page 6InsightA visit from theDr Kjell Nordström, a renowned thinker and writer on economic and strategicmanagement, was a keynote speaker at <strong>GAC</strong>’s recent Management InformationMeeting in Dubai.Dr Nordström has a similar perspectiveto <strong>GAC</strong>. He focuses on long term trendsand cycles. He told <strong>GAC</strong> managers that3.6 billion people in countries like India,China, Brazil, and Eastern Europe nowfinally had the chance for a better, safer,cleaner, healthier, richer lifestyle – andthey wouldn’t give up on that dream! Theirdemand for more, and better, goods andservices would not be stifled.He then went on to identify someother key trends.It’s female!Women consistently achieved highergrades than men in higher education. Andthey were now moving into top jobs inbusiness, politics and government service.Their management styles and motivations– often very different from their malecounterparts – would be increasinglyimportant influences on decision-makingat all levels.Dr Nordström said women generallydemonstrated higher levels of organisation,reliability and honesty. He pointed to themicro finance industry where most smallloans were given to women, simply becausethey had a better record of paying themback. Men took more risks while womenwere steadier and more cautious.Dr Nordström quickly added that thisdid not signal an end to having children,simply that the circumstances in whichthey are raised were changing. Indeed,rich Scandinavian countries now toppedEuropean birthrate ratings, while countrieslike Italy, Spain and Ireland (whichtraditionally had high birthrates) were atthe bottom.It’s urban!Current estimates indicated that 90% ofpeople would live in urban areas by 2040.Dr Nordström suggested that it is time toaccept cities as the driving economic andcultural forces of a region, not countries.He said the situation echoed the greatcity-states that dominated Ancient Greece(Athens, Sparta, Corinth) and RenaissanceItaly (Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice).It’s international!People were moving around more, and theirchoice of places to relocate was driven by anumber of cultural and economic forces.Dr Nordström cited Silicon Valley inthe US as a magnet for people from manycultures and creeds bound together by acommon passion, interest and talent for IT.Likewise, Marbella in Spain and Pheonix inthe US attracted older people from differentbackgrounds seeking good weather.It’s tribal!People still settled into tribes – but insteadof being hunters and gatherers, the tribeswere clusters of people sharing similarideas, aims, needs or attitudes. They couldbe clustered according to age, lifestyle,business, pleasure and so on.It’s mechanical!These trends were here to stay and theywould have a greater impact on whatwe do and where we go than the currenteconomic crisis, said Dr Nordström. Andwhile agreeing that the crisis was very real,he pointed out that such crises were justwhat Capitalism was designed to handle.Capitalism, he said, was a simplemachine for sorting the efficient from theinefficient. It exposed all businesses tothe pressures of the marketplace, and theinefficient ones “end up swimming naked”.Capitalism wasn’t a machine with a soulor any set agenda – it just applied pressureand constantly tested the worthiness of allbusinesses to survive. Essentially, it wasDarwinian.It’s personal!The family, according to Dr Nordström, isin decline. He said 60% of homes in citieslike Stockholm and Moscow were nowsingle-person households, and that figurewas rising. That means more people weremaking decisions based on personal issuesand needs.Capitalism exposes all businesses to thepressures of the marketplace, and theinefficient ones end up swimming naked.
Insightpage 7Doctor