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Profit and social capital are made for each other. When they are united, it's as if they've fallen in love. Social capital is the value inherent in interpersonal networks. Its amalgamation with profit signals a radical redefinition of the customer as the key to unveiling new facets of business success. And as with a genuine romance, the result is a dynamic shift, a shedding of the old and a reaching out to the new -- in this case, to inclusion of intangible economies and experience.

The rise of the PC in businesses during the 1980s ushered in a new vision for organizations. The center of attention shifted to managing processes efficiently, the objective being to reduce enterprise business cycles. As a result, organizations became "process centric." Of course, customer satisfaction was never tossed out the window, but the marketplace did become primarily supplier driven.

In the 1990s, on the other hand, globalization was poised to dissolve national boundaries and engender a global marketplace where customers call the shots. Today, customers are harder to please, because they have been empowered by choice. Searching the global marketplace has never been easier. To complicate matters more for businesses, information about goods and services, supplier and product comparisons, and fellow customer feedback is as close as a click away. Today, the customer's value is acknowledged as never before.

It is this reality that spawned today's CRM market social ecosystem (including numerous boutique markets) which is the subject of this discussion. Previously, the industry had been responding to organizational demands for process automation and management solutions. Yet, that doesn't mean CRM processes and ICT (information :%$amp; communication technology) have suddenly become irrelevant. On the contrary, fuelled by imaginative unions, the landscape has become more customer-centric. A more expansive understanding is inspiring new approaches to business development and intelligence-driven E-commerce supported by hybrid ICT innovations applied to community renewal as part of CRM Strategy products that aspires to automate global social responsibility.

History teaches that such situations can be resolved by advances in technology or new applications that create dramatic social shifts which reverberate throughout the economy. The Industrial Revolution in the U.S. is one such example; at the same time that a huge market demand (railroads) was emerging, a dramatically improved technology (the Bessemer steelmaking method) catapulted the product (steel) to soaring heights of commercial success, playing a key role in the nation's growth. Today, high energy prices are impacting nearly every industry, especially retail, and customers are responding with what some are reporting as cautious spending. Guarded spending may be interpreted as an indication of declining social capital. The U.S. Labor Department reported this June that consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 5.2% for this first part of 2006, putting it well ahead of the 3.4% annual increase of the previous year. A slowdown in the previously booming housing market has also emerged as a noteworthy indicator, accompanied by a declining consumer loans market.

Some experts estimate that U.S. national debt has continued to increase an average of $1.77 billion per day since September 29, 2006. Ben Bernanke, new Federal Reserve chairman, warns that huge deficits place future living standards at risk. His statements were in expressed in a response to inquiries following his appearance at a U.S. congressional hearing on the economy in February. In 2005 the budget deficit was $319 billion US, the third-highest figure in U.S. history. In 2006 it was projected to, the balloon to a new record of $423 billion.

The broadest measure of international trade jumped, according to CBC News, "... to an all-time high of $804.9 billion last year as the country went deeper into debt to foreigners. The Commerce Department said Tuesday the deficit in the current account was up 20.4 per cent from the previous record of $668.1 billion set in 2004."

Combined with the social issues facing communities these facts all point to a dire need for innovation and new solutions. This points to where opportunities and challenges exist for those in CRM, marketing and beyond. Consider that social capital can be the glue that binds your customers to your business . Then what sector does not benefit from increased social capital$%: Furthermore how can it be leveraged to survive the bumpy ride that may be ahead$%: No enterprise is an island and it is to your advantage to understand the factors that are impacting your business or organization...and to then develop strategies to tackle them.