Knowledge Centre

Lowy Institute Poll 2025 Report

Ryan Neelam, Lowy Institute

For more than two decades, the Lowy Institute’s flagship annual poll has revealed how Australians see the world and their place in it. It is the leading Australian survey on foreign affairs, and informs policy and public debate.

geo political environment

‘Hard to measure and difficult to shift’: the government’s big productivity challenge

Stephan Bartos, The Conversation

Higher productivity has quickly emerged as an economic reform priority for Labor’s second term. The government is right to focus on productivity. Improving economic efficiency will increase real wages, help bring down inflation and interest rates, and improve living standards.

socio political environment

Corporate Mentions Of ‘Diversity’ And ‘DEI’ Dropped 72 per cent In 2025, Analysis Finds

Conor Murray, Forbes

Many companies have dropped their diversity programs or reframed them to focus more on general “inclusion” or employee well-being amid pressure from conservative activists and the Trump administration.

csr socio political environment

Does the Chief Marketing Officer Role Need an Update?

Denise Dahlhoff, Harvard Business Review

The CMO role has expanded significantly due to digital technologies, date, and AI, increasing both executional demands and strategic expectations. While the CMO title remains common and respected, its growing complexity had led some companies to split marketing leadership into specialised roles.

ai leadership communications

Data Governance Foundations for Boards

Australian Institute of Company Directors

Data has become a critical asset for every organisation across every sector of the Australian economy. The ability to effectively govern, manage, leverage and protect data increasingly shapes strategic success and organisational resilience.

governance

Are the Liberals in danger of becoming the Kodak of Australian politics?

Frank Bongiorno, Inside Story

Times have changed; the Liberal Part has failed to change with them. At the time of writing, the two-party-preferred split in Labor’s favour sits at 55.4 per cent. Anthony Albanese has done slightly better than Chifley in 1946, and the landslide is in the same league as John Curtin’s wartime effort in 1943.

socio political environment

It’s Time To Get Concerned As More Companies Replace Workers With AI

Jack Kelly, Forbes

The new workplace trend is not employee friendly. A growing number of companies are using AI to streamline operations, cut costs, and boost productivity. Consequently, human workers are facing layoffs, replaced by AI.

ai

How to supercharge your crisis training

Sandra Galletti and Steven B. Goldman’, MIT Sloan Review, 21 April 2025

Typical crisis simulations don’t train leaders for today’s unpredictable disruptions. Modern crises — like the global CrowdStrike outage and Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse — strike without warning or a playbook to guide a response.

crisis management

Are You Really a Good Listener?

Jeffrey Yip and Colin M Fisher, Harvard Business Review

Research has shown that when employees feel heard, their engagement rises and performance improves, delivering big benefits to their companies. Yet 117 studies on workplace listening reveal many managers aren’t good listeners.

workplace

Trump tariff chaos: What boards need to do now

Mark Thirlwell, Australian Institute of Company Directors

With geopolitical uncertainty disrupting world markets, turbulent times lie ahead for boards and directors. Given the disruptive nature of the interventions in the global trading system, parallel moves to remake the global financial system should be expected to be at least as disruptive, and at least as risky.

geo political environment governance