The Future of Business and the Business of the Future

Speaker: Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives; President, Club of Rome

Never before in the history of civilization has there been as much improvement in the lives of so many as the world has seen over the past few decades. Several billion people on our planet now live longer, healthier and possibly more fulfilled lives than ever before. The roots of this success lie in many domains of human endeavor, but the business sector is certainly among those that have made the largest contributions to achieving it. Just as suddenly as the global economy has blossomed over the past half-century, however, the potential limits imposed by nature and society to its continued growth are now also beginning to rise exponentially. Climate change, species extinction, waste disposal, water scarcity, poverty and hunger, alienation and violence are some of the flip sides of the same progress that has so deeply changed our lives for the better. To stay competitive, the business of tomorrow must face and master these challenges and find ways to convert them into opportunities that can produce not only profits, but also protect the people who are its producers and consumers and the planet which provides its raw materials and absorbs its wastes. The technologies, institutions and even the value systems we have espoused are now in for fundamental changes needing innovation of a totally new kind. The future of business will lie in how well it can adapt to these changes for which it will need substantial changes in mindset and policy.

Category:

Education

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