5 Wildcards That Could Impact Business Over The Next 5 Years

In today’s fast-changing global business environment, strategic companies will have to adapt and innovate to stay competitive, according to a new report from Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council. World in flux addresses five wildcards that could have a significant impact on governments and businesses across the world through 2030.

The five key global business trends outlined in the study are:

1. Amid continued U.S.–China tensions, “middle powers” such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil, are in a position to exert greater influence on the global system. The Global South is at an inflection point.
2. Tariffs will be a dominant force in the new economic order—with implications for governments and business. We are poised to witness a taxing time in international trade policy.
3. The future of corruption worldwide remains a wildcard, especially as the role of technology in mitigating—or exacerbating it—grows more significant.
4. AI, aging infrastructure, and climate change are pushing power grids to the brink. Can the world meet 21st century electricity demand?
5. From Elon Musk to Taylor Swift, “super-empowered individuals” are reaching new levels of influence. They are even beginning to impact the economic landscape in both beneficial and disruptive ways.

Transparency of government regulations and lack of corruption is very important to investors when choosing where to place their foreign direct investments.

“We are rebranding the name of the publication—from Global Trends to Global Wildcards—to reflect the significant and growing discontinuous forces of change affecting the environment for global business,” noted Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study, in the report’s foreword. “That should come as little surprise to anyone tracking the totality of the changes—across government, economics, energy and the environment, demographics, and technology—now reshaping the ways in which we interact, work, and live.”

“Each of the wildcards explored in this report reflects both challenges and opportunities for business,” added Terry Toland, principal at the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. “Strategic leaders will seek to mitigate the risks implicit in these fast-changing areas and identify ways to augment their capabilities accordingly.”

You can read the full World in flux report here.

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