Peter Day's World of Business

Malawi, in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the world’s poorest countries with its GDP nearly at the bottom of the global league table. Successive governments have been riddled with corruption scandals, state-run services are in disarray and Malawi’s population is booming. It hit 17.6m this year, which the Finance Minister described as "scary" and is set to more than double over the next two decades.If Malawi is struggling to feed its people now - how bad could things be in the future? It’s a ticking time bomb of poverty and starvation. Malawi desperately needs economic growth yet despite hundreds of millions of dollars of donor money which has poured into the country for decades the overall the impact on the ground has been disappointing - poverty levels remain stubbornly high, education standards and job opportunities pitifully low. But there is a rare piece of good news from Malawi: a new alliance between the private sector, a group of smallholder farmers and one of the country’s biggest international donors

Amid concern about the future of the Port Talbot steel works - and fear for the jobs of workers there - Peter Day looks at the history of the industry in Britain. When was the heyday of British steel, and what went wrong? Peter visits Port Talbot and also delves into the archives to hear stories from a time when manufacturing dominated the British economy. Presenter: Peter Day Producer: Caroline Bayley.

Imagine you run a company and it's failing. What do you do? Matthew Gwyther speaks to leaders who've turned around businesses in difficulties and finds out how they did it, what inspired them and what lessons they can pass on. Produced by Nina Robinson.

Can a computer programme choose the right applicant for a job? Online assessments, scanning programmes, computer algorithms and the number crunching of social network data are all now part of the tool kit of the recruitment industry. As Peter Day discovers, to get through to an actual interview, you often have to impress a computer algorithm first. Traditionally a subjective process, Peter looks at this huge change in the way people are selected for jobs and asks whether technology can achieve the recruiters' aim of eliminating bias from hiring.Producer Caroline Bayley.

Marijuana is now legal in some US states and a fast-growing industry has emerged, especially in Colorado which was the first state to embrace the drug. But according to federal law marijuana is still illegal. This means that many companies can't get banking services, advertise their wares or pay tax in the way that other companies do. So how do they survive and thrive? And in what direction is the US moving? Will marijuana soon become a legal drug, like alcohol, across the US? Or will law-makers decide that Colorado's big marijuana experiment has gone too far? And what is it like to run a company in one of the world's riskiest business sectors? Presenter : Peter Day Producer : Rosamund Jones.

As part of the festivities for the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Global Business asks how the Bard has had an impact on the corporate world. As well as being a profitable part of the British economy, particularly for the tourist sector in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s plays have been exported to almost every country there is. In Neuss, Germany, a replica of the Globe has stood since 1991. In Bollywood, Shakespeare’s stories have been retold since the dawn of Indian cinema, and become major money-spinners courtesy of movies such as Omkara (Othello) and Haider (Hamlet). In corporate America, his plays have been seized upon by executive training teams. And in China, Shakespeare’s works are being marketed to a new generation of domestic consumers, eager for a taste of historical culture. Author and critic Andrew Dickson goes on a globe-trotting journey to find out how the Bard is still very much in business – and discovers one of the most successful and flexible cultural brands there is.

A Unicorn is a mythical animal. But it's also the name now given to private start-up companies, mainly in the tech or internet sector which are valued at a billion dollars or more. They're extremely fast-growing and are often keener to increase customers rather than make profits at this stage. They rely on private investors to fund their growth and those investors give the companies their valuations. Through interviews with European unicorns including Blah, Blah Car, a ride-sharing service and Hello Fresh which delivers measured fresh ingredients and recipes to your door, Caroline Bayley asks how "real" the tech unicorns are and whether the billion dollar plus valuations are fuelling another tech bubble which could be in danger of bursting. Producer Anna Meisel.

The Panama papers reveal tax evasion is a huge international problem. But how can governments clean things up? One way might be by opening things up. In the UK, it is a criminal offence to reveal someone else's tax affairs, but in some countries you can easily discover how much anyone earns and how much they pay in tax, from the prime minister and the richest business leader to the poorest pensioner. It can have a profound effect on business practice and wider society, as business correspondent Jonty Bloom discovers, travelling to Norway. Producer: Ruth Alexander With special thanks to Bill Lomas, Leek Town Crier.

Why is there so much dissatisfaction about how economics is taught at universities? Since the financial crash, many students have been in revolt in the UK and overseas, determined to change the content of their courses. They are not alone. Employers and some economists share many of their concerns. Peter Day explores why the subject has changed over a generation and why that might matter. Producer: Rosamund Jones

If you come from a country with few internet users and even fewer smartphone owners, why would you set up an internet shopping business? “I wanted to buy a present for my then girlfriend,” says Vichet In, who is the founder and CEO of one of Cambodia’s first and most successful forays into e-commerce. In 2013 only around 6% of Cambodians used the internet. But there’s been a rapid rise in internet usage and in smartphone ownership. Which is good news for Vichet and his siblings, who have become involved in his business. John Murphy is in Phnom Penh, where he has a tour of Vichet’s showroom, to get an insight into the setting up of his company, Little Fashion. He hears the secrets of Little Fashion’s success and plans for expansion - just as long as the company can satisfy its demanding Cambodian customers.

Over a million migrants have arrived in Germany in the past year. But could this inflow of new potential employees form the basis of a new German workforce? The population of Europe’s largest economy is currently shrinking meaning in some industries there is a growing shortage of workers. Paul Henley investigates whether the new arrivals could be the answer to Germany’s future economic problems? But he also hears from those who believe the new migrants don’t have the right skills to work in a modern high-tech economy.

Peter Day chairs a discussion about the current low price of oil. He and his guests explore the reasons for the volatility in energy markets and examine the implications for the global economy.Producer Caroline Bayley

Norway isn't a member of the European Union, but does business with the EU. Is it a model for other countries? Jonty Bloom speaks to people working in a range of businesses - including Norway's vital fishing industry - and asks about the advantages and disadvantages of the arrangement. Produced by Ruth Alexander

In the Autumn of 2015 the German city of Munich found itself at the centre of Europe's refugee crisis. Everyday thousands of refugees arrived in the city seeking sanctuary. But what has been the effect on Munich's business community? Paul Henley has been to the city to speak to those companies benefiting from the huge numbers of new arrivals. Paul hears from an air dome company that in three years is expecting it's turnover to have quadrupled, and a translation company who has had take on an extra eight hundred translators to deal with the new demand. So have the migrants been good for German business?

A global industry is facing a staffing crisis, with tens of thousands of new recruits needed across Europe and the United States - yet many people would never consider the job, or even believe it's a job they could do. Why? Because it's truck-driving - an industry with an image problem, where the work is still very much seen as men-only. Could the solution to this staffing crisis lie in attracting more women to get behind the wheel? Caroline Bayley hits the road with some of the female drivers already heading up and down roads of the UK. She speaks to Pakistan's first and only female truck driver, and asks why aren't there more of them? Producer Nina Robinson

As the day when sanctions against Iran are lifted draws closer Global Business looks at the business prospects there for those inside, and outside, the country. Presenter, Caroline Bayley talks to Iranian entrepreneurs keen to see Western investment in their country and European companies eager to do business there. They discuss the needs of the country and the potential challenges investors will face when Iran once again, joins the global economy.

Peter Day explores the rise of craft beer and how the big breweries are fighting back by buying up the competitionProducer: Rosamund Jones.

The revelation that Volkswagen cheated emissions tests is the latest in a line of scandals that have dented the public's faith in business since 2008's financial crisis. It was seen as a betrayal of trust. But just what is trust and how important is it in business? And, once it has been lost, can it ever be won back? The editor of Management Today, Matthew Gwyther, interviews Rupert Stadler, the chairman of Audi - which is part of the VW group. He also speaks to the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Charlie Mayfield, and former chief of Severn Trent Water and Jaguar, Sir John Egan. The former EMEA head of public relations firm Edelman, Robert Phillips, explores PR's influence on trust and Nobel Prize winning economist and author Professor Robert Shiller gives his thoughts. Amid all the negativity about business, Rachel Botsman - who is an expert on the collaborative economy - offers some hope. Producer: Keith Moore

The white collar worker has become a central figure in TV series and comic books in Japan. Ruth Alexander travels to Tokyo to explore the rise of the middle manager as cult hero, speaking to best-seller novelists, manga artists and TV directors about why the workplace makes such good drama.She finds out what the fictional exploits of the 'salaryman’ tell us about doing business in Japan, and hears about the emergence of a new character getting attention in popular culture - the salarywoman.Presented and Produced by Ruth Alexander.

Peter Day visits the Chinese city which makes most of the world's Christmas decorations