11th Annual Global CEO Survey

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 11th Annual Global CEO Survey provides a timely and insightful picture of the current attitudes, perceptions and expectations of major business leaders around the world. The theme of this year’s survey, “how to succeed in a connected world”, explores the way CEOs seek to balance the risks and opportunities of competing and collaborating in the face of enormous uncertainty and change. The findings indicate that establishing business networks is now a primary response to today’s environment - and that CEOs believe the benefits of doing this clearly outweigh the costs.

Highlights:

• CEO confidence increased in Asia Pacific to 56% (49% last year).
• CEOs cited a potential economic downturn as the major threat to their business growth prospects; the first time a possible economic decline was cited as the top business risk since the survey's inception 11 years ago.
• Seventy-three percent of CEOs agreed businesses need to collaborate more effectively to mitigate climate change, but only 37% said their organisation was investing significant resources to address the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.
• Fifty-seven percent of CEOs believe that collaborative networks will play a key part in future business models, with CEOs in Asia Pacific particularly convinced about the value of collaborative networks.
• The war for talent remains a key concern for chief executives.
• Eighty-nine percent of CEOs believe the people agenda is a top priority, but only 43% think their HR functions possess the right qualities to handle the job.