Growth Champions: The Battle for Sustained Innovation Leadership

CHAPTER 17

Future Challenges

While the companies profiled have successfully developed new approaches from which sustained growth has been achieved over the last decade, it has not been plain sailing. Indeed there have been significant challenges along the way that have had to be overcome. Think for example of business continuity for LEGO and Procter & Gamble to the negative PR around obesity for Nestlé and PepsiCo and the increasing environmental impacts of the industries within which Audi, BASF, Shell, and Tata operate. Rather than bury their heads in the sand hoping that the challenges will disappear, our Champions have already proven adept at rising to the challenge by taking clear decisions, resetting the organization, and delivering new sustained growth platforms.

As highlighted earlier there are a number of issues that organizations seeking to prosper in the future need to address. There also seems to be common agreement around some of the future challenges that they, and other companies, will need to confront if they are to achieve or maintain ongoing growth over the next decade.

China

Foremost is the influence of China. With one out of five people on the planet living in China, it is the world's most populated country and within the next decade it will be, on most measures, the most powerful economy. Current estimates put China's foreign exchange reserves at more than $2 trillion and in 2009/2010 it loaned $110 billion to developing countries – greater than that provided ...