President George W. Bush had just authorized the initial stages of the Iraq invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial government. Apple was in the process of planning the release of the highly anticipated iPod mini. “In Da Club” by rapper 50 Cent was at the top of the billboard charts. Yes, a lot has happened in the last ten years. But aside from international political crises and short-lived musical stardom, there have been some interesting things going on in the business world that are worth reflecting on.

Business Evolution and Technology

Business has changed dramatically since the early 2000s, in large part due to an exponential growth in game-changing technology that has sped up and made more specific the work the business community does. Here are some ways in which the industry has been altered, either by these advances in technology or a number of other important shifts in the global business community.

More International Jobs

The increasing interconnectedness of today’s world is in no way more visible than if you take a look at the amount of people who live and work in countries that are not their own. This phenomenon is extremely rampant in Europe, where cheap airline tickets and the creation of the European Union have made traveling, living, and working in nearby countries a very solid option for European expats.

But it’s also taking place elsewhere. Obviously the United States always comes up in conversations regarding immigration, as in many ways it is still seen as the “Land of Opportunity.” Hundreds of thousands of people move to the U.S. each year seeking work. But there is evidence that emigration from the U.S. is increasing as well.  Recent data concludes that millions of Americans live and work outside the country, although that number is difficult to conclusively pinpoint.

Define “Office”

Because of laptop technology, high-speed wifi access, and a generally shifting nature of the working world, the setting for business affairs these days is not necessarily a typical office. According to a recent survey, one in five Americans work from home. This a huge percentage, and a lot of that growth has occurred over the course of the last ten years.

In addition, the office place itself is morphing in accordance with trends in the business community. There are a lot more startups (more on that below) and companies like Facebook and Google have set the tone for creating a workplace environment that is innovative, fun, and inspiring. It’s not unusual to walk into an office and see young bearded individuals seated on a beanbag chair, drinking a 100% fruit smoothie and hammering away at a company-provided MacBook Air.

Startup Madness

Perhaps the biggest change in the business world is the rapid increase in “startup” culture and the massive amounts of small businesses that have taken off with the aid of technological innovations. Advances in technology have generated a huge marketplace in small pieces of complimentary gadgets or software (apps for example). It doesn’t take a large number of people to design these products, and the payoff can be huge. Couple that with a dramatic increase in Computer Science popularity for students the last decade and you have a lot of young entrepreneurs with a lot of great ideas doing business on their own.

Targeted Advertising

Advertisement and marketing is an industry with ranks up there with those that have benefited most from what the Internet Age has provided. Companies are able to target customers directly, based on data culled from Google and searches and other databases of Internet activity, and pitch them products that are more related to what they might be interested in. Any internet marketing blog will tell you about how this targeted advertising has made advertisements exponentially more effective, and it changes the way businesses market and distribute their products.

●●●

We’ve come a long way since 2003, and not only because we stopped listening to 50 Cent. The technological revolution of the last twenty years has produced a remarkable shift in the way we do business in 2013. Who knows what the next ten will bring?