VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

It refers to a state of uncertainty where unexpected events occur and future projections are difficult to make in the face of increasing complexity in the social and business environments.
It is said that VUCA originated as a military term in the United States under uncertain circumstances after the Cold War.
In recent years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the trend toward digitalization, such as AI, the business environment has undergone significant changes in a short period. Since around 2010, VUCA has been widely adopted in the business context.
In addition, the use of the term “VUCA world” at the World Economic Forum Davos in 2016 led to the worldwide recognition of the term.
In the unpredictable environment in the VUCA era, there have been events that cannot be addressed by existing strategies, necessitating changes in management strategies and business models.

From here, the elements of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and required responses will be introduced.

Volatility refers to a situation where things change rapidly and greatly.
This includes the diversification or shifts in people's thinking, displayed by Generation Z, and changes in the structure of society due to the rapid development of AI and other technological advances.
We are required to recognize significant and rapid changes swiftly and make accurate decisions quickly.
Uncertainty refers to a situation where future events are unpredictable.
Examples are climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is difficult to make decisions when there are many factors of uncertainty and unpredictability, and management is required to make good judgments and proceed under such circumstances.
Complexity refers to the intertwined of various elements.
For example, a large amount of information is circulated because of the spread of social media, and the progress of diversity and globalization.
To be more specific, when we expand our business overseas, we are required to flexibly accept diversity, such as different rules, cultures, and customs, and make accurate decisions.
Ambiguity refers to a situation where volatility, uncertainty, and complexity are intertwined the resulting causal relationships are ambiguous.
Another characteristic of ambiguity is that existing common sense and knowledge do not apply and there is no single answer.
It will be difficult to analyze and identify the causes of problems and remedies, and developing strategies for addressing various factors will be very challenging.

In the VUCA era, companies are required to flexibly adapt to changes in the environment. Simultaneously, human resources who carry out and promote such adaptations are also required to flexibly address events in accordance with the management environment, as well as to have the ability to continue to transform themselves.

In addition, it will be essential to build a highly diverse human resources portfolio with various backgrounds, mindsets, and expertise.
What, then, do we need to do to unite such a wide variety of human resources and promote our business?

Although it may sound paradoxical, for one thing, we as a company need to identify the things that we cannot change or continue to cherish, the purpose, and the reason for existence, and then communicate these in an attractive manner both internally and externally.
It may be challenging to bring together a wide variety of human resources with various backgrounds and mindsets.
On the other hand, in order to unite them and have them become the cornerstone of business promotion, one of the keys is to continue to build empathy for the reason of existence announced by the company, the things to continue cherishing, and the ideal vision of the company.