Center for Global Business Studies Predicts Future of Business with New Book

A forthcoming book from the Center for Global Business Studies identifies the 12 trends in technology, nature, and society that will present the most formidable challenges in the next 30 years.

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (May 26, 2004) – The future of the global business environment will be greatly influenced by developing trends in technology, nature, and society that demand proper preparation from business leaders across all industries. A forthcoming book from the Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business identifies the 12 trends in technology, nature, and society that will present the most formidable challenges in the next 30 years.

“Global Tectonics: Underlying Trends Shaping the Future of Business," which is scheduled for release in June along with a companion CD-ROM, likens the business trends of the future to the unnoticed shifting of the earth’s tectonic plates.

“Global tectonics in business are transforming our industrial and societal topography,” said Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies and the book’s lead author. “Business leaders must view day-to-day operations in light of these developments. As the book points out, the ultimate outcome – minor tremors or major earthquakes – will depend on how businesses have prepared themselves.”

Developments in population, urbanization, disease and globalization, resource management, environmental degradation, economic integration, knowledge dissemination, information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, conflict, and governance are projected to determine corporate strategy of the future and are examined in depth in the book.

Many of the tectonic shifts highlighted in “Global Tectonics” also overlap, compounding the overall impact on industry. For example, the availability of land, labor, and energy depends on trends in population growth, biotechnology, urbanization, and natural resource management.

The culmination of several years of research, “Global Tectonics: Underlying Trends Shaping the Future of Business” is based on extensive conversations with executives in a variety of industries including manufacturing, services, finance, and marketing. The book is available by contacting the Center for Global Business Studies at cgbs@smeal.psu.edu or 814-865-0544.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.