FOCUSING ON THE Presidential Elections that will occur next year the business community is already making contingency plans how they will proceed depending on which party wins the White House. The Republican Party is generally regarded as more pro-business with a pronounced philosophy of laissez faire. The Democratic Party historically is more apt to regulate business with stifling controls.
During the recessionary period that saw Bill Clinton elected as our 42nd President his focus was the economy. While enacting many initiatives such as private-sector investment. One of his philosophies was to pass along more authority to state and local governments in order to make the Federal Branch more agile. In general he espoused much of the Democratic Liberal dogma that pumped money into social programs.
The George Bush Administrations economic policy was more oriented to a free-market that was intended to let the American people keep more of the money they had earned while de-emphasize the role of government in the private sector. The result of this was economic growth in that led to economic growth spearheaded by tax cuts along with the expenditures from two wars that were fought during his administration.
Primary season as that time period has become to be known by will soon be upon us. At this time the two front-runners appear to be Donald J. Trump on the Republican side who as a result of his tremendous success in business is pushing for a return to a more business friendly climate. For the Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton the wife of ex-President Bill Clinton is the odds on favorite to win the nomination of her party. A Clinton presidency will see a return of free spending with less freedom for business to function as it needs to in order to keep our economy strong.
Depending on the outcome of the election some company’s may feel the need to reinvent themselves in order to conform with the policies of a new administration. Reinventing or rebranding is a step by step process in order to create a new identity for itself while facing the prospect of having to replace its old product line with a new one. To successfully complete an overall re-branding experts will need to be engaged. This is a huge expenditure of capital for a business that is suddenly back in an embryonic stage.
Conversely Corporate Reorganization is more of an overhaul of the internal structure of the company. The concentration will be more focused on core activities which can require the reduction of the work force. What occurs during this time is merging of two or more organizational departments resulting in a new streamlined entity with both units remaining basically intact. There is no change in brand , identity, product or service.
Each industry will have to make the appropriate adjustments in order to survive. With no immediate change in store businesses are closely monitoring the direction that the political winds are blowing while formulating plans for whichever way the end result winds up being. It is abundantly clear that fear of the turbulence a Clinton, Biden or Sanders administration will bring has many businesses putting on feelers for potential buyers and alike.
Should Donald Trump emerge victorious there will be a collective sigh of relief although there will be a degree of cynicism about him as he is a political novice. Given his propensity for flying off the handle as has become the trademark of his confrontational style questions will abound as to his ability to act with restraint rather than instantaneous actions that were devoid of thought.
What many analysts are prognosticating is that by the time the new administration takes office in 2017 all plans and contingency plans will be in place. All that will remain is the final decision what path they will need to follow. For now under President Obama business will continue to tip toe around hoping to stay afloat with his questionable foreign policy decisions affecting the climate or potentially the future of this country.
