Business and Leadership
The business community needs to rethink its role in the new economy. Business should provide leadership for the broader changes to come, not only through altruism but also through self-interest. The success of businesses will depend on the rapidity and smoothness of the societal changes that are being unleashed by the I-Way. Business in any nation-state can succeed only if it has a new-economy workforce—one that is educated, motivated, stable, and healthy. And domestic markets will be viable only if they are supportive of innovations, see the social benefit to themselves, and have confidence about their personal privacy.
Corporations have never lived in a social vacuum. The- have always had an interest in the sociopolitical environment. Companies gave to charities, support political parties, invest in social projects. Conversely, companies have been able to operate in unstable volatile environments, but that’s not where they put their head offices and key assets. However, as the shift to the new economy gains momentum. the links between economic and social transformation become intense. The federal deficit is a tame problem compared to the potential social deficit lurking in the wings of a poorly managed transition to the new economy. Furthermore, as the world becomes a smaller place both for companies and customers such links grow on a global scale.