The development of a population policy for Australia is just one example of an issue of critical importance to business, and one where we should be actively involved in the debate.

A recent article in the Financial Review began “One of the biggest policy games in Canberra this year has kicked off with business on the sidelines. Education Minister Brendan Nelson’s review of the future of Australia’s universities has critical implications for business, given the importance of knowledge, innovation and skills in the new competitive environment.” End quote. The article goes on to list all of the stakeholders who have elbowed their way into the debate – a list that included no-one from business. Globalization is perhaps the key issue that has caused many people to question the role of business leaders. Our public, seemingly unquestioning, support for globalization as an unfettered good is seen by many as a narrow, ideological position that takes no account of its wider implications.

Now as the commentators piously keep exhorting us “You can’t turn the clock back” – and like all good truisms, that’s true – it’s also trite – there is nothing set in stone about globalization. If governments decide that the political cost of globalization has become too great, they will move against it by increasing protection for their own constituencies – I cite the US as the most obvious example - and that’s a real risk for business.

In my view, we need to take a more considered, more balanced, more nuanced view of globalization. Unless we take the community with us on this journey, we will find ourselves increasingly stymied by anxious Governments looking to shore up their electoral support by hemming us about with increasing regulation.

The Business Council of Australia has arrived at a similar view, recently launching a book called Aspire Australia, which aims to convince communities that large corporations are good for society. The BCA has itself, somewhat belatedly, arrived at the view that public policy is easier to change with community support.

So let us consider the fourth challenge, because it flows very naturally out of the third. In a macro environment in which trust in virtually every major institution is at record lows, the challenge is how to rebuild trust in business generally, and at the organizational, and brand level. And, on the off chance that you’re sitting there thinking something like “Who Cares”, left me respectfully suggest why you should.

Social cohesion provides the stable operating environment that business needs to prosper, and trust is a major component of social cohesion.

Trust is the stickiness that holds organizations together. If all that binds you and your employees together is money, then you have no leverage when a predatory competitor brandishes a bigger cheque book.

Trust is inherent in brand values. At Saatchi & Saatchi, we define a brand as the intangible values offered by a badge of reassurance. If trust is not one of the intangible values that stand behind your brand, then you have an under performing brand.

Now there’s nothing deeply mysterious about trust – everything your mother said about it is true – trust takes a long time to build, and a single careless act can destroy it.

Integrity and reliability are probably the two most important components of trust. People need to experience a straightforward, honest interchange over time with a brand or product for trust to develop. So, for example, if your phones are answered by computer, and the message is something like “Your call is important to us – you have been placed in a queue, and you will be answered by the first available operator” be assured that your customers understand completely what an oxymoron that statement is – and every time they hear it, the trust in your brand is being eroded, bit by bit.