MEDIA shorthand has, for years, styled the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as “the bosses’ organisation”, in the same way as those working for the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) are often described by reporters as “industrial peacemakers”.

Under the prevailing economic conditions, organisations like these – and the businesses they work with – face new challenges.

It’s clear that one of these challenges, for the CBI at least, has been how best to avoid talking the economy into an even deeper recession.

The bosses have placed themselves firmly in the glass half full camp, judging by a report published on Monday to coincide with the start of the CBI’s annual conference. It says the recession has become a catalyst for a new era in business.

The CBI report identifies four key areas of UK business where new ways of working could develop because of the downturn.

They include more flexible workforces, greater collaboration among businesses and broader financing options.

At a time when many of its members may be looking no further than the end of their current financial year, the CBI has decided to take a far longer view in its report, The Shape of Business – The Next 10 Years.

According to the CBI’s director general, Richard Lambert, the UK may be poised on the edge of a new era for business: “Attitudes to finance and to corporate leadership are changed for a generation by the shock of the past two years,” he says.

 “What we now need is a more balanced, less risky pathway to growth – one in which the short- term returns may be lower, but the long-term rewards for management success will be a lot more sustainable and secure.”

Few would deny the CBI its chance to look ahead.

Successful businesses are built by people who identify and deliver longer term strategic goals in their planning, so it’s fair to assume a proportion of the 240,000 UK businesses represented by the CBI will also be raising half full, rather than half empty glasses to toast the publication of the report.

But for those who are still struggling, especially those working in SMEs rather than multi-national companies, short- term practical help is what will make the difference between survival and failure, and that’s a more urgent issue than debating how business may change over the next decade.