Introduction
What is an idea? And what do we mean by today? Those were the two questions that faced the six judges who chose the top 50 ideas that shaped business today, after combing through many suggestions from readers and Financial Times journalists.
The judges quickly decided on a generous interpretation of the word “idea”. We would go for inventions, innovations, social movements and legal and financial instruments – anything that helped make business what it is.
“Today” was more complex. Clearly, there were many inventions that have shaped not just modern business but modern life: electricity, telephones, multi-storey buildings. How far back should we go in deciding what counted as an idea that shaped business today?
As the chair of the judges, I initially suggested that we not restrict ourselves. We should go back as far as we wished. Ideas such as Adam Smith’s division of labour clearly still influenced business today. So did the legal concept of limited liability; business would be unthinkable without it. But the other judges felt we needed to concentrate on the modern world. Otherwise, why not include the invention of the wheel?
So most of our 50 ideas ended up coming from the era since the second world war.
Another area of dispute was the influence of women. The arrival of large numbers of women in the workforce is unarguably one of the principal business developments of the past 50 years. What was the idea that had made that possible? Was it the birth control pill, or the example of women entering factories during two world wars?
Some judges said this was the wrong approach. They said slow progress in appointing women to company boards and senior management positions meant women had not shaped business as much as many hoped they would. Business was still dominated by men and male attitudes. But it seemed wrong to leave women out; women had influenced business in so many ways. So we settled in the end for women as employees, consumers and leaders.
Michael Skapinker
Editor, Special Reports