Business in Asia Assignment Task

Running head: BUSINESS IN ASIA
Business in Asia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The economy of Asia is largely dependent on business opportunities and developed
countries of the continent are responsible for taking this business growth. In the recent times,
Asian countries have been facing the problem of ageing population and its harmful impacts on
economy. There are various countries in the southern regions of Asia like Japan, China, Hong
Kong, Singapore and others that contribute to the growth of economy of the continent. Very
recently, this challenge of ageing population has been faced by these countries (Walker &
Aspalter, 2014). In case of Japan, there are certain facts that have changed the outlook of
Japanese economy. Therefore, these challenges should be overcome by these countries for a
bright potential future and their ability to compete with the economies of other European
countries and United States. This essay will focus on the prospective challenges of Asian
countries and suggestions will be provided on how they can cope up with these issues in the
future.
Ageing population in Asian countries
Various Asian countries have been facing the problem of ageing population in the recent
times and it has hampered the growth of their business perspectives since older people are not
able to deal with latest changes in business system. Some o the pillars on which modern business
practices and global competitiveness stand on are advancement in technologies, providing
primary education and health facilities, efficiency in labor market, size of market, building up
quality institutions for business growth, development of financial market, efficiency in goods
market, sophisticated business systems and innovative designs for development of businesses
(Walker & Aspalter, 2014).

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In this scenario, most Asian countries are not that much engaged in building innovative
designs for businesses and embracing technological advancements. These two segments have
become almost inseparable parts of business development. Countries like Japan and Hong Kong
are in 6th and 7th position in global competitive index (GCI) in 2014-15 as published by World
Economic Forum (Jones, 2014). The elements of business development for all countries are
based on three segments i.e. factor driven, innovation driven and efficiency driven. The business
organizations should always engage in gaining competitive advantage and it will only be
possible if they can recruit highly efficient, energetic and dynamic young people. This is where
the actual challenge lies. Countries that are included in evaluating Asian economy are Singapore,
Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and others.
China and India are two countries in Asia that have experienced enormous growth in modern and
traditional export growth through their business practices between 2000 and 2009.
There are other challenges regarding growth of economy in some Asian countries. Asia
had experienced rapid financial growth for some decades but income levels in those countries
were unequal. It must not be forgotten that most countries in Asian economy are completely
linked with patterns and trends in global economy as well (Jones, 2014). The lack of skilled
young people is probably the result of their inability to provide proper primary education to
children. This creates a gap between international standards of capabilities and their ability to
absorb those skills for their professional development (Chomik & Piggott, 2015). The estimates
of various international organizations have proved the fact that Asia is growing older than rest of
the continents.
As per the assumptions, it has been found that around 16% of total population of the
continent of Asia will grow older at more than 65 years of age. This might be the case at the end

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of 2040. Therefore, it will be very difficult for them to cope up with the latest innovations that
would come across in the business industry. New types of business practices would come up and
people should learn to embrace all these things for a better future (Chomik & Piggott, 2015). It is
a good perspective from the health because of the rise in life expectancy of common people. O
the other hand, this perspective will surely be very fatal for growth of economies.
This business growth of Asia has already begun to lose its vitality because of ageing
population. As critics have pointed out, it must be clarified that Asia experienced the rapid
growth of its economy because of skilled workers at their prime youth. This ratio has completely
gone down because of several reasons. In addition with ageing population, countries like China
and Vietnam are going through a phase of rapid population growth (Romli et al., 2017). This
scenario can really be very dangerous for these countries with middle income. It will be difficult
for these countries if they do not tend to focus on maximum productivity to provide food and
shelter to all these people.
It has also been estimated through various research studies that population of working
age between 18 and 65 years will decrease around 10% from 2017 to 2030 at South Korea
(Knoke, 2018). This is definitely a huge concern for all business experts of Asia. Multinational
companies from USA and Europe will think twice before they could enter the Asian market.
Their foremost aim would be to use local labor supply at cheap cost so they can gain higher
profits. The middle class economy has grown in different countries of Asia and resulted in
integration of financial markets. This large amount of turbulence in economic perspectives
across Asia will definitely result negatively (Romli et al., 2017). The migration of labor markets
across Asia will also lead towards economic integration of Asian economy. Some historical links
or influences that are crucial to understand Asian business are influences from Indian and

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Chinese cultural history. Colonial rule from Western countries had been experienced by
countries of southern and southeast regions.
Impact of ageing population on Asian economy
The declining economy of Asia has resulted from lack of supply of young and skillful
laborers. One important way out to strengthen economy is to keep people in their positions after
they reach their traditional age of retirement (Chand & Tung, 2014). Most countries have not
enabled in their mission of building up quality institutions for back up with skillful laborers from
a very young age. It has also been reported that a large number of senior workers in Asia are still
working beyond their retirement age to keep on productivity (Ahsan et al., 2014).
As per the recorded statistics of OECD, it has been reported around 33% people aged
between 70 and 74 are still working to supply productivity. On the contrary, it has also become a
problem for nations since these people are not able to utilize technological advancements. At the
end of 2018, South Korean workers between the age of 65 and 69 were around 45% (Chand &
Tung, 2014). This proves how these countries are trying to cover up worker supply by extending
terms of workers. Three most integral factors in improving profits for organizations in Asian
market are input costs, total productivity and output costs.
The use of theories is important in this discourse. The innovative growth theory by
Schumpeter is useful to note the trajectory of economic growth in Asian countries. According to
the theorist, developments in the organization would lead to the economic growth of steady state
(Arias et al., 2014). Therefore, it is essential for countries like Japan and South Korea to
implement the innovative development programs that would increase opportunities of economic
growth. The responsibility of the innovative development is on young people. This is why

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organizations should care for training and development of young people so they can cater to the
needs of economic growth. The classical theory of economic growth has focused on trade
between two nations (Nagarajan, Teixeira & Silva, 2016). This is probably the only manner
through which nations could gain wealth. This aspect will lead to economic growth of the
country. The proponent of this theory had warned the society of monopoly. The young people
should provide their efforts with their innovativeness (Park & Kim, 2015). Their dynamic efforts
will help them to stop business practices from being monopoly. Competitiveness among
companies will lead to economic growth of Asian countries alongside its economic growth.
It is also a very problematic matter that older workers find it very difficult to run their
households because they continue with their jobs at a very low payment (Arias et al., 2014). This
payment is low because their contract has run out and they cannot enjoy similar facilities that
they had before their retirement. In Japan, it has also become a worrying matter that senior and
older workers have displaced their younger counterparts (Skouby et al., 2014). This affects
lifestyles of the country. The process of depriving young people of jobs is not good for overall
reputation of countries. On the contrary, it should always be remembered that younger workers
tend to be more dynamic, energetic, productive and innovative than older people.
So, it is wiser to recruit them to improve production levels of the company. According to
the statistics, it has been said that workers between 30 and 45 are very much productive all
throughout the world. Senior and elder workers have reflected low amount of productivity
because they get slow in using technology (Nagarajan, Teixeira & Silva, 2016). Elder workers
might have required skills like experience, problem solving capabilities, business decision
making and communicating with clients. On the other hand, they face health problems with
growing age as well. This turns out to be a major barrier in their working procedure. The

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cognitive capacities of these older men are not enough to support them for higher levels of
productivity. Thus economic growth of companies and various nations get slower as well. These
ageing people will not be able to implement R&D innovation technology or acquire knowledge
in implementing ICT skills will work as challenges for older people to succeed in their quest
(Noe et al., 2017). So, it is quite clear from the discussion that older people will not be able to
implementing fast changing technologies.
It must be ensured that there are lots of jobs in the market for both young and old workers
and these jobs are basically high in quality. New and latest technologies should be implemented
to boost up the capability of workers. The advancements in biotechnology and medical science
has assisted old age workers to stop the decline of cognitive and physical capabilities (Ciutiene
& Railaite, 2015). In this scenario, market share and size of markets must be kep in mind that
will cater to the overall growth of firms through help of younger talents. Older people are not
that much attracted to use social media like younger ones. Young people are adept at controlling
various social media applications that could be used for development of marketing process.
However, the ultimate growing concern in this condition is employment of robots for carrying
out different jobs (Moon, 2015). These robots are displacing human beings from their jobs
simply because robots can be controlled by developers and there are no worries about its ageing.
Japan and South Korea are very technologically advanced in Asia. There is every possibility that
these two countries can also begin to displace humans by robots. Economically, Asia will have to
develop and they have to find way outs for new innovative businesses (Kulik et al., 2014).

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Overcoming ageing crisis by Asian economy
This is a time for deep concern of Asian economy since they are considered as champions
for economic growth in past several decades. Countries like Japan came up from ashes of horrific
nuclear bombing on their cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They did so with the energetic
enthusiasm of young workers (Ciutiene & Railaite, 2015). Now, the availability of young
workers is decreasing. Therefore, it will be essential to build up quality institutions to support the
inherent skills of the youth. If they are provided with proper training facilities they can definitely
shine and improve gross productivity of the country (Tacconi, 2016). The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has predicted the economic growth of Asia Pacific regions by the end of 2025 but it
is impossible without dynamic innovative capabilities of young people. Japan, China, South
Korea, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other countries should find out new business
opportunities that could enhance growth of economy in Asian countries.
Business opportunities in real life
Asian countries should indulge in building up innovative programs that would lead up to
establish a unique identity for them (Park, 2014). Technological advancement of Japan will help
them to innovate new business ideas based on artificial intelligence. Biochemical improvements
of the organization would definitely lead to the betterment of the scenario so they could
evidently take part in business development programs (Davies & James, 2016). Country leaders
can formulate new policies through which older aged people can also stay healthy and contribute
to overall development of economy. Governments can also build up some educational
institutions that will evaluate the brilliance and skills of students and encourage their potential to
become the game changer in the competitive business environment.

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Conclusion
On a concluding note, it could be said that ageing population in Asian countries has
created some barriers and that has affected negatively on economic growth. This is growing up to
be a huge concern for the lawmakers and policymakers of the country. Asia has always been one
of the major continents to utilize the opportunities for economic growth. Here it has become
quite problematic for the Asian countries to maintain the economic growth because most of their
workers are growing old. Yet they have not been able to set up young workers with required
skills like problem solving, decision making and communication. Countries should be cautious
about this problem and develop their innovative plans with the help of technology to focus on
economic growth of Asia.

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Ciutiene, R., & Railaite, R. (2015). Age management as a means of reducing the challenges of
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Moon, K. H. (2015). South Korea’s demographic changes and their political impact. East Asia
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