As long ago as 1963 the Harvard Business Review noted that "the fact that you can put a dozen inexperienced people in a room and conduct a brainstorming session that produces exciting new ideas shows how little relative importance the ideas themselves actually have".

The phenomenal pace of technology change in the last 20 years has had an enormous impact on businesses of all sizes and in all industries. These changes have been positively transformational for the companies (and entire sectors) that have been at the forefront of these changes (think Apple, whose iPhone has spawned a whole industry of app builders, or Google which now generates huge advertising revenues), and have provided massive uncertainty for other industries.

According to World Bank estimates, China and India will account for 50% of global GDP by 2050, while the G7's share will fall from the current 50% to 25%. In order to achieve sales and growth levels seen before the recession, the largest opportunity would appear to be in emerging markets (and in particular in China and India).