Publications & Thought Leadership

As society emerges from the global pandemic, everything is changed. Global social and environmental tectonic forces are reshaping the risks and opportunities businesses face as they steward the success of their organizations. Leading companies understand this and are updating their value propositions – their reason for existence – in the face of this new reality. Company leaders are peering ahead to decipher and build the roadmap that leads to future success in the changed world. The report “Future of Business in Society: Global Thought Leader Study” documents these emerging value propositions.

In “Future of Business in Society: Global Thought Leader Study” all signs point to successful businesses rethinking their inward-facing missions that managed people and nature as resources to ones that embrace a stronger role in creating value not just for their themselves and their shareholders, but also for society and stakeholders in which nature is replenished and people and communities thrive.

This research paper “Future of Business in Society: Global Thought Leader Study” sheds light on this quest. It sets out to answer the question:

“What is the Future of Business in Society?”

The report “Future of Business in Society: Global Thought Leader Study” was commissioned by the Canadian government via Employment and Social Development Canada which is interested in accelerating the response of the private sector to contributing to a sustainable and just future for Canadians and their communities.

This research report is designed to inform that dialogue.

Companies and their stakeholders in Canada and around the world are encouraged to review these findings and engage boards and leaders on the implications for their business models and the sectors and systems in which they operate and derive value.

The research reveals that several pivots lie ahead, with societal and economic actors coming to understand that everything is interdependent, as the pandemic has taught us. Global thought leaders are united in their views on the opportunity for these shifts to materialize and the necessity of that happening. This report on the Future of Business in Society shows the way.