Trends Identified
Assessing the global landscape
Our annual survey of CEOs continues to note high levels of global business confidence, both in the short and medium term – an upward trend we have charted in four of the past five years. As figure 1.1 indicates, the outlook for revenue growth continues to be strong over the next year, the CEOs say, with 52% ‘very confident’ and 40% ‘somewhat confident’. Overall, confidence levels have nearly doubled since 2001.
2007
10th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
Growing abroad: East meets west
Nearly half the CEOs interviewed for our survey are involved in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, but the stereotypes of acquiror and target are set to change.
2007
10th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
From cost to collaboration: Redefining the value chain
Outsourcing (both supply chain and traditional back office functions)1 has been a regular feature of business life for many years. Through their responses to this survey, CEOs have indicated a marked shift in their motivation for using external suppliers, from simply as a mechanism to lower cost to a means of achieving a more strategic, collaborative framework. In tandem, CEOs tell us of an increasing trend to expand the scope of activity that is covered by outsourcing arrangements, from the traditional component supplies and IT infrastructure to other activities that, in the past, were held sacrosanct, including human resource management (HRM) and R&D.
2007
10th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
Defining the role of business leaders in society: A business imperative
Ask a classically trained financial economist about the role of the company in society and the response is likely to be to maximise shareholder returns. The 10th Annual Global CEO Survey reinforces a growing recognition among academics and practitioners alike that this traditional view of the long-term objective of a company is too narrow; that to sustain long-term financial growth, management need to balance the needs of the shareholder against those of other stakeholders – most notably the employee and society.
2007
10th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
Genetic modification of humans
Debates among scientists started roaring last year over a new technology that lets us edit human DNA. It’s called Crispr (pronounced ‘crisper’) and it’s a means of altering people’s DNA to carve diseases like cancer out of the equation.
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
A more aged population than ever before
We won’t just be wrestling with the fact that the world’s population is exploding – but people are living longer than ever, too. Which is great – but all those senior citizens are going to require care. In fact, the number of centenarians will increase more than 50 times – from 500,000 today to over 26 million by 2100. From the UK to Japan to China, societies with large numbers of people over 65 will become more common. In the next couple of decades, as that increase starts to happen, we’ll need better care for the elderly (Japan is even eyeing robots) and perhaps policies to allow more immigrants to try and make up for ageing workforces and in some cases, declining birth rates
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
Lost cities
You don’t need to look very hard in a place like Miami to see how cities are changing in the 21st Century – rising sea levels are gradually making some of them disappear. Fuelled by climate change, not only are floods becoming more common in the streets, but the changing weather patterns have also influenced building design. Aside from more seawalls, the city is requiring all new buildings be built with their first floor built higher. But that’s all a sticking plaster – if current trends continue, we may have to come to terms with losing whole swathes of cities, islands and low-lying regions such as Bangladesh. The economic impact to regions will be profound, and climate refugees could become the norm.
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
The evolution of social media
Social media has complicated the way we communicate for the better part of a decade. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, given that most people get their news from it now. That’s before we even get into the mess of online harassment, as well. What might social media look like in 30 years, and by that time, what are some threats it might pose?
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
New geopolitical tensions
The past year has seen a complete upset of our geopolitics’ fragile balance. That could make the global stability of the next couple of decades a complete question mark. North Korean missile launches. Thousands of refugees crossing borders to flee turmoil. Hackers meddling in other nations’ elections. Rising nationalist sentiment worldwide. Headlines in 2016 (and so far, 2017) have been dominated by never-ending political drama that’s been fuelling a ‘geopolitical minefield’ and an ‘unprecedented geopolitical shift’ – whether it’s managing unpredictable North Korea, the plight of Syrian refugees, or Britain’s transition from the European Union. Throw in widespread hacking, nuclear missiles and other dangerous technology, and it’s easy to see why maintaining basic diplomacy becomes vital.
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
Safe car travel?
Despite all the rapid urbanisation and talk of bullet trains and fantastical technology like the Hyperloop coming to the fore, the car isn’t going anywhere – and in fact, in the next couple decades, there will be even more of them on the road.
Driverless car technology is swiftly rolling out, with major tech companies and automakers aggressively seeking to debut human-free vehicles in coming years. But in addition, the sheer number of cars – self-driving or not – is going to skyrocket, studies show. In countries like China that are seeing a growing middle class, the environmental and infrastructural needs that an increasingly road-faring population demands is going to be a grand challenge. How do we ensure safety, fight pollution, and make sure driverless cars aren’t a menace on the road?
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC