Trends Identified
Transforming: technology, innovation and talent
It’s evident that most businesses today, in defining what they stand for, recognise the needs of a wider set of stakeholders – and their customers’ expectations about how they address those needs. Translating a broader corporate purpose into the everyday, however, is another matter entirely. Even the most committed can find it challenging in the extreme to reshape their company while facing day-to-day battles on every front to fight off competition, grow revenues and cut costs. Putting technology to work: business leaders understand all too well how technology is transforming their relationship with customers as well as other stakeholders. So it makes sense that they see technology as the best way to assess and deliver on changing customer expectations, with 51% of CEOs making significant changes in this area (see Figure 11). The innovation edge Over half of CEOs ranked R&D and innovation technologies as generating the greatest return in terms of successful stakeholder engagement (see Figure 12). The winners in the innovation game, however, will be those that harness technology and innovation to deliver products and services that are cost-effective, convenient, functional and sustainable. The people edge As companies look to meet the complicated expectations of stakeholders and society, they will need a new generation of people with an entrepreneurial mindset who can harness technology and drive innovation.
2016
19th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Measuring and communicating success
In a complex and rapidly changing world, we were interested in understanding which areas CEOs want to better measure and which areas they want to better communicate to the multiple stakeholders who interact with their organisations. We found that the key metrics CEOs would like to improve are the ones traditionally seen as ‘harder’ drivers of business success like innovation and risks, while the areas they want to better communicate are emotional, ‘softer’ issues around values and purpose (see Figure 15). But customers are seeking information about both the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ drivers of business success. Indeed, real-time dashboards created and managed by users themselves are becoming feasible, raising expectations for more fresh and relevant information and ways of viewing it. Ultimately the CEO must deal with matters of the head and the heart, the rational and the emotional. Our research suggests that there is much room to improve on both the assessment and communication of key business areas, including of course, core financial data.
2016
19th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Navigating complexity to exceed expectations
Technological progress, shifting demographics, urban expansion, the rise of emerging markets and a changing planet are moving the world beyond globalisation to a multi-polar reality. As this happens CEOs are learning that much of their success depends on sensing and addressing the rapidly changing values and expectations of their many stakeholders.
2016
19th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Growth, but not as we know it
If 2014 taught us anything it’s that in our increasingly technology-led world, no industry, no company and no government, even, is immune from the effects of change. Take the global energy market, where breakthrough innovations continued to shake up the status quo. Or the corporate world, where a cyber security attack had international security and diplomacy ramifications. And what about that digital transport start up – barely four years old – challenging the entire global taxi industry’s business model and receiving an $18 billion valuation for its chutzpah..
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
What business are you in
Competition In the face of an ever-growing set of concerns, the question CEOs are asking is this: How do we manage the day-to-day business while having the confidence and vision to explore a much wider range of opportunities than we’ve ever considered before? .
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Creating new value in new ways through digital transformation
CEOs no longer question the need to embrace technology at the core of their business in order to create value for customers. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, digital technologies have revolutionised how customers perceive value. Creating the personalised and ongoing experiences that are increasingly in demand requires a full view of the customer and all their relationships with the company. It requires an unprecedented level of customisation, responsiveness and innovation. Doing all this effectively just isn’t possible by tinkering at the edges. Companies increasingly recognise that they need to reconfigure their operating models – and perhaps their business models. And in order to do so they need to ensure that they’re not only investing in the right digital technologies, but can deploy them in a smart and effective way.
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Developing diverse and dynamic partnerships
Partnerships As CEOs increasingly focus on what they’re good at, they’re looking to partner with others whose capabilities could complement or enhance their own. Fifty-one percent plan to enter into new strategic alliances or joint ventures over the next year – the highest percentage since we began asking the question in 2010.
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Finding different ways of thinking and working
Views about diversity and inclusiveness seem to have reached a tipping point. No longer are they seen as ‘soft’ issues, but rather as crucial competitive capabilities. Of the 64% of CEOs whose companies have a formal diversity and inclusiveness strategy, 85% think it’s improved the bottom line. And they also see such strategies as benefiting innovation, collaboration, customer satisfaction, emerging customer needs and the ability to harness technology – all vital capabilities for success in the new competitive environment.
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
The glass half-full
CEOs are more positive about the state of the global economy than they were last year. Twice as many think it will improve over the next 12 months (see Figure 1). Conversely, just 7% think it will deteriorate, compared with 28% in 2013. But there are marked regional differences in sentiment. Only a quarter of CEOs in Central and Eastern Europe believe the global economy is recovering, versus half of all CEOs in Western Europe and the Middle East. The optimism some CEOs display may therefore stem from relief that certain risks (such as the collapse of the eurozone) have been averted for now, rather than the conviction that things are really getting better. Moreover, CEOs are still cautious about whether greater global growth will translate into growth for their own companies. They’re slightly more hopeful about the short-term outlook (see Figure 1), but just as wary about opportunities over the next three years as they were 12 months ago.
2014
17th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
The global rebalancing act
CEOs are coming out of survival mode, but the search for growth is getting increasingly complicated as the global economy gradually rebalances itself. In 2012, the advanced economies were spluttering, while the emerging economies sizzled. In 2013, the picture became more nuanced. The advanced economies are mending, while some emerging economies are slowing down – and separating out in the process. By the third quarter of 2013, the US economy was already 4% bigger than it was in 2007, before the financial crisis was in full swing. The Japanese economy had also recovered all the ground it lost, although a listless performance in the second half of 2013 dented hopes that the eurozone had done likewise (see Figure 2). While the advanced economies are recovering, some of the emerging economies have been decelerating. The prospect of a shift in monetary policy in the US (which materialised in December 2013) and other advanced economies triggered substantial capital outflows from some emerging countries. These macroeconomic changes have revived interest in a number of the mature markets and exposed the weak spots in some of the emerging economies, as well as the extent to which they’re diverging.
2014
17th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC