Global tectonics
Part 1
Medicinal bananas
and bionic eyes
BY FARIBORZ GHADAR AND HORTENSE FONG
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the span of a decade, biotechnology has evolved from an
R&D; initiative to a major force in the agriculture and healthcare
industries, from deciphering the double helix to cloning.
While the healthcare industries will continue to prosper from
biotechnology, manufacturers should prepare for an increase
in biotech applications as well. As society continues to debate
the morality of biotechnology, companies that develop safe
applications accepted by a wary public and countries that
overcome such concerns will reap enormous profits.
12 TRENDS
CHANGING THE WORLD
A decade has passed since we first conducted the Global Tectonics' study that
identified 12 trends that would dramatically shape the future international
business environment. Though many of our predictions are coming true, certain
forces – such as the growth of social media – have had a much greater impact
than expected. Given the rapid change the global business climate continually
experiences, we have decided to update our initial study to better equip future
leaders and to revisit the trends we identified that surprisingly remain the trends
that thought leaders are most concerned about today.
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10 Industrial Management
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology
Information technology
Population
Urbanization
Disease and globalization
Resource management
Environmental degradation
Economic integration
Knowledge dissemination
Conflict
Governance