A.T. Kearney Releases New Global Trends Study: "Competition, Disruption, and Deception"

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid the dizzying changes underway around the world today, various aspects of Sino-American competition, the next generation of fake news, and profound shifts in the future of food are among the trends that will shape the global outlook and operating environment through 2023. So finds a new report by A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council, Competition, Disruption, and Deception. The authors argue that companies must build resiliency to these shifts by preparing contingency plans, improving cybersecurity, and localizing operations in the Indo-Pacific, among other strategies.

The Indo-Pacific is at the center of many of the trends that the report identifies, making this megaregion both more important to the commercial success of multinational corporations and more difficult for companies to navigate. One aspect is that the United States and China have emerged as the dominant players in a global battle for technological supremacy. The winner will have outsized economic, political, and military influence for years to come. More broadly, China's rising economic and diplomatic engagements throughout the Indo-Pacific are challenging the decades-long role of the United States as the region's leading power.

The authors point to the transformation of higher education affecting the specialization of the workforce and levels of national competitiveness. Here too, the United States and China are key players in the competition to attract high-performing international students and build STEM skills among their workforces. "The shift in the balance of global higher education as a result of more restrictive US immigration policies is a phenomenon that deserves more attention," says Paul A. Laudicina, founder and chairman of A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the report. "So too do the growing linkages between education and workforce development in a variety of countries, which point to an increasingly specialized global labor force in the years to come."

Better public education will also be needed to fight the damaging effect of fake news, according to the report. While fake news has already proven costly to governments, businesses, and societies around the world, the authors argue that the next generation of fake news will prove more disruptive still. "Get ready for even more volatility with respect to fake news," cautions Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. "Next-generation fake news leverages falsified video and audio, which are much harder to disprove and could therefore further undermine public trust."

Technological innovations are also enabling a clean food revolution. This trend of eating foods that are healthier, relatively unprocessed, and more environmental sustainable is driven by a dramatic shift in consumer preferences as well. "On the one hand, consumers are taking a back-to-basics approach to feed themselves and their families," says Courtney Rickert McCaffrey, manager of thought leadership for the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. "On the other hand, consumers are embracing a changing meat mix that includes cultured meat, plant-based meat substitutes, and insect protein. This innovation will dramatically change how people around the world consume protein."

Read the full report here.

About A.T. Kearney

A.T. Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors to the world's foremost organizations. A.T. Kearney is a partner-owned firm, committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission-critical issues.

To learn more about A.T. Kearney, please visit www.atkearney.com.

About the Global Business Policy Council

The Global Business Policy Council is a specialized foresight and strategic analysis unit within A.T. Kearney. Since its first CEO Retreat in 1992, the Council has been a strategic service for the world's top executives, government officials, and business-minded thought leaders. Through exclusive global forums, public-facing thought leadership, and advisory services, the Council helps to decipher sweeping geopolitical, economic, social, and technological changes and their effects on the global business environment. The Council consistently ranks near the top of the University of Pennsylvania's list of best private sector think tanks, and currently holds the 4th spot globally.

To learn more about the Global Business Policy Council, visit our Homepage.

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SOURCE A.T. Kearney

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