Mounting uncertainties are pressuring CEOs’ confidence. But businesses are not entirely on the defensive. Trends that support long-term investments in key markets remain firmly in place. Half of CEOs based in developed markets believe that emerging economies are more important to their company’s future, as do 68% of CEOs who are themselves based in emerging markets.

CEOs are committed to expanding local customer bases in their priority markets. But rather than simply exporting products, they're building diverse local operations, from services capabilities to manufacturing capacity. Critically, they're changing their product mix – and sometimes their entire operating models – to meet very local needs and conditions.

Shored up balance sheets and more flexible supply chains have helped. But there's still plenty for CEOs to worry about. For example, most CEOs in Western Europe are concerned about instability in capital markets. Currency volatility is a potential constraint in Asia Pacific, while rising taxes and over-regulation loom large for CEOs in Latin America.

The innovation priority remains: Almost a third of CEOs believe that their biggest opportunities for growth lie in developing new products and services. CEOs in the communications, and media and entertainment sectors are the most active on all fronts, whether it means refocusing innovation efforts for existing products and services or for entirely new products in new models.