The great race to get in on the growth in Asia is on and, according to Dr Yunxia Zhu, Senior Lecturer in Strategy at UQ Business School, like Black Caviar at Royal Ascot or an 800 metre swim at the London Olympics, the winners will be determined by a nose, by the 0.02 seconds lead they wrestle from the challengers.

While most other areas of business activity undergo radical reinvention, what are human resource managers doing differently to stay relevant? Associate Professor Polly Parker says personal responsibility plays an important part.

You’re a good person. You’re socially responsible. Your money isn’t going to be used to kill whales, grow tobacco or buy arms. But are you saving the world, or just financially astute? UQ Business School’s Dr Darren Lee has looked at the numbers and says corporate social performance indicators have no financial impact at all – socially responsible investing is risk and return neutral.

Australians have long enjoyed cheap electricity, but in recent years, costs have shot up – in NSW alone prices have risen by about 85% since 2008 – and consumption has gone through the roof. Why?

Can insurers or reinsurers change our behaviour and help us adapt to climate change? Australia’s obsession with sea changes, waterfront properties and coastal living has a dark side that will make its presence inevitably and abundantly felt in coming years.

It used to be ‘Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are’, now it’s the ads targeted to your demographic, your location and your recent status updates that tell most about you. Big data is the DNA of consumer behaviour. We look behind the hype for what it means to your business.

Every sector has had its own internet-led revolution. In the service industry it’s been ‘remote provision’, with all the flexibility, choice and price comparison that online delivery facilitates. But, says Professor Hean Tat Keh, convenience may be perceived to come at greater risk.

How come this business insight and must-have learning tool arrives on my desk as a 500 page plus printed hardcover? Surely no one is buying textbooks these days.

‘Two-speed economy’ has become a bit of a business catch phrase, some might say cliché. We talk to 20 leaders about what it means to their businesses.