Finding our place in a changing world
11 Sep 08
The CA Conference at Gleneagles last week focussed on understanding economic and social change, and its impact on business. Meanwhile the world of football gave us a good example of change, on a grand and unexpected scale.
Gleneagles is famous for its golf, so it might seem strange that it was a news story from the world of football that seemed to echo the theme of the CA Conference, held on Thursday and Friday last week at the Gleneagles Hotel: “Making Sense of the Future.”
The conference theme produced some fascinating sessions – which we’ll be reporting on in the October issue of CA Magazine – on the opportunities and challenges the future holds.
One recurring theme was that “globalisation” doesn’t just mean a more interconnected world. The world is changing in fundamental ways. The dominance of North America and Europe, for example, can no longer be taken for granted, as we come to terms with the growing power of energy rich economies such as Russia and the Middle East states, and with the incredible growth and scale of China and India.
“Futurist” Rohit Talwar gave us some facts about the world emerging right now. For example: there will be three billion more people in the world over the next 40 years. The growth in numbers in Asia alone exceeds the whole of Europe’s existing population. Meanwhile, migration patters are changing the ethnic mix of Europe and the US.
In the Middle East, oil wealth is being translated into some of the most ambitious construction projects the world has ever seen, including new city developments that will provide homes and jobs for millions.
Historian Niall Ferguson showed us that “globalisation” is nothing new – it was alive and well in the 1870s before the process was abruptly reversed in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War.
Ferguson sees states such as Russia and China growing not just in economic power but in geopolitical terms, while Europe seems to suffer from a lack of “hard power” to counterbalance those two giants.
So, the news on Monday that the Abu Dhabi United Group has bought a controlling stake in Manchester City FC should not be dismissed merely as a private club of oil sheikhs with more money than they know what to do with. It’s just one example – a particularly high profile one – of the changing balance of economic power.
The world we thought we knew is changing. Even after the credit crunch has come and gone, one thing we won’t be going back to is “business as usual”.