organizations?
  
  
• What is the future of management?
  
  

Answers to these questions are, of course, speculative because local and world events are unpredictable. And what appears to be a reasonable prediction today often looks like a foolish guess tomorrow. Nevertheless, an attempt to gaze into the future is irresistible and necessary--your career prospects probably depend on your ability to make sophisticated prognostications.

Predicting the future is fraught with the dangers of overly optimistic or unnecessarily pessimistic assumptions. With a small group of fellow students create lists of ten items each for events or trends that will affect work based on the following assumptions:

• Pessimistic events and trends over the next ten years.
  
  
• Optimistic events and trends over the next ten years.
  
  

1. The "Technorealism Project"
   http://www.technorealism.org
   This Web site is devoted to predicting the future. It is basically optimistic about mankind's prospects and proclaims that "The Internet is revolutionary, not utopian."
   
   

In additon to Technorealism, consult Web sites you think will provide insights into the future of work, organizations, and the global economy. Some words for a Web search are: forecasting, futurology, predictions, projections, utopias, and dysutopias. With the information from the World Wide Web, what actual events and trends do you expect over the next ten years?