Consider the office worker in 1980. He wore a suit to work every day. When his boss said jump, he said "how high?" His primary means of communication was the telephone. Thirty years later, this worker is nearing retirement. His workplace is filled with young employees who have very different attitudes, perspectives and goals than he did all those years ago. But 30 years from now, the worker of 2040 will be at least as different from today's worker as today's worker is from the worker of the 1980s.

As we enter the new decade, the DeGroote School of Business, in partnership with the Strategic Capability Network, is challenging the leaders of tomorrow to put themselves 30 years in the future and predict what the workforce and workplace will look like in 2040.

As baby boomers retire and more Generation Y workers are hired, the workplace is experiencing "a collision of value systems". New employees are cynical about tradition, more assertive about how they want to work, and take ownership of the organizations they represent. Their management approaches sometimes defy current practices yet deal with the same business problems.

In Focus 2040, business students from across Canada will envision the people, the environment and the systems that will shape business 30 years from now.

"Current organizational models and values reflect the thinking and values of the baby boomers who entered the workforce more than 30 years ago," says Ezra Rosen, chair of the Strategic Capability Network. "Focus 2040 is an opportunity to tap into the creativity of students by getting their views on how the world of work will evolve into the future, reflecting their values and priorities."

"The students in business school today are demanding a shift that corporations must deliver. These are the innovators, the diverse work teams and the globally mobile employees that organizations must learn to manage strategically," says John Medcof, professor of organizational behaviour at DeGroote.