The World of Business

Latest Episodes:

Can Liberian rubber bounce back? Oct 12, 2019

Show notes

A victim of the “resource curse”, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, in spite of being rich in natural resources. Rubber is one of the country’s biggest exports but few Liberians have benefitted from this multimillion dollar business. In this Global Business, Josephine Casserly meets a retired Californian policeman, James Cooper, who has returned to his grandfather’s farm, determined to revolutionise Liberia’s rubber industry. But in a country with a struggling economy and endemic corruption, can he succeed? Produced by Lucy Ash

How Politics Broke up with Business Sep 29, 2019

Show notes

Why have politicians gone from cosying up to businesses, to turning a deaf ear to their concerns? Jeremy Schwartz – a CEO himself – finds that the love affair was starting to become toxic long before Brexit, and asks whether it’s really such a bad thing if governments no longer care what business leaders think.

Contributors include: Andrea Leadsom – Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Frances O’Grady – General Secretary, TUC Iain Anderson - Executive Chairman, Cicero Giles Wilkes – Former Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Helen Dickinson – Chief Executive, British Retail Consortium Andy Street – Mayor of the West Midlands, former CEO of John Lewis Partnership Joe Owen – Institute for Government Paul Walsh – Chairman, Compass Group

Presenter: Jeremy Schwartz Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Picture: Getty

Flying Green Sep 19, 2019

Show notes

Flying, for many of us, is now routine. For a few of us it is a weekly, maybe even daily, event. At the same time global protests, concerned with the pressing danger of climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions, are gaining attention and causing alarm. So, will we ever get to a point where we can indulge our flying habit and our keep our conscience clear?

Katie Prescott talks to the flight refuseniks and assesses the impact they are having. Is the long term solution to change minds or can technological advances provide a fix? Electric cars are here; small planes are already powered the same way. How long until sizeable passenger jets follow? At a number of airports around the world, planes can fill up with bio-fuels. But the take up is extremely modest. While the oil price stays low, what's the incentive for airlines to go green?

Presenter: Katie Prescott Producer: Rosamund Jones

Picture: Newark International Airport Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Business of Clicks Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

Online retail spending has increased more than four fold in the last ten years - it now accounts for almost one in five pounds we spend shopping.

But whilst times are tough for our high streets, e-retailing is far from a licence to print money. With widespread discounting and a growing cost of delivery and returns, margins are being squeezed and many are finding it a struggle to survive.

In this programme, Adam Shaw investigates how the economics of e-commerce work, what the move to predominantly online will mean for many retailers and what our shopping environment may look like in 10 years time.

Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Penny Murphy

Image: A woman packing a box to post Credit: Getty Images

India’s fashion industry Sep 07, 2019

Show notes

India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing fashion markets and is expected to touch $60 billion by 2022, which will make it the sixth largest in the world. This is due to its rapidly growing middle class and tech savvy consumers, who are buying online, as well as from a plethora of shopping malls which have mushroomed in the country’s bigger cities. International brands are trying to step in and take a share of this demand – some 300 of them are planning to open stores in India within the next two years. The BBC’s Nina Robinson talks to e-commerce brands, retailers, fashion entrepreneurs and influencers. The programme also features the Usha sewing project which is helping to train hundreds of thousands of rural women in sewing skills.

Producer/presenter: Nina Robinson

Image: Woman from the Usha sewing project at a sewing machine Credit: Nina Robinson/BBC

Managing Volunteers: Free and Easy? Aug 29, 2019

Show notes

Twenty million Brits give their time for free each year. From the National Trust to the hospice coffee morning, the Samaritans to the local football club, huge parts of our world rely on volunteers.

But how easy is it to manage a workforce who can walk out at a moment's notice? How can you ensure people perform well - or even turn up - without the "carrot and stick" of pay and disciplinary procedures?

Presenter Claire Bolderson knows both sides of this: she volunteers at a food bank, but also chairs the governors at her local school. With the help of an RNLI lifeboat crew, a bustling community centre, and a whole roomful of professional volunteer managers, she discovers just how to get the best out of volunteers - and how much managers of paid staff have to learn from them.

Contributors include:

Tim Ody - Station Manager, RNLI Teddington Pam Bardouille - Volunteer Co-Ordinator, The Dalgarno Trust Jarina Choudhury - Volunteering Development Consultant, NCVO Emma Knights - Chief Executive, National Governance Association Dr Jenna Ward - University of Leicester

Presenter: Claire Bolderson Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Picture: BBC

Berries Galore! Jul 06, 2019

Show notes

Strawberries at Christmas? No problem! And as cheap as ever? Yes, of course! Many of us have become used to buying whatever fruit and vegetables we want, whenever we want, no matter the season. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are available in supermarkets all year round. Until recently that was not the case. So what does it take for this to happen and what’s the cost? John Murphy peels back the layers of the berry industry, which has grown massively in recent years. Despite increasing production costs, prices have remained stable. Can that continue? Politics, economics and the environment could have a bruising impact on producers and on the price and availability of the fresh fruit we eat.

Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Sally Abrahams Picture Credit: BBC

Who are Huawei? Jun 29, 2019

Show notes

Chinese technology company, Huawei, is the world’s biggest supplier of network telecoms equipment, and with a research budget of up to $20 billion, its ambition is to be even bigger still. However, it’s also one of the most controversial businesses of our time. The United States and others have banned its involvement in their critical infrastructure, fearing that Beijing might use the company to spy, steal trade secrets, or even wage cyber warfare. Huawei insists that its networks are as secure as anyone else’s, and says that its technology is literally years ahead of competitors, so countries who reject it risk falling behind. As the world prepares for a technological revolution through 5th Generation mobile communications, the BBC has gained rare access to Huawei’s founder and Chairman, Ren Zhengfei, to explore his company’s origins, its rise to global pre-eminence, and what makes it tick. And, to ask if the current security questions threaten its continued growth.

Presenter: Karishma Vaswani Producer: Michael Gallagher

Picture: Customers entering a Huawei Technologies Co. store in Beijing, China Credit: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Business Making an Impact Jun 22, 2019

Show notes

Climate-change scientists have warned that the clock is ticking, environmental campaigners are blocking the streets, but until now the world of business has kept itself out of the fray. That is changing. From multi-billion dollar investors, to leaders of international companies, to banking bosses, the call is going out for business to take more responsibility for the way the world runs, and the way businesses run themselves. And it’s not just their environmental impact that’s coming under scrutiny. Inequality, their supply chains and the way they treat their workforce are becoming as much a part of companies’ bottom line as simple profit. Welcome to the Impact Economy. David Baker meets new business champions who want to overturn the old ways of doing things and put commerce at the centre of guaranteeing a future world that is good for everyone. But will it work or is it just a flash in the pan?

Presenter: David Baker Producer: John Murphy Picture Credit: Getty

The Berlin Airport Fiasco Jun 15, 2019

Show notes

One thing Germany does well, you might assume, is infrastructure and transport. Think again. For Global Business on the BBC World Service, Chris Bowlby’s had a rare behind the scenes tour of Berlin’s new airport. It’s billions over budget, already seven years late in opening, and is still being rebuilt before a single plane’s landed. So what’s gone so wrong in a place supposed to be the capital of efficient engineering? And is the Berlin airport fiasco a warning for infrastructure builders everywhere?

Presenter: Chris Bowlby Producer: Jim Frank

Picture Credit: Getty