The writer is president and CEO of the World Economic Forum
The global landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, from the hyperglobalisation of the past three decades towards a more contested and fragmented state. As levels of uncertainty rise, leaders are being forced to reimagine international co-operation. In this divided world, the private sector can offer a lesson in successful collaboration.
Over 100 years ago, the retail magnate Harry Gordon Selfridge is credited with declaring that “the customer is always right”. This maxim revolutionised his London department store and established business orthodoxy across the retail world. By the 1990s and 2000s, customer service had become a science, using software systems that tracked behaviour. The focus on efficiency encouraged governments to accelerate globalisation, sometimes over domestic considerations.