In the business world, the market is also like an estuary for changes that occur at the macro scale. The technological revolution further drives economic, political-legal and sociocultural changes, all of which culminate in the market.

Several ASEAN countries have experienced structural changes in the market, inevitably resulting in greater competition. The development of technologies, which have increased information availability, has prompted profound changes in the political systems of several countries, while the more open economy has meant the boundaries of monopoly restrictions have diminished to a large extent.

In a number of important industries such as telecommunications and banking, we have witnessed an influx of private players entering the markets, both indigenous and from outside the country.

The increasingly competitive business environment has encouraged players to continue to innovate and improve efficiency. The customer has largely benefitted from this phenomenon, not least with a more varied selection of products and services.

And technology continues to evolve. The emergence of internet and related technologies has made the “whole world flat,” as claimed by Thomas Friedman (2005).

The barriers between countries are seemingly engulfed in the wave of change. In this context, Harold Sirkin (2008) stated that the business world would be faced with a phenomenon called “globality,” in which a company will compete with everyone, from everywhere, for everything.