The World of Business

The Business of Food Waste

28 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With food waste a huge global problem, can business find new, profitable solutions? Tanya Beckett delves into pizza bins, visits larvae breeders and t...

Playing the Market

21 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From the film Wall Street, to the play Enron, finance workers and bankers tend to be portrayed negatively in works of fiction. Andrew Dickson traces t...

Crossing the Line

14 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What red lines need to be crossed before companies retreat from foreign markets? As political turmoil engulfs Turkey, total economic collapse threaten...

Private Prisons: Who Profits?

19 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty five years after Britain opened its first privately run prison, Matthew Gwyther explores whether private jails in the UK have delivered on the ...

The Secrets of Germany's Success

11 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From sick man of Europe to world's richest exporter - how did Germany do it? At the turn of the century, Germany's economy was weak and its unemployme...

Community Enterprise

11 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What role can the community play in rejuvenating their local economy? Globalisation often results in a big geographical divide between where profits a...

Fish to Share

05 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Many British fishermen rejoiced after the UK vote to leave the European Union. They hoped it would mean fewer EU boats fishing in UK waters. Business ...

Managing a Tower Block

03 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Tower blocks are under intense scrutiny. So what's the best way to run them? Matthew Gwyther visits Manchester and discovers this is not just about ar...

Forecasting: How to Map the Future

24 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why do so many economic and business forecasts fail to correctly map the future? Adam Shaw asks why so many recessions take us by surprise and why the...

India's Cashless Economy

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Nina Robinson looks at how India’s digital payments industry is mushrooming after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation ‘shock doctrine’...

Engineering the Future

28 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For decades the UK has not produced enough engineers. What's been going wrong? Is education at fault or does engineering have an intractable image pro...

Keeping Up with the Burgers

19 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

McDonalds has long dominated the burger market and continues to do so in the UK. But the US owned, giant fast food chain is in the midst of a make-ove...

The Art of the Meeting

12 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We spend hours in meetings at work so what can we do to love them more? Tanya Beckett looks at the art of the meeting and asks how can we make them mo...

Rebooting Rural Russia

06 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Kremlin has been flexing economic and political muscles on the world stage but the Russian economy is struggling to keep up. Plunging oil prices, ...

The Big Fat Greek Struggle

29 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How have private businesses fared in Greece since the crisis began? The economy has shrunk by nearly a third and unemployment has soared. So what have...

From Ex-Offender to Entrepreneur

22 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The number of women in prison globally is rapidly increasing. The Institute for Criminal Policy Research has calculated that between 2000 and 2015, th...

In Business: Northern Ireland and Brexit

15 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with the European Union. It voted to stay in the EU in last year’s referendum....

In Business: Why are the French so productive?

08 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Productivity, or the lack of it, is one of the great puzzles of the British economy at the moment.Productivity is not about how hard we work, but how ...

Mexican remittances on the rise

01 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why are Mexicans working abroad sending more money back home? Last year total remittance payments for Mexico reached a record of nearly $27bn – most...

Denmark's Wind Power Progress

25 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Denmark is on course to generate 50% of its electricity from wind power in the next three years. The move towards clean energy and self sufficiency st...

In Business: The NHS - The Recruitment Dilemma

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Since its inception, the National Health Service has always relied on doctors and nurses who have been trained overseas. How does it plan for the work...

In Business: The NHS and Productivity

12 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The NHS is facing a sustained squeeze. An ageing population, the rising cost of new treatments and increasing patient demand on the one hand, and the ...

In Business: Mexico and Mr Trump

05 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How is Mexico preparing for the presidency of Donald Trump? During the election campaign Mr Trump promised to tear up trade agreements with Mexico, bu...

In Business: Transforming Trains?

29 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Work on HS2 is finally due to start next year. And those whose housing will be affected have dominated the headlines. But what will it mean for busine...

In Business: Corporations and the Arts

22 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Who pays for the arts, who should pay for the arts? In the UK, there is controversy about corporate sponsorship of arts organisations - particularly o...

In Business: Brexit and the Future of Farming

15 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What will Brexit mean for the future of British farms? The EU has been subsidising agriculture - via the Common Agricultural Policy - for decades, and...

In Business: Whatever Happened to Advertising?

12 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Last year, the UK became the first place where spending on digital ads exceeded that spent on all other forms of advertising combined. In this new wor...

In Business: The Italian Banking Crisis

25 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Why are Italy's banks in crisis and what's the impact on business? The country's banks have huge numbers of non-performing loans, the result of nearly...

Global Business: Estonia’s e-Residents

03 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Estonia is one of the smallest countries in Europe, with only 1.3 million citizens. But it is hoping to become much bigger – by attracting what it c...

Global Business: A Tree of Life

29 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to business, much of the focus in Sweden is on its successful tech start-ups. But its traditional industries are still a cornerstone of ...

In Business: Brexit: The Response of the French Abroad

22 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How has London's French community fared since Brexit? Caroline Bayley explores why so many entrepreneurs have chosen to start businesses on this side ...

In Business: Start-up Scotland

15 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Brexit, a global slump in oil prices, and political uncertainty around a second independence referendum; these have combined to place the Scottish bus...

In Business: Making Babies - the business of fertility

08 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The business of making babies is booming, both in the UK and globally, as recent research suggests the world’s fertility industry is set to be worth...

In Business: Has 3D printing lived up to the hype?

01 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day takes a close look at the progress of 3D printing in manufacturing 5 years on from the first programme he made about this new way of making ...

In Business: Supportive partner = success at work

25 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

According to Sheryl Sandberg – Chief Operating Office of Facebook and one of the most powerful people in the world - the most important career choic...

In Business: A Virtual World

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A new technology is emerging which could change the world as significantly as mobile phones or the Internet. That technology is Virtual Reality. Up to...

In Business: How Safe Are Your Secrets?

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Companies don't often like to admit it, but we know the spies are out there, attempting to infiltrate almost every sector of industry, eager to winkle...

Global Business: Pitch Night

04 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Trinitas Mhango is one of a new generation of young, would-be entrepreneurs in Malawi. She has a dream of making it big in business and she has a grea...

In Business: Return to Teesside

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Job losses have plagued Teesside for decades and the area still has a stubbornly high unemployment rate. Ruth Sunderland grew up in Middlesbrough wher...

Global Business: Chattanooga - the High Speed City

02 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chattanooga has been re-inventing itself for decades. In the late 1960s Walter Cronkite referred to the city as "the dirtiest in America." Since then ...

Global Business: Growing Malawi

26 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Malawi, in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the world’s poorest countries with its GDP nearly at the bottom of the global league table. Successive gove...

In Business: Steel in the UK

19 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Amid concern about the future of the Port Talbot steel works - and fear for the jobs of workers there - Peter Day looks at the history of the industry...

In Business: Turnarounds

12 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine you run a company and it's failing. What do you do? Matthew Gwyther speaks to leaders who've turned around businesses in difficulties and fin...

In Business: Recruiting by Algorithm

08 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Can a computer programme choose the right applicant for a job? Online assessments, scanning programmes, computer algorithms and the number crunching o...

In Business: Colorado's Big Marijuana Experiment

28 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Marijuana is now legal in some US states and a fast-growing industry has emerged, especially in Colorado which was the first state to embrace the drug...

Global Business: Selling Shakespeare

23 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As part of the festivities for the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Global Business asks how the Bard has had an impact on the corp...

In Business: European Unicorns

14 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A Unicorn is a mythical animal. But it's also the name now given to private start-up companies, mainly in the tech or internet sector which are valued...

In Business: Tax transparency - Norway's model

08 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Panama papers reveal tax evasion is a huge international problem. But how can governments clean things up? One way might be by opening things up. ...

Economic Rebellion

31 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Why is there so much dissatisfaction about how economics is taught at universities? Since the financial crash, many students have been in revolt in th...

Going Online the Cambodian Way

27 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

If you come from a country with few internet users and even fewer smartphone owners, why would you set up an internet shopping business? “I wanted ...

Germany’s New Workforce?

13 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Over a million migrants have arrived in Germany in the past year. But could this inflow of new potential employees form the basis of a new German work...

Global Business: Oil – How low will it go?

30 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day chairs a discussion about the current low price of oil. He and his guests explore the reasons for the volatility in energy markets and exami...

Norway's European Vision

21 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Norway isn't a member of the European Union, but does business with the EU. Is it a model for other countries? Jonty Bloom speaks to people working in...

Global Business: Making Money Out Of Germany's Migrants

16 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the Autumn of 2015 the German city of Munich found itself at the centre of Europe's refugee crisis. Everyday thousands of refugees arrived in the c...

In Business: Truckers: women behind the big wheel

12 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A global industry is facing a staffing crisis, with tens of thousands of new recruits needed across Europe and the United States - yet many people wou...

Global Business: Investing in Iran

09 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As the day when sanctions against Iran are lifted draws closer Global Business looks at the business prospects there for those inside, and outside, th...

In Business: Not so small beer

31 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day explores the rise of craft beer and how the big breweries are fighting back by buying up the competitionProducer: Rosamund Jones.

Global Business: The Business of Trust

26 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The revelation that Volkswagen cheated emissions tests is the latest in a line of scandals that have dented the public's faith in business since 2008'...

In Business: The Sexy Salaryman

17 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The white collar worker has become a central figure in TV series and comic books in Japan. Ruth Alexander travels to Tokyo to explore the rise of the ...

Global Business: Christmas, Made In China

12 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day visits the Chinese city which makes most of the world's Christmas decorations

Antony Jenkins talks to Kamal Ahmed

03 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The former Barclays CEO, Antony Jenkins, talks to Kamal Ahmed

Global Business: The Rise of the Executive PA

22 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The executive personal assistant is a job that requires utmost discretion and an inbuilt ability to know what the boss needs before they need it. In a...

Global Business: The Violins of Cremona

15 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Cremona in northern Italy is the original home of the Stradivarius violin and now - several centuries later - master craftsmen are still producing han...

What makes a company last?

08 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day asks whether companies really should still be built to last in today's hi-tech internet world. What are the characteristics of those that st...

Global Business: Online Shopping in Rural China

01 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In some villages in rural China they're replacing the sounds of chickens and farm life with something very 21st century. In the village of Qing Yan Li...

China Going Green

24 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Many Chinese dream of seeing blue skies and white clouds but rarely do because of the smog...

Global Business: A Tale of Two Farms

17 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day continues his reports from the drought stricken central valley of California. This week he visits two family farms. Both grow fruit and nut...

Global Business: The California Drought

10 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

California has some of the world's most productive agricultural land. It puts fruit and vegetables on America's tables and exports huge amount of prod...

Global Business: Steinway

03 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

For more than 150 years, Steinway and Sons have been building handmade pianos to please the ear of the most discerning musicians. Their sound fills co...

Global Business: Graphene

27 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

It would take an elephant balanced on the tip of a pencil to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness cling film. That's the description those ...

Global Business: Companies without managers

20 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Who's your boss? Peter Day explores how three different companies, in three different countries, do business without managers. Who hires and fires? An...

A Night at the Opera

13 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Opera is an expensive art form. It receives millions of pounds of public money. Can that be justified? Peter Day gets a range of operatic experiences ...

In Business: Driverless Cars

06 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

As the race to develop driverless cars hots up around the world, the UK is determined not to be left in the slow lane. Government money is being inves...

Global Business: Entrepreneurs Explain

30 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Remarkable start-up stories of entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia, Israel and New Zealand.

MisBehaving with Richard Thaler

25 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What exactly is economics? Science or art? An explanation of our society based on observable, demonstrable law or is it an attempt to systematise the ...

Global Business: The Circular Economy

18 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

As Dame Ellen MacArthur circumnavigated the globe she got first-hand knowledge of the finite nature of the world’s resources. When she retired from ...

Global Business: Out of the Desert

11 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mohed Altrad was born in the Syrian desert, an orphan and in poverty. He does not know how old he is. He is now a French billionaire and he has just b...

Global Business: Colombia’s Women Mean Business

04 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

An International Labour Organization report ranked Colombia second globally for the percentage of women in middle and senior management positions. Pet...

Global Business: Medellin’s Lessons

01 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past decade the Colombian city of Medellin has changed its reputation from murder capital to model of innovation. Peter Day investigates how ...

In Business: Medellin Miracle

21 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Medellin used to be one of the most dangerous cites on earth; with a reputation for kidnapping and murder, as well as a thriving drugs trade. Now Colo...

Global Business: Silicon Alley

14 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

New York City has its own Silicon Alley and Manhattan is fast becoming a hub for high tech start ups. Peter Day talks to the entrepreneurs trying to m...

In Business: Thinking Machines

07 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most famous computer systems in the world is called Watson, developed by IBM. It's best known in for beating two human contestants to win t...

In Business: Immigration - The Business View

30 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Immigration is one of the key issues of the General Election campaign. Peter Day asks businesses, big and small, what they think about immigration. Ho...

In Business: Circular Economy

23 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

As Dame Ellen MacArthur circumnavigated the globe she got first-hand knowledge of the finite nature of the world's resources. When she retired from sa...

Global Business: What’s Ailing Argentina

23 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Businesses in Argentina say they suffer from too much red tape, rampant inflation and import restrictions. Middle class Buenos Aires residents say the...

In Business: Blank Screens

09 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The Information Technology department used to be a mysterious backroom operation, but has become the vital component of a successful company. With rel...

Global Business: Second Curve

09 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Business commentator and social philosopher Charles Handy speaks to Peter Day about his new book, The Second Curve, and asks if we should all plan on ...

In Business: The Freelance Economy/Micros

02 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The growing freelance and micro-business economy is explored by Peter Day. Why are so many people setting up on their own and will it be a decision th...

Horse Play

19 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Innovation is hard work, says the British-born author and entrepreneur Kevin Ashton. He was a pioneer of what is now called the Internet of Things, ad...

Global Business: Shake Up Your Company

12 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day talks to Gary Hamel, one of the best known management gurus in the world.

In Business: Ttip: The world's biggest trade deal

22 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Ttip: Peter Day asks how the world's biggest trade deal, currently being negotiated between the US and the EU, may effect business, employment, the en...

Global Business: The Circular Economy

22 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day talks with the record breaking yachtswoman, Ellen MacArthur, and Unilever CEO, Paul Polman, about their work promoting the circular economy ...

In Business: Money Making

15 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day explores the future of money and payments and asks how "cashless" we may become.

In Business: Meet the Vloggers

08 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Day meets the vloggers who start off making videos in their bedroom and end up being courted by big brands. Can these new relationships disrupt ...

In Business: 21st Century Unlimited

04 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

New ways of doing business are making people think hard about how companies function. Peter Day hears how these alternative economies work, and what t...

Global Business: Cabin Fever

01 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Up in the air stuck in a metal tube for hours, can flying ever be a nice experience? Peter Day meets a clutch of British based experts trying to impro...

In Business: Kindness Revisited

25 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Random acts of kindness can help businesses grow in surprising ways. Peter Day talks with one woman who tells how the generosity of others made all th...

In Business: For Ever and Ever

18 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Britain's cathedrals have defined the landscape for centuries but what's their role today? Peter Day hears about the business of running some of the c...

In Business: Cabin Fever

11 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Up in the air stuck in a metal tube for hours, can flying ever be a nice experience? Peter Day meets a clutch of British-based experts trying to impro...

Young Horizons

11 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On last week’s Global Business from the Drucker Forum we heard grim predictions for the future from management experts. This week we hear some young...