The global body for professional accountants

100 Drivers of Change

for Business

ACCA International Assembly

November 21st 2013

Rohit Talwar

CEO - Fast Future Research

www.fastfuture.com

rohit@fastfuture.com

Twitter @fastfuture

Contents

• About Fast Future p. 4

• Presentation p. 6

• Image Sources p. 80

What we do

Foresight Research

Helping you explore and understand

forces and ideas shaping the future

Consulting

Enabling you to respond to and create

future change

Speaking and Moderating

Inspiring insights into a changing world

and how others are responding to it

Event Design and Facilitation

Bringing the future to life and helping

develop an action agenda

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‘Future Proofed’ Organisations

Work on 3 Horizons in Parallel

1-12 Months

Operational

Excellence

1-3 Years

Drive for

Growth

4-10 Years

Creating

the Future

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The Drivers of Change –

Key Categories

Practice of

Accounting Accountancy

Profession Economy

Politics & Law

Environment,

Energy &

Resources

Science & Technology Business Society

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Economy

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• GFC fallout

• Effectiveness of the

global economic

infrastructure

• Debt sustainability

• Globalisation vs.

Protectionism

• Shadow economies

• Persistent turbulence

Systemic Challenges

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Economic Management

• Stability of national

revenue bases

• Changing notions and

role of global reserve

currencies

• Stock exchange

mergers

• Alternative economic

models

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Societal Impact Attitudes to pure capitalism and inequality

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Prospects for Growth

• Role of infrastructure

investment

• Knowledge economy

• Micro-businesses

• Labour mobility

• Measures of value /

progress

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Accountancy Impact of the BRIC economies on global

accountancy firms

Crypto (Digital) Currencies like Bitcoin

are Challenging Governments

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Politics

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National Governance Level of political volatility and the rate of

democratic transition

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Global Governance Role of global institutions

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Societal Structures Impact of cultural globalisation

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Compliance Scale and complexity of regulation

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Service Delivery Governance and quality assurance of

public sector outsourcing

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Society

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Demographics

• Rate and distribution of

global population

growth

• Resulting implications

for workforce age

structure

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The Changing Workforce

• Female participation

• Cultural diversity in

society and the

workforce

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Generational Perspectives Expectations of emerging generations

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Developing Workforce

Capability

• Cost and ease of

access to higher

education

• Growing role of online

learning

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Business

Orthodoxies are Being Overturned

Ark Hotel - Dongting Lake - China

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Appetite for Transformation

• From governance /

leadership to

innovation

• Consideration of

alternative business /

market paradigms

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Globalisation Opportunities and

Challenges • Scale of international

mergers and acquisitions

• Global talent pool

• Choice of business

languages

• Reverse innovation from

emerging economies

• Level of FDI in emerging

economies

• Impact of new financial

centres

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Changing Landscape

• Emergence of new

industry sectors

• Social business

• Level of social

entrepreneurship

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Management

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Market Mechanisms

• Role of cash in

financial

transactions

• Role of

intermediaries

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The New Normal

• Business complexity

• Accelerating business

cycles

• New business models

(e.g. crowdfunding)

• Use of integrated

systems thinking

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Licence to Trade

• Management of

enterprise risk

• Accountability

• Compliance

• Adoption of corporate

‘living wills’

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‘Good Business’

• Evolution of corporate

governance

• Managing diverse

stakeholder

expectations

• Reputation

management

• Business

responsibility

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Science and

Technology

‘Magic’ and Science are Blurring

Mapping and

Uploading the

Human Brain

Cognitive,

Genetic,

Physical and

Electronic

Enhancement of

the Human Body

‘Big Science’ is the Battleground

New Paradigms are Emerging –

e.g. Hyperloop

Developments like Autonomous Vehicles

could be Truly Disruptive

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Digitisation of Business and

Everyday Life

• Growing personal

technology ecosystems

• Bring your Own Device

(BYOD)

• Ease of access to

internet / social media

• Technology impact on

attention spans, learning

and knowledge retention

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Business Applications

• Cloud computing

• Valuation of digital

assets

• Cybersecurity

• Rise of ‘big data’

• Value of data mining

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Disruptive Developments

• Rise of new industries

and production

models

• Digital publishing

• Intelligent accounting

systems

• Predictive analytics

• Augmented reality

• Virtual reality

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Emerging High Potential Areas

of Science

• Genetics

• Personalised health

care

• Brain science

• Robotics

• Nanotechnology

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Our Technologies are Evolving From

Desktop to Mobile ...

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...to Wearable...

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...to Embedded...

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... to Grown and Grafted...

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…and totally Connected via

‘The Internet of Everything’

“What happens when the smartest thing in the room is the room itself?”

Madeleine Albright

Speech / gesture / image recognition, integrated analytics, knowledge management,

image / video / voice mining, client self-service, intelligent documents, expertise

systems, collaboration, secure email, virtual assistants, intelligent agents and

collective intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is Going

Mainstream

88% AI advisers /

helper apps

will structure

legal

documents

and check

content

generated by

lawyers

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Environment, Energy

& Resources

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Impact of Current Consumption

and Production Patterns

• Competition for

natural resources

• Sustainability of

current patterns of

consumption

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Environmental Challenges Climate change and the biodiversity

impacts of business

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Greening of Business

• Corporate eco-

literacy

• Green practices

• Ethical consumption

in business

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‘Marketisation of Green’

• Carbon trading

• Environmental

financial markets

• Take-up of green

energy

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Practice of

Accounting

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Strategic Finance

• Changing scope,

scale and complexity

of the CFO role

• Growth in demand for

non-financial and

integrated reporting

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Globalisation

• Accounting

regulation, standards

and supply chains

• Implications for the

strategies and

structures of

accountancy firms

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Operational Considerations

• Defining audit’s role

• Managing internal audit

• Balancing managerial

and financial accounting

• Valuation of intangible

assets

• Size of specific

regulations and rate of

adoption of XBRL as an

accounting data standard

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Accountancy

Profession

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Responding to the Financial

Crisis

• Societal definitions

and expectations of

accounting

• Public perceptions

and attractiveness of

the profession

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Training and Development

• Flexibility, cost and

suitability of

accountancy training

• Developing

entrepreneurial skills

and business

awareness

• Building capacity in

transitional

economies

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Sector Structure Impact of entrants from outside the

profession on the accountancy services

sector

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Sector Evolution Establishing the role of industry

associations in developing markets

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5 Strategic action imperatives for

business.

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Assume and Plan for Volatility

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Build the Radar

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Pursue Technology Leadership

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Prepare for True Globalisation

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Develop a Curious, Sticky,

Experimental and Adaptable

Mindset

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5 Strategic action imperatives for the

accountancy profession.

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Embrace an enlarged strategic

and commercial role

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Establish trust and ethical

leadership

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Focus on a Holistic View of

Complexity, Risk and

Performance

•Customer Interface

•Process

•Organisation

•Information/Systems

•Regulatory

•Human

•Financial

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Develop a Global Orientation

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Reinvent the Talent Pool

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Implications and Opportunities

Leverage Existing

Capabilities Develop New

Capabilities Build the Pipelines

Target Growth Sectors

Respond to Fast

Growth SME

Needs

Conclusions –

21st Century Survival Skills

• Foresight / Curiosity

• Sense making

• Accelerated learning

• Uncertainty tolerant

• Scenario thinking

• Embrace complexity

• Networking

• IT Innovation

Useful Reference Sources • Genetic profiling - https://www.23andme.com/

• X Prize - Breakthrough innovation projects - http://www.xprize.org/

• Google brain uploading - http://digitaljournal.com/article/352787

• Brain mapping projects - http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513011/why-obamas-brain-

mapping-project-matters/

• Global Future 2045 (immortality) http://2045.com/

• Human enhancement - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_enhancement

• Wearable technology – Google Project Glass - http://www.google.com/glass/start/

• Emotiv Epoc Brain-Computer Interface - http://www.emotiv.com/

• AI Essay Grading Software - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/science/new-test-for-

computers-grading-essays-at-college-level.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

• Crypto currencies –

– http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2013/09/25/3855973.htm

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies

• Autonomous cars -

– http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/6357/Tesla-

Working-on-Autonomous-Car.aspx

– http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-09/google-self-driving-car

Image Sources

Image Sources p.1

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