Generational change in the business environment: digital and technological gap

Abstract

The process of generational change is a rigidly determined sociobiological process. It can be argued that the generational change in entrepreneurship is taking place within the framework of the current historical period under the infl of revolutionary technological processes. The phenomenon of the «digital divide» is growing between generations, each generation has its advantages over others and the next generation has greater and deeper digital human competencies. An additional catalyst for the acceleration of the process is the state, the introduction of state standards to the economy and other spheres of human social life encourages entrepreneurs to adapt to these requirements and switch to the digital human format. Several case studies have been analyzed within the framework of this study in order to identify the features of generational change in the business environment. The obtained results show the specifi of the generational change. Generation X, who started their business in the 1990s, is being replaced by more trained and competent entrepreneurs who have a clear understanding of how to run a business and where to move using digital technologies. We observe the following pattern of changing entrepreneurial cohorts: «X»→»Y»→»Z», the bundle «X»→»Y» can be described as a phenomenon of the «digital divide» and technological transitions and the bundle «Y»→»Z» is regarded as a more evolutionary transition from one model of moving business to another more digitalized and technologically advanced model. In this regard, we do not see a deep«digital divide», generation «Y» looks like a «digital person» in relation to generation «Z», fully adapted to current digital technologies.