Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for IMD, Professor Stéphane J. G. Girod discusses the potential effects of globalization unravelling and what business leaders can do when faced with this challenge.

· How has globalization contributed to inequality? What positive impact has it had on the economy?

· Check out this article about globalization and trade liberation. 

What can business leaders do when faced with an increased risk of globalization unravelling? Many business leaders think that this is primarily a task for government and that politicians have themselves to blame for the rising popular tide against globalization in the West. But businesses have not only benefited from taxation and monetary policy gaps, they have lobbied to shape some of them. A more constructive approach should be about what businesses can do to prompt and support better policy formulation.

Globalization has been an overall positive force that has created wealth and lifted millions out of poverty. But it has also created staggering inequality and therefore it has to change.

Business leaders have much to gain by saving globalization from itself. They have to think about how to create a more sustainable path of globalization. Here are some suggestions for what they can start doing about it now:

Business executives need to reconsider the short-term vs long-term tradeoffs when they make decisions, with a rebalancing towards decisions that favor the longer term. In practice, this means that companies should have in mind that safeguarding the benefits of globalization for all stakeholders while correcting some of its flaws is in their long-term interest even if it means inflated costs and reduced profits in the short term.

Read the full article about businesses and globalization by Stéphane J. G. Girod at IMD.