Business Briefing: we’re overusing and underestimating ‘disruption’
The Conversation13.1 MB(download)
Disruption might be a buzz word at the moment but it shouldn't be ignored. It may be impossible to predict but businesses can have stakes in creating it.
South Africa needs some universities that focus on teaching, and others that concentrate on research.
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South Africa must examine how science funding is allocated to universities. It also needs to acknowledge that not all universities should be focusing on research and development.
The industrial revolution wasn’t all about the spinning jenny and steam power. Money talked, and it needs to again if power and prosperity are to flow to the UK regions.
Grassroots protest is driving the divestment campaign.
AAP Image/Newzulu/Eliza Berlage
The pressure for organisations to divest from fossil fuels is coming from institutions with relatively little financial clout. But soon the richest and most powerful will have no choice but to join in.
Nigel Driffield, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
The road to Brexit looks long and winding, but it seems extremely unlikely that any outcome which threatens the long-term viability of foreign investment in the UK will be tenable.
The success of companies like T-shirt brand Threadless shows innovation matters in retail.
Todd Kopriva/Flickr
The Chinese £1bn investment in Sheffield, a former mining town in northern England, comes with valuable lessons about how Africa can maximise economic value in its dealings with China.
Businesses need to use simple technology more effectively, as opposed to robots like Softbank’s “Pepper”.
Christopher Jue/AAP
The Chinese government is changing its role in state-owned enterprises and there’s less cause for concern about the investment bids of these firms in Australia.
London’s trading strength has evolved from dockyard cranes to high finance.
Rubén Moreno Montolíu/Flickr
As the budget deficit fades from political view, anxiety shifts to the much wider current account deficit. It may signal UK dynamism, but neither financing nor closing it look easy after Brexit.
A typical street business in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Michelle Robinson/Flickr
The free trade agreement between Australia and China won’t mean an influx of Chinese workers, but rather an increase in Chinese investment which could be key to some Australian industries.
Barnaby Joyce of the Nationals and Senator Nick Xenophon and his team may have more influence post election.
Alan Porritt/AAP
South Africa’s response to the country’s economic woes has amounted to little more than band-aid treatment. Government must do more to set the economy on a solid growth path.
La Trobe University becomes the first in Australia to move towards fossil fuel divestment after pressure from students, staff and alumni.
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Making land governance work in practice is easier said than done. The process of agreeing to international guidelines has been intensely political – as is their implementation.
