Aileen Ionescu-Somers and Fransisco Szekely | Sat, 04/06/2013 12:59 PM |
Business has entered a challenging new world full of opportunities for strategic innovation, and sustainability will be a major driver of these opportunities into the future.
Let's look at some of the trends that indicate the emergence of this brave new world. There is a widening gulf between the replacement economy of industrialized nations and the first-buy economy driving consumption in poor and emerging countries.
There is also increasing tension between material and non-material economies: production, demand and commodity prices are rising, while the costs of immaterial goods such as shared multimedia content are falling. And there are new markets springing up to serve the "less poor", who earn between US$2 and $10 per day.
Other important trends include the flourishing "south-south" economy — where emerging economies are trading with each other and with less developed c...