Stories written by Klaus Schwab
Klaus Schwab is the founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

THE SHIFTING POWER EQUATION

By Klaus Schwab and - -
We are in the midst of a revolution in which power is moving from the centre to the periphery and vertical command and control structures are eroding, writes Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, whose Annual Meeting in Davos will take place January 24-28. In this article, the author writes that today global trusteeship is needed more than ever since we have to confront so many global challenges simultaneously. The world has become a complex and dangerous place requiring urgent, effective mechanisms to address all the challenges in a proactive, comprehensive and systemic way. Recent events have highlighted the realities of global impotence. We are witnessing profound decay in the structures we have historically used to manage our world. We are witnessing the de-globalisation of a globalised world as the UN, the Bretton Woods organisations and many other multinational frameworks are struggling to keep up with changing global needs. This is made clear by our collective incapability to deal effectively with rogue states, with failed states, with terrorism and other events, from the collapse of the Doha trade talks to the crisis in Darfur. Existing global governance systems can no longer meet all the challenges of the 21st century in their present form, but reforms based just on prolonging the paradigms of the past will fail in our new flat world. What we need to do is connect, and reconnect, leaders from business, politics and civil society to form new coalitions to improve the state of our world and shape a new collective will.

THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE

By Klaus Schwab and - -
We are entering a new era, for both business and the whole world, in which the \'\'creative imperative\'\' will come to dominate our lives, at home, at work, and at leisure, and in which the assumptions, tools, and frameworks which leaders from business, government, and civil society have employed to make decisions over the past decade are no longer valid, writes Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. The theme of this year\'s Forum, to be held 25-29 January, is The Creative Imperative. A global networked economy, economic imbalances, new mindsets, demographic shifts, and the gravitational pull exercised by the emergence of India and China are just a few of the factors that are radically reshaping the global environment. The \'\'Creative Economy\'\' which is emerging is in one sense the logical extension of the process of globalisation that has been sweeping the world for the last fifty years but which has accelerated almost exponentially in the past decade. But is not just business that must adjust to this new emerging environment. Governments, multinational institutions, and civil society organisations must also adopt new policy designs and innovative approaches if they are to remain effective and credible.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS: LEADERS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

By Klaus Schwab and - -
Progress depends on more than high-level cooperation among global decision-takers, writes Klaus Schwab, founder and president of the World Economic Forum. It also requires a different kind of leader, Schwab writes in this article for IPS -- one that has contributed to social transformation by applying entrepreneurial skills to address a wide array of social challenges at the local level. These leaders are called social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs enter the scene precisely where markets have failed to deliver critical public goods and services, particularly to those who cannot pay. Without market assistance, social entrepreneurs create the social value underpinning the productive healthy societies upon which sustainable development depends. The World Economic Forum uses its leverage such that the scalable solutions of social entrepreneurs can be replicated, improved, and expanded, so that their practical insights can be incorporated into government policy and business initiatives, Schwab writes.
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