Global Turning Points: Understanding the Challenges for Business in the 21st Century

The twenty-first century is replete with uncertainty and complexity: game-changing events and trends are transforming the world beyond recognition. For the first time in human history more people live in cities than in the countryside and greater numbers suffer from obesity than from hunger. Emerging economies now represent half of the global economy and during the next few decades India will be the biggest country in terms of population, China the largest in output and the United States the richest among the major economies on a per capita income basis. Food and water shortages will likely become humankind's most important challenge. In this accessible introduction, Mauro Guillén and Emilio Ontiveros deploy the tools of economics, sociology and political science to provide an analytical perspective on both the problems and opportunities facing business in the modern world.

Table of Contents:
1. Welcome to the twenty-first century; 2. A global economy out of balance; 3. The rise of the emerging-market multinationals; 4. The new demography: ageing, migration, and obesity; 5. From dictatorship to democracy and failed states; 6. A disparate world: inequality and poverty; 7. The quest for sustainability; 8. The global powers of the twenty-first century; 9. Coping with uncertainty and complexity.

About the Author :
Mauro F. Guillén is Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, a research-and-teaching program on management and international relations, and holds the Dr Felix Zandman Endowed Professorship in International Management at the Wharton School. He is the author of nine books and over 30 scholarly papers. He is a former Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellow and a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and also serves as the Vice Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Multinationals at the World Economic Forum. In September 2013, Guillén won the Faculty Pioneer Award from the Aspen Institute, which recognizes teaching and research in the area of global corporate governance, an issue addressed in Global Turning Points. Emilio Ontiveros is Founder and President of Analistas Financieros Internacionales, SA, President of Tecnología, Información y Finanzas, Escuela de Finanzas Aplicadas and Afinet Global (subsidiaries of AFI Group, a consultancy). He has served as Professor of Economic and Business Administration at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid since 1985, where he was Vice Chancellor for four years. He has been Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Royal Complutense College and the Wharton School. He serves, or has served, on the boards of directors of Iberdrola Renovables, Itínere and Mutua Madrileña, among other companies.

Review :
'This book is a must-read for managers who don't want to be caught by surprise by changes in the global economy, swings in world politics or unprecedented transformations in social mores. Global Turning Points offers a much-needed guide to navigate through the heightened volatility of the business environment.' Moisés Naím, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and former Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy magazine 'For those who believe that the world is flat, or moving smoothly in that direction, this wide-ranging book provides a very readable overview of the major global challenges that we face - challenges that it is urgent to address.' Pankaj Ghemawat, Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy, IESE Business School, and author of World 3.0 'This book sheds light on the confusing perspectives of the global economy in the wake of a major financial crisis. It is a much welcome, necessary contribution by two leading scholars who thread scholarly rigor with a deep understanding of the business world. Mandatory reading for professionals and students who are interested in the real economy.' Manuel Castells, Professor Emeritus of Planning and Sociology, University of California, Berkeley 'This book provides fundamental insights into the changing of the guard in the global economy and the global system of states, analyzing the rise of China and the other emerging giants and what the United States and Europe should do about it.' Javier Solana, Former Secretary-General of NATO, and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy 'This book sets forth the serious challenges facing policymakers and managers with respect to key global issues such as climate change and the viability of defined benefit pension schemes. It is a triumph and should be read by everyone concerned about the future of the world.' Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, Chairman, UK Pension Protection Fund, and former Chairman, UK Atomic Energy Authority 'Academics Mauro F. Guillén and Emilio Ontiveros write in the introduction to their provocative book Global Turning Points that they have worked across disciplines and countries in gathering information on which to base their 'turning points'. As they make clear, turning points and tipping points are not the same. They are moments of radical change, but they do not mean that something is happening for the better or the worse. They just indicate change. And in the twenty-first century, the one thing their work does make clear is that change is going to happen to us all whether we like it or not. So the more prepared we are and the more pragmatic our responses, the better the outcomes might be.' Beijing Review (www.bjreview.com) 'In this engaging and ambitious book, Guillén and Ontiveros reflect on the economic, social, environmental, and political challenges that the world is bound to face in the twenty-first century … The book is as much global in approach as it is in focus, and the skilfulness with which the authors weave so many disparate themes together makes for a truly stimulating read, which ultimately amounts to an impressive snapshot of the world in the new century that everyone should take note of. Simply put, this is at once sophisticated, educational, and consequential scholarship that should appeal to a great variety of readers.' Administrative Science Quarterly