


The most profitable businesses are in idea-intensive industries, so intellectual capital such as data and algorithms is a prime asset.

Radically self-disrupt.Ĭompanies must overcome strategic inertia by reallocating capital as conditions change. Seek out patient capital.Įmerging-market firms and technology companies often take a long view, building their market share over years at the expense of short-term profits. Instead of focusing internally, executives in Western firms need to understand their new rivals. To maintain their lead, executives in Western multinationals must consider the following responses. The authors forecast that in the decade ahead profits will continue to increase in absolute terms, but they will fall to 7.9% of global GDP-about what they were when the boom began. Growth is slowing, costs are rising, and new rivals from emerging economies and from the technology sector are changing the rules of the game. This remarkable era is now coming to an end. North American and Western European multinationals have been the biggest beneficiaries, capturing more than half of corporate profits by leveraging their scale and exploiting unprecedented opportunities for reducing costs. Since 1980 global corporate profits have grown at an unprecedented pace, increasing their share of global GDP by 30%.
