Launching its report The Shape of Business - The Next 10 Years, the CBI reports the recession and credit crunch have become the catalysts for a new era.
The report predicts a more flexible workforce will evolve, assisted by developments in technology and training, and building on the spirit of collaboration between employers and staff which has grown over the recession. For some firms that might mean a smaller core workforce and a larger 'flexiforce'.
The report also predicts businesses will not see credit terms falling back to pre-crunch levels and will look to alternatives to debt-driven growth to protect investment and innovation. Companies will reorganise and re-examine their approach to working with partners - from suppliers to universities, and even competitors.
And sustainability and ethics will become more integrated into the business model. Firms will seek to improve accountability and corporate citizenship further to attract and retain customers and staff, according to the CBI.
Richard Lambert, CBI director general, said: "We may be at the start of a new era for businesses, in which attitudes to finance and to corporate leadership are changed for a generation by the shock of the past two years.
"What we now need is a more balanced, less risky pathway to growth - one in which the short-term returns may be lower, but the long-term rewards for management success will be a lot more sustainable and secure.
"There are important questions around how businesses are going to finance growth and investment in the future. And in a more collaborative, less transactional world, closer relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders look like becoming the new norm."
