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But as more commerce moves online, retailers need to be aware of cyber-attacks – only 46% are prepared, despite the $86bn cost in attacks annually.

The dramatic and sustained drop in the global oil price led to a certain amount of doom mongering around the cleantech sector. The fear, of course, was that cheaper fossil fuels would make clean energy investments less competitive.

Comparison with evolution of women in Downton Abbey shows companies lagging behind society in terms of gender diversity.

5 October 2015 was a good day for companies operating across borders, with agreements on global transfer pricing rules (Base Erosion Profit Sharing or BEPS) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The hospitality and tourism industry is hotwired into the global economy; how businesses in the sector prepare for and respond to economic shocks is critical to long-term growth prospects.

Sallie Stiens, director, global public policy, asks what the mayors of megacities can learn from the CEOs of growing businesses, and vice-versa.

Low productivity growth is a concern for policymakers across the globe. Steve Perkins, global leader for technology, says boosting R&D is the way to compensate for ageing populations and slower employment growth.

In the years leading up to the financial crisis, investors from developed economies poured money into emerging economies looking for big returns from in the world's fastest growing markets. But now investment is increasingly flowing from 'East' to 'West' as emerging markets slow, boosting the growth prospects of real estate and construction (REC) businesses in Europe and North America.

Companies outsource back-office business processes mainly to boost efficiency and reduce costs. Payroll, HR and accounting processes – the most common to be outsourced – are heavily transactional, and many companies determine that external specialists can execute these far more cost-effectively than they can themselves.

Established players in the hospitality and tourism sector are having to work harder than ever to find growth. A series of recent events have disrupted demand in the short-term, but longer term, the rise of the digital economy is threatening traditional operating models and sales channels. Businesses in the sector need to be alive to the challenges posed by online travel agencies and aggregators (OTAs), as they try to build their brand and maintain market share.

Accountants should work more closely with academia. That was my key takeaway from a trip to Edinburgh last week for the British Accounting and Finance Association meet. It is clear that the academics welcome input from practitioners and I found myself volunteering to share some of my experiences with their students. And I got the impression that lecturers would welcome much more practical input at all stages of research and in all aspects of their work.

Dominic King, Editor - global research, draws on a session at the 2015 IMF/World Bank Spring Conference to ask why regional trade deals are trumping a multilateral agreement and how the digital economy is reshaping globalisation.

Day three at the IMF: Tackling tax evasion: thoughts from the IMF

Day two at the IMF: The challenges and opportunities posed by ageing populations

Dominic King reports from the IMF Spring Conference where Big Data, the oil price drop, an ageing population, the sustainable development goals, water scarcity and tax evasion are on the agenda.

Francesca Lagerberg explains why we continue to call for greater gender diversity in business and explains how our 2015 report - The path to leadership - adds to the debate.