About - Centre for Future Enterprise

Envisioning and testing future enterprises for tomorrow’s real world

QUT’s Centre for Future Enterprise (CFE) leads global research to progress economic and social well-being now and into the future.

With a broad definition of enterprise, from start-ups to ASX listed companies, governments to non-profits, our research brings together world-leading academics with CEOs, founders, policy makers and industry leaders, to help current and future leaders navigate a fast-emerging new world and to differentiate requirements from distracting noise.

CFE is investing its research capacity into the purpose of providing capabilities that matter for future enterprises. The focus is on those emerging attributes of organisations and their leaders that have not seen sufficient professionalisation. Dedicated to demand-driven, rigorous research exploring and testing possible futures for enterprises of all sizes ranging from large incumbents to emerging start-ups, from the internationally listed corporation to the regional nonprofit charity, CFE works closely with industry partners across various sectors.

CFE’s research capability is bundled in ‘The Lab’ which builds scientific and research management capabilities for CFE members to conduct not just rigorous, real-world research, but also to build the mindsets, skillsets and toolsets for effective and efficient research processes.

Innovation Central Brisbane (ICB) is CFE’s industry engagement centre, an open innovation hub that connects students, researchers and industry with global technology giant Cisco with a purpose to accelerate digital transformation and skills through rapid prototyping projects. Embedded in Cisco’s National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN), ICB is your one-stop engagement point.

A key value proposition is the engagement of multidisciplinary coursework students in industry-funded projects providing development capacity which meaningfully extends CFE’s research.

Research themes

CFE’s research is clustered in three themes, each exploring key attributes and the inter-relationships between them. Directed by a Theme Leader, the themes are institutionalised as their own research centres.

The trusted enterprise

As our economies and societies are becoming more trust-intensive, the design, management and measurement of trust is of increasing importance

The paradoxical enterprise

Decision-makers are increasingly faced with competing priorities and seemingly contradictory tensions, and must take steps to effectively navigate them

The algorithmic enterprise

Algorithms are becoming increasingly sophisticated. This research project studies the characteristics and potential of the emerging economy of algorithms

The robust enterprise

Robustness is important for businesses as it provides the stability and resilience needed to navigate challenging economic, social, and political climates