GBN - About History

History

Global Business Network was created in 1987 around a pool table in a Berkeley, California, basement by five friends. These GBN cofounders envisioned a worldwide learning community of organizations and individuals—a network, connected by the open and generous exchange of ideas, "out-of-the-box" scenario thinking, ruthless curiosity, and exciting new information technologies.

During the late 1980s, when GBN was founded, signs of significant change—even discontinuity—were emerging in the business environment, driven by a convergence of technological, social, political, economic, and environmental forces. GBN's cofounders were convinced that the business community—not government—was most likely to translate emerging opportunities into sustainable growth and a better future. The challenge: encouraging companies to question—and change—their mental maps, to embrace uncertainty, and to stop predicting the future based on the past.

The cofounders (left-to-right): Jay Ogilvy, Peter Schwartz,
Lawrence Wilkinson, Stewart Brand, Napier Collyns

The Founders

Peter Schwartz, futurist and business strategist; author of The Art of the Long View, When Good Companies Do Bad Things, and The Long Boom; former head of scenario planning at Royal Dutch/Shell in London, and director of the Strategic Environment Center at SRI International
Jay Ogilvy, author of Living Without a Goal and China's Futures; professor of philosophy at Yale and Williams; and past head of SRI's Values and Lifestyles research
Napier Collyns, networker extraordinaire; a 30-year veteran of Royal Dutch/Shell, responsible for planning, public affairs, and human resources
Stewart Brand, writer, futurist, and inventor of ideas; author of The Clock of the Long Now, How Buildings Learn, and The Media Lab; and originator of The Long Now Foundation, the Whole Earth Catalog, CoEvolution Quarterly, and The WELL computer network
Lawrence Wilkinson, multi-media innovator; current vice-chair of Oxygen Media and former president of Colossal Pictures

Also instrumental in GBN's creation were several key colleagues in Europe: Kees van der Heijden and Arie de Geus, both former heads of Group Planning at Shell; and Bo Ekman, a consultant and former Volvo executive. Since 1999, GBN has been led by CEO Eamonn Kelly. Eamonn is the author of Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World and co-author of What's Next: Exploring the New Terrain for Business. Before joining GBN, Eamonn was head of strategy for Scottish Enterprise, one of the world's foremost economic development organizations. Working closely with Eamonn are the co-heads of GBN's consulting practice, Andrew Blau and Chris Ertel.

In December 2000, GBN became a member of the Monitor Group. Founded in 1983 by six entrepreneurs, including Harvard's Michael Porter and the company’s current Chairman Mark Fuller, Monitor Group has 28 offices worldwide and offers a portfolio of strategic consulting services to clients who seek to grow top-line revenue, shareholder value, and individual and organizational capabilities. The firm works with the world's foremost business experts and thought leaders to help major multinational companies, governments and philanthropic institutions develop specialized capabilities in areas including competitive strategy, marketing and pricing strategy, innovation, national and regional economic competitiveness, non-profit management, technology/e-business, organizational design and development, and scenario planning. Monitor Group’s separate merchant banking division consists of investment funds (both venture capital and private equity) as well as an M&A advisory service.