Changes at Davos

Today opens the 2006 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This high-profile economic and political event is frequented by the elites from around the world. But this year’s conference is different from past years.

In the recent past most of the focus of Davos was on the economic subjects of outsourcing and China. The new topics for 2006 are innovation and India. Why is this significant? It shows the transformation that has taken place in how companies are moving beyond a focus solely on cutting costs and looking more at value creation. While there will continue to be attempts to continue to wring dollars out of the supply chain and manufacturing process, in the long term the CEOs are realizing that there is more value to developing with innovative new products and designs.

For small towns I sense that the push to move production from your communities to China has peaked. Yes, there will still be companies that will take that path, but it will not be as frequent as what we have seen in the past five years.

Keep your eyes open for the reports from Davos and get a better understanding of what will be the key business issues for the future.