Kearney releases new Global Trends study: A convergence of acute and urgent threats

As the COVID-19 crisis appears to recede, the world is entering an increasingly volatile geopolitical era. The conflict in Europe has accelerated many risks to the global operating environment that were already brewing.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --A new report released today by Kearney's Global Business Policy Council, A convergence of acute and urgent threats, addresses the burgeoning challenges impacting the world, from environmental to economic, energy-related to technological. While some progress has been made in overcoming COVID-19 over the past year, geopolitics have become increasingly turbulent. The Ukraine crisis has taken a severe toll on human lives and created ripple effects across the global economy—and it shows little sign of coming to an end anytime soon.

Indeed, the conflict has accelerated and magnified many risks to the global operating environment that were already brewing. The report assesses several of these growing risks and their implications for business. This includes the broader impact of climate change on governments and businesses and how adaptation to environmental crises such as rising temperatures and flooding will be as important as mitigation efforts. The report also examines the implications of protracted global economic stagnation, ranging from monetary policy volatility and labor market imbalances to the resultant political fallout. On the energy front, the report explores whether nuclear will become a larger part of the energy mix and the subsequent geopolitical implications. The remaining trends explore technology, focusing first on data. The proliferation of global data privacy and localization regulations raises questions as to whether we are headed into a world of data spheres of influence that risks culminating in a digital iron curtain. The report's final trend analyzes the rise of deepfakes and how they could damage the credibility of politicians and businesses alike. From climate change to the threat of AI-enabled disinformation and weak economic growth, businesses face an array of challenges over the next five years. To succeed in such a challenging operating environment, strategic businesses will take proactive measures to anticipate and plan accordingly—from running crisis simulations to using strategic foresight and scenario planning.

"We are heading into an unprecedented era of profound volatility," argues Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. "From economic stagnation to a rise in misinformation, governments and the private sector have their work cut out for them in confronting the threats that will characterize the exogenous operating environment over the next five years."

Read the full report here.

About Kearney

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. 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 Kearney, please visit https://www.kearney.com/

About the Global Business Policy Council

The Global Business Policy Council is a specialized foresight and strategic analysis unit within 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 4^th spot globally.

To learn more about the Global Business Policy Council, visit
https://www.kearney.com/business-policy.

Media contact:

Meir Kahtan
Meir Kahtan Public Relations, LLC
+1 917-864-0800
mkahtan@rcn.com

SOURCE Kearney