Article at a glance:

Going from global trends to corporate strategy

• Macroeconomic, social, and business trends shape the global landscape. Anticipating their impact can help companies succeed by riding the current rather than swimming against it.
• Executives must understand the full range of subtrends behind each trend and how they interact to affect many industries—and not just the obvious ones.
• According to new research, companies that shift their portfolios to align them with favorable trends are much more likely to achieve strong growth and profits.
• Large companies must innovate to take advantage of global trends without jeopardizing the core business. They can succeed by combining their scale assets to create and amplify the value of their innovations.