The voice of business

The Future of the Corporation programme is the British Academy’s review of the role of business in society. It combines research from a range of academic disciplines with insight from senior business and policy leaders.

A wide range of academic institutions are embarking on research from 2017 to consider the future of business from different angles. This publication aims to be a contribution to that effort, incorporating the voice of leaders of business in the project from the outset.

The Voice of Business captures the views of 16 leaders in business, drawn from in-depth interviews covering the broad topic areas of the project as a whole. Most specifically, it covers:

• How they see the role of business as an engine in society
• The key issues they raise about the future of the corporation, including their perspective on trust and purpose, on the nature of values and leadership, on engagement with government, regulation and civil society – as well as the tension between short-term results and long-term strategy, and the development of sustainable business models
• Their perspectives on the challenge of disruptive change, driven by technologies which are fundamentally redefining their markets, and may also offer the opportunity to reframe societal expectations of business.

While these are not new areas for consideration, the intention in this publication is to understand the perspectives of people who experience these questions in action. As the research which will make up the Future of the Corporation gets underway, the intention is to ensure that that work is set in the context of how business leaders see the role of business in the world, and the pressures and opportunities that presents.

As the Future of the Corporation programme unfolds our aspiration is to engage a wide range of stakeholders in fresh thinking about the future of corporations, including government, policy-makers, regulators, economic and social commentators, and business itself.

Read The Voice of Business, published by The British Academy as part of the Future of the Corporation Research Programme.