The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting has proved its power time after time in setting the global agenda, identifying emerging issues and challenges, and engaging leaders from all walks of life in dialogue, initiative and action. In the same way, Global Agenda seeks to lead opinion and debate on all the key issues facing the world. It aims to be thought-provoking and controversial, but balanced and fair. And it tries to make room for voices from all sides of society. We live in deeply unsettled, challenging times. Many of the certainties on which we have come to depend in recent years are in doubt. In place of trust lie scepticism, suspicion and fear. It is more vital than ever that all sides of the debate are heard – from the worlds of business, civil society and government. Like the World Economic Forum itself, Global Agenda aims to be a forum for discussing issues, testing ideas and initiating change.
Enron and subsequent corporate scandals have destroyed public confidence in the business world, in capital markets and in the reliability of financial reporting. How that confidence can best be rebuilt is a matter of fierce debate. But what is beyond argument is that the system is broken and it needs fixing – fast. No industry…
The information revolution will require huge and difficult changes in companies’ organizational, hierarchical and decision-making structures if they are to survive, says Philip Condit We are in a period of unprecedented change. The information revolution will produce social impacts and disruptive transformations, just as the industrial revolution did when it changed civilization from a rural,…
The launch of a business-led regional initiative could pave the way for greater economic integration in east Asia, says Nobuyuki Idei, while strengthening ties with the EU, the US and other trading partners – There are growing uncertainties all around us since 9/11. Corporate scandals in the US have sent shockwaves through the global business…
Enlightened and bold leadership from the US and Europe is needed urgently to rescue the Doha trade round, re-energize the global economy, spread the benefits of trade for all and eradicate the poor conditions in which terrorism thrives, says Niall FitzGerald. The US and the EU will put the success of the Doha trade round…
Intellectual property rights are under attack – above all in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr Henry McKinnell argues that patent protection is vital. Without it, he says, huge benefits to science, health care, education and human life will be lost – Back in 1982 Pfizer was on the verge of shutting down a research programme run…
For most businesses and business leaders, the golden age of the 1990s seems a lifetime away. Beset by uncertainty, suspicion, fear and financial turmoil, CEOs have to adjust to a whole new world. Vernon Ellis and Liz Padmore offer some pointers to success in the future. After the scandals and uncertainty of the past year,…
On the long road from Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to Johannesburg last year, there has been a gradual acceptance that business has a role to play in development, and is not simply the cause of all the problems. By Mark Moody-Stuart. – To a business person it is self-evident that it is impossible to…
