A short paper presented to the University of Glamorgan in answer to the question "What does wealth creation mean to a Welsh Woman Entrepreneur?"

J H Wademan BA PhD MIMgt

WEALTH CREATION - A Pre-Requisite for a Stable Future for Us All

What is wealth? Wealth is primarily about Quality of Life - the ability to determine one’s own direction. It is about maintaining one’s Independence, whilst maintaining one’s position within a peer group. Monetary wealth is the normal measure of one’s wealth, but essential elements are also measured by disposable "quality time" and a sense of "belonging"; belonging to family groupings and wider communities.

Wealth creation by my definition is about creating monetary income, access to quality time and gaining a place within society. As a business this applies to every participant in that business be they shareholders, employees, customers or service providers. True wealth creation is about participating in a win-win environment - not about exploitation.

The route to wealth creation is by working ‘smarter’. Utilising available resources, throwing away outdated ideas of work and embracing new ideas is the only way to wealth creation.

All strata of society must be engaged; there must be opportunities for all. Wales like most other developed countries is suffering from a falling birth rate, this is an ideal opportunity to address some of the employment prejudices rife in Britain. With modern methods of work we can encourage the so-called old, mothers, carers etc. back into the work force, utilising their skills and giving them a place in the economic society. Equal opportunities is about encouragement of all people whether they be male, female, young, old, disabled, whatever their ethnicity. It is realising the opportunity in diversity and capitalising on it. Everybody potentially has something to bring to the party.

The problems in Wales are exacerbated by ill-health and unemployment where large sub-sectors have been disenfranchised over not just a few years but in some instances tending towards three generations. People for whom the system has failed will lack confidence, motivation and will need encouragement and nurturing. They will need to understand that any measures are not cheap political gimmicks. This is no easy task but it has always been my opinion that by concentrating on the development of thriving motor regions within Wales a momentum will be created leading to opportunities that will slowly eat away these areas of deprivation.

We must get away from the ideas of the "factory system" ; after only a few generations of factory workers it has left us with a dependency culture and destroyed our sense of identity. The ideal of being a company man only works if you are seen as employable and live in an area of full employment. We have the opportunity with new technology to break out of this straight jacket and involve all strata of society. The challenge is to utilise these technologies to create wealth for all by bringing employment to rural areas and to the unskilled. The so called unskilled will be with us for some time yet, we must find ways of using new technologies to make best use of their talents and not just treat them as factory fodder. In this way they become more confident and become nett contributors thereby positively affecting both their individual wealth and the wealth of the nation.

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3 April 2000
 
Last Modified:
23 April 2006
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