Business Of The 21st Century
Natalie Omahony
The EU needs a robust, efficient and fair business tax framework that supports the post-COVID-19 recovery, removes obstacles to cross-border investment and creates an environment conducive to fair and sustainable growth.
That is why, on 18 May 2021, the Commission published the Communication on Business Taxation for the 21st Century. The Communication sets out both a long-term vision to provide a fair and sustainable business environment and EU tax system, and a tax agenda for the next two years, with targeted measures that promote productive investment and entrepreneurship and ensure effective taxation.
The context for EU business taxation policy has changed radically in the past year. The public health challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic turned into the most drastic economic crisis in the EU history, causing rising inequality, and deeply impacting social safety nets.
In the short term, the Communication also sets out a series of targeted initiatives to address current problems in business taxation and create a more stable, supportive and fair corporate tax framework for the future. The Commission will propose to:
Analytical skills enable students to approach business problems with logical thinking, and then to model and solve them using measurable data, quantitative methods, and critical reasoning. Contemporary, real-world problems are often complex and cut across contexts. Analytical reasoning helps us make sense of this complexity, and analytical skills, which build bridges across business disciplines and organizational functions, help us to solve 21st-century problems. Building a framework that links analytically-based courses is a curricular focus, as is compiling a library of teaching resources (cases, assignments) to accompany that framework. Co-curricular opportunities exist with online resources (e.g. ALEKS), tutoring, and robust assessment at the beginning of the student experience.
Integrative learning in business means addressing real-world problems and opportunities across functional disciplines such as marketing, finance, accounting, management, and operations. It means viewing business situations from multiple perspectives including customer, supplier, employee, shareholder, community, and the natural environment. It requires an understanding of the individual, the team, the business unit, the organization, and the broader world so that one can discern not just the facts, but what those facts mean. Integrative thinking uses other 21st-century business skills to consider a range of options before deciding. The capstone course (including the consultancy option) currently provides a fully integrative learning experience, and an integrative hybrid course that runs online is being considered. Co-Curricular skills development options include CapsimCore and COMP-XM Basic resources.
A spatial approach to business involves analyzing business opportunities and problems through the lens of location, distance, and territory. With spatial proficiency, students can become professionals who use location intelligence to influence corporate strategies and create added value for organizations. Spatial business transformers boast a unique combination of skills: a strong grasp of business strategy and an understanding of the ways in which location intelligence can strengthen decision-making and improve operational and business results. The Spatial Business Initiative in the School of Business & Society incorporates curricular and co-curricular skills development, including an MBA with a concentration in Location Analytics.
Those with an entrepreneurial mindset can extend their knowledge to recognize business opportunities where others do not. They excel in thinking at higher levels of complexity and are lifelong learners who continually challenge assumptions. Starting from a strong foundation of knowledge, they are able to analyze and prioritize information; to gather resources and take action; and to establish teams and alliances that can create solutions. Being entrepreneurial means turning creativity into innovation that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable and that adds value to users, investors, employers, customers, suppliers, communities, the natural environment, and other stakeholders. Curricular possibilities abound, including developing entrepreneurship modules for marketing, finance, and strategy courses, as well as the long-term possibility of creating an entrepreneurship emphasis. Co-curricular opportunities center on developing a network of entrepreneurs (especially from the large alumni base).
Collaboration connects people, engages teams, and delivers effective project management. Interpersonal skills are vital to collaborative endeavors, so productive collaboration brings together people with different expertise and a range of backgrounds and experience to analyze problems, generate solutions, and implement strategies. Collaborative approaches to business problems and possibilities engage students in ways that foster innovation and lead to creative outcomes. Curricular collaboration occurs in organizational behavior courses, where team concepts are mastered. Faculty are committed to integrating collaboration and teamwork skills into courses across the curriculum. Co-curricular collaboration skills are fostered in orientations, skills workshops, mentor program activities, and networking events.
Persuasive skills for business rely on critical thinking, data-driven analysis, and practical reasoning. With these tools, we learn to communicate the legitimacy of ideas and convince others of the viability of our proposals. Persuasion relies on a complex matrix of logical reasoning, grounded emotional appeal, and cultural knowledge. Underlying this is the understanding that persuasive communication is above all a relationship between people built on trust, empathy, and integrity. Persuasive skills are infused in the curriculum with emphasis on critical thinking, information literacy, and research-based proposal projects. Co-curricular persuasive skills are fostered in presentation and writing skills workshops.
We recognize that the balance of environmental, social, and economic sustainability must be considered in determining business success. A skill of the 21st century is understanding this triple bottom line. An environmental approach to business attends to the complexities and sustainable potential of the physical environment, the competitive environment, and the hiring and human resources environment. A sustainable business emphasis in the MBA is in development, and an environmental module within ethics courses is planned.
In an ever increasingly interdependent and intercultural world, a global perspective of the business landscape is imperative to guide decision-making about the challenges and opportunities that arise. A global approach to business recognizes multiple, multinational, and multicultural perspectives and demonstrates awareness of the global impact of business. Curricular focus on global perspectives includes an MBA emphasis in global studies, with courses in global finance, global marketing, and spatial analysis. School of Business & Society International Programs include multiple study abroad opportunities and a global capstone consultancy. Co-curricular opportunities include site visits to internationally-focused events, class visits from visiting scholars, and a program which would have alumni who have participated on study abroad serve as guest speakers in classes and at events.
The University of Redlands does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or other legally-protected characteristic in its programs and activities. Read the Notice of Nondiscrimination here.
Aron joined BSR in 1995 as the founding director of its Business and Human Rights program. He later opened BSR's Paris office in 2002, where he worked until becoming President and CEO in 2004. Aron has served on advisory boards to CEOs at AXA, Barrick Gold, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Recruit Holdings, SAP, Shell, and he serves as a director of the We Mean Business Coalition and RISE.
Aron speaks frequently at leading business and public fora and is widely quoted in top-tier media, such as the Financial Times, Le Figaro (France), The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Politico. He is co-author of the book Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World, which spotlights innovative sustainability strategies that enable business success.
He brings significant experience working on a diverse range of engagements and issues, including human rights due diligence, privacy and freedom of expression, sustainability reporting and strategy, and stakeholder engagement.
Dunstan facilitated the multistakeholder process of developing global principles on freedom of expression and privacy, which led to the launch of the Global Network Initiative in October 2008. He also helped create the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, a collaborative initiative of more than 100 ICT companies improving conditions in their supply chains. Dunstan participated in the process of creating the Global Reporting Initiative G3 guidelines, and he is a regular commentator on issues of corporate accountability, reporting, and human rights. He also co-authored the 2010 book Big Business, Big Responsibilities.
Well before the urgent challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the long overdue focus on racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion changed history, it was clear that our social contracts were not fit for purpose.
For much of the second half of the 20th century, the roles and responsibilities of business, government, civil society, and people remained relatively constant and provided vital protections to support healthy and productive lives. But today, people are relying on strained protection systems that fail to keep up with our 21st-century realities. And there is increasing attention on the need to align the purpose of business with essential societal needs, such as the transition to a net-zero economy; a digital economy that sustains jobs, livelihoods, and economic fairness; and the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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