With the dominance of market, employers will be faced with many challenges of innovating products in a most cost effective way, maintaining market shares, coping with the environmental issues and satisfying the customer. Market-led economy makes every one work harder and offers incentives for all the stake-holders. Dramatic advances in technology and communication have faciliatated the revolution. Cross-border integration of enterpreneurship, capital and labour have contributed to the globalisation and market development. This revolution not only poses enormous challenges to hitherto protected businesses but also opens up unlimited opportunities. In this dynamic situation, Governments have to provide necessary infrastructure, act as facilitators and put in place effective regulation.

Because of its very nature, this revolution is neither easy to cope with nor predict. With the technology, many issues crop up. The question of its availability, cost, the rate ofobsolescence, the acceptability, the redundancies of manpower and so on. Technological innovations can completely wipe out the market over night and also lead to total displacement of manpower. There can be no simple solutions to tackle these problems and we have no choice but to prepare ourselves and face them.

In this context, initiatives in the direction of human resource development assume prime importance. Individuals who stop learning will be elbowed out of the job market. In the process of learning and training, workers and employers have to develop strong partnerships. Learning and retraining have to be continuous.

Globalisation refers to the process in which different regions, economies, cultures and societies are influenced by similar processes and become increasingly bound together. The technological revolution, especially in telecommunication and information technology, and fast movement of goods sparked off and speeded the globalisation. The Uruguay round of talks, the subsequent agreementand the emergence of WTO have added to the complexity of the situation. Flexibility, versatility, delegation and speed will be the hallmark of successfully globalised business. Multinational corporations are rationalising their businesses across the world and their cross border influence is increasing. Small players can hope to survive only as satellites of bigger players.

High and persistent unemployment is a global phenomenon. ILO's 1996-97 World Employment Report says ``The world employment situation remains grim.'' In most industrialised countries, unemployment grew over the past 20 years -- to about 8 per cent of the work-force in OECD countries and to 12 per cent in countries of European Union. There are fewer jobs for unskilled workers. In Africa and Latin America, employment conditions deteriorated in the recent past. Only Asia, especially the rapidly growing countries of East and South-East Asia saw sustained improvement. But, the recent South East Asian crisis has changed the entire complexion.There is shift away from labou-intensive activities.

With unemployment heading thepolitical agenda, small and micro enterprises are crucial for creating jobs. In many developed countries, small enterprises account for the vast majority of new jobs. The author is the secretary general of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises.