Question

What can firms do to reverse some of the negative forces that lead to resource scarcity?

Answer 1

The resource scarcity can be of many types. It can be scarcicty of finances, human resources,intellectual properties, or raw materials which would be comverted into commodities or servicesby a company. There may be different causes for resource scarcity and different strategies to counter each. For example, a firm facing human resource scarcity might find the cause in lack of awareness among the students, lack of training facilities etc. It can tie up with community schools and colleges, employment exchanges and vocaional training centres to counsel the students about career options and can help its expertise to train them to become future employees. Natural resource scarcity can be reversed by looking for alternate supply sources, developing the new sources or look for alternatives   for scarce commodities. For example a cookie factory that faces palm oil scarcity in a region might look for other avenues of import or start using new oil to create a different product. Financial resources can be met by developing good market rapport thriugh high class products and services to attract new investors and grow the business. Human resources can be attracted and retained by aligning their goals with those of company's, providing them opportunities to learn and pay them what they deserve.

In all the cases, the firm must need to be innovative, proactive, considerate and quality conscious, and always keep on looking for the ways to improve the business and make it more competitive, to be resource smart.