The initial perspective on the Future of the Company kicked off the Future Agenda 2.0 global discussions taking place through 2015. This summary builds on the initial view and is updated as we progress the futureagenda2.0 programme. www.futureagenda.org

1. The
Future
of
the
Company
Insights
from
Discussions
Building
on
an
Ini4al
Perspec4ve
by:
Paige
Morrow
|Head
of
Brussels
Opera4ons
|
Frank
Bold

2. Context
The
ini4al
perspec4ve
on
the
Future
of
Work
kicked
off
the
Future
Agenda
2.0
global
discussions
taking
place
through
2015.
This
summary
builds
on
the
ini4al
view
and
is
updated
as
we
progress.
Ini4al
Perspec4ves
Q4
2014
Global
Discussions
Q1/2
2015
Insight
Synthesis
Q3
2015
Sharing
Output
Q4
2015

3. Disconnected
Business
Big
business
has
become
disconnected
from
the
broader
society
within
which
it
operates.
A
narrow
focus
on
short-­‐term
returns
has
led
some
to
act
in
ways
that
benefit
themselves
whilst
harming
society
and
the
environment.

4. Being
Part
of
Society
Is
the
purpose
of
the
corpora4on
just
about
pursuing
profits,
or
does
it
have
a
broader
responsibility
to
produce
socially
beneficial
outcomes
and
be
a
part
of
society
rather
than
apart
from
it?

5. Being
Part
of
the
Solu<on
Some
see
the
failure
to
make
capitalism
inclusive
and
to
address
sustainability
challenges
as
an
opportunity
to
build
deep
rela4onships
with
customers
and
stakeholders
by
working
on
solu4ons
to
societal
challenges.

6. The
Decline
of
Shareholder
Value
Will
large
companies
with
dispersed
shareholders
be
the
dominant
model
across
all
markets
or
will
they
be
replaced
by
a
mix
of
alterna4ve
models
beXer
suited
to
mee4ng
the
long
term
needs
of
a
wide
range
of
stakeholders?

7. Measuring
and
Repor<ng
on
Impacts
Wider
stakeholder
representa4on
in
decision-­‐making,
the
requirement
to
report
against
a
wider
set
of
measures
and
risks
and
the
development
of
benchmarks
and
labelling
to
all
industries
are
all
being
discussed.

8. Responsible
Business
Regulatory
changes
should
support
a
vision
of
business
that
provides
a
level
playing
field
based
on
the
‘do
no
harm’
principle
and
internaliza4on
of
externali4es.

9. Crea<ng
Las<ng
Change
The
use
of
regulatory
s4cks
and
carrots
has
the
poten4al
to
achieve
high
impact
but
may
be
resisted
by
incumbents.
A
subtle
approach
of
experiments
to
“nudge”
the
system
in
the
desired
direc4on
may
have
greater
impact.

10. Making
Compromises
Reconciling
the
need
for
companies
to
act
sustainably
and
in
accordance
with
principles
of
interna4onal
human
rights
with
the
local
prac4ces
will
require
compromise
to
develop
workable
context
and
industry-­‐specific
guidelines.

11. Business
Solu<ons
to
Societal
Problems
Re-­‐visioning
the
role
of
business
in
society
may
lead
to
a
reduc4on
in
inequality,
less
par4san
poli4cs
and
greater
ac4on
as
businesses
take
the
lead
rather
than
wai4ng
for
Government
to
lead
them.

12. Rediscovering
Purpose
Before
the
myth
of
shareholder
value,
companies
had
a
responsibility
to
a
wider
set
of
stakeholders.
We
need
to
revisit
the
purpose
of
the
organisa4on
and
understand
why
in
some
parts
of
the
world
we
have
lost
our
way.

13. The
Human
Touch
In
a
world
of
global
and
digital
marke4ng
and
consump4on,
consumers
will
increasingly
favour
those
brands
that
can
offer
more
emo4onal
engagements,
and
specifically
human-­‐to-­‐human
contact.

14. Data
Risk
Management
As
privacy
and
data
are
subsumed
within
wider
risk
frameworks,
greater
self-­‐regula4on
and
more
in-­‐house
data
risk
management
will
lead
to
deeper
integra4on
of
engineering,
privacy
and
policy.

15. Hollowing
Out
the
Professions
Technology
is
challenging
the
white-­‐collar
worker
and
automa4ng
both
middle
and
high-­‐end
jobs.
The
future
will
see
fewer
accountants,
lawyers
and
doctors
and
a
hollowing
out
of
the
previously
‘safe’
professions.

16. Skill
Concentra<ons
The
growth
of
the
nomadic
global
elite
ci4zenship
accelerates
the
concentra4on
of
the
high-­‐skill
/
high-­‐reward
opportuni4es
within
a
select
group
of
globally-­‐connected
ci4zens,
who
move
ahead
of
the
urban
pack.

17. Age
Diversified
Workforces
The
demographic
changes
underway
are
fundamentally
altering
virtually
all
aspects
of
life
as
we
know
it.
Workforces
are
becoming
older
and
more
age
diversified
than
ever
in
history.

18. Con<nuous
Learning
to
Enable
Employment
As
the
pace
of
change
accelerates,
the
knowledge
economy
grows
and
the
value
of
accredita4on
declines.
This
leads
to
a
shi`
from
"educa4on
then
work"
to
a
world
of
"con4nuous
learning”
needed
to
keep
us
all
employable.

19. Two-­‐Way
Trust
An
increase
in
trust
between
employees
and
employers
builds
greater
alignment
and
enables
democra4sa4on
of
the
workplace,
more
flexible
ways
of
working
and
more
effec4ve
organisa4ons.

20. Making
Work
Work
(for
People
and
Work)
We
will
see
a
shi`
in
priority
from
‘money
maXers’
to
‘meaning
maXers’.
This
will
lead
to
the
emergence
of
community
and
wellbeing
managers
in
organisa4ons
and
new
ways
to
measure
success.

21. Resources
Shaping
the
Future
Landscape
Resource
cri4cality,
resource
security,
emerging
legisla4on
around
closed-­‐loop
supply
chains
and
new
labeling
standards
for
waste
will
all
combine
to
shape
and
define
the
future
business
landscape.

22. Future
Focused
Organisa4ons
increasingly
reflect
a
desire
to
care
for
the
next
genera4on,
ac4vely
ques4oning
the
value
of
capital,
implying
a
return
to
no4ons
of
tradi4on
and
of
passing
on
a
legacy
that
is
about
more
than
money.

23. Millennial
Managers
As
more
digital-­‐na4ve
Millennials
take
the
lead
they
bring
different
perspec4ves,
experiences
and
expecta4ons
about
societal
challenges
and
the
role
of
organisa4ons.
This
drives
a
shi`
towards
a
deeper
sense
of
purpose.

24. 21st
Century
Organisa<ons
The
emerging
organisa4on
feels
very
different
from
c20th
companies
-­‐
collabora4ve,
crowd-­‐funded,
flaXer,
human-­‐focused,
hyper-­‐specialised,
informal,
localised,
out-­‐sourced,
project-­‐based,
purpose-­‐led
and
virtual.

25. Business
Response
to
Resource
Risks
To
prevent
the
exploita4on
of
global
regulatory
arbitrage,
we
work
out
how
to
more
effec4vely
govern
the
global
footprint
to
create
a
level
playing
field:
Business
and
government
develop
new
models
to
manage
risk.

26. Incumbent
Blockers
Several
large,
well-­‐established
organisa4ons
con4nue
to
seek
to
prevent
change
by
arguing
for
short-­‐term
incremental
shi`s
rather
than
wider,
more
collabora4ve
system-­‐based
change
that
may
benefit
society
in
the
long-­‐term.

27. Joining
the
Dots
Increasing
collabora4on
drives
companies
to
re-­‐organise
based
on
social
networks.
The
shared
economy
changes
the
shape
of
many
organisa4ons,
but
a
shi`
in
the
role
of
the
company
from
employer
to
facilitator
challenges
many.

28. SeRng
the
Moral
Compass
Integrity
is
separate
from
the
process
of
corporate
governance
and
the
rule
of
law.
Although
not
yet
fully
ingrained
in
corporate
life,
some
see
a
higher
sense
of
ethics
in
Asia
in
comparison
with
the
West.

29. The
Genera<on
Divide
The
perspec4ve
gap
grows
between
the
expecta4ons
of
the
young,
who
are
increasingly
global
in
their
outlook,
and
the
more
tradi4onal
views
of
more
senior
and
experienced
colleagues.

30. Many
Voices
A
key
challenge
for
the
ASEAN
region
is
leveraging
regional
diversity
and
culture
beyond
ethnic
diversity:
Age,
gender,
na4onality
and
religion
are
all
increasingly
seen
to
have
a
place
at
the
boardroom
table.

31. Asian
Government
Connec<ons
Asian
companies
con4nue
to
be
more
closely
linked
to
government
than
many
of
their
counterparts
in
the
west.
This
shapes
how
they
operate
and
how
they
evolve.

32. Regional
vs.
Global
Standards
Performance
measures
become
increasingly
more
regional
and
country
specific
and
local
values
are
priori4sed.
But,
as
many
Asian
organisa4ons
become
regional
global
players
they
also
play
down
na4onal
creden4als.

33. Disrup<ve,
Decentralised
Consensus
Ledgers
Plaeorms,
such
as
block
chain,
developed
for
crypto-­‐currencies
reduce
cost
and
complexity
to
connect
mul4ple
par4es
to
a
single
agreed
digital
record
shared
by
all.
This
transforms
the
way
we
hold,
access
and
value
informa4on.

34. Disaster
Recovery
Services
As
businesses
increasingly
suffer
from
the
impact
of
natural
and
man-­‐made
events
-­‐
such
as
climate
change,
cyber
crime,
terrorism
and
system
failures
-­‐
there
is
a
growing
demand
for
disaster
recovery
advice
and
services.

35. New
Finance
Business
Models
FinTech
creates
new
opportuni4es
for
the
delivery
of
beXer
business,
consumer
service
and
financial
inclusion.
But
it
also
has
the
poten4al
to
open
up
businesses
and
consumers
to
greater
fraud
and
exploita4on.

36. Future
Agenda
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