CEOs, cross-sector moves are paying off

Among the key findings of PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey is the extent to which companies are venturing across sector and industry boundaries in pursuit of reinvention and growth. Four in ten CEOs (42%) say their company has started to compete in new sectors in the last five years. Among those planning to make at least one major acquisition in the next three years, a similar proportion (44%) expect to make moves outside of their existing sector.

The driving force? A collision of technology, climate change, geopolitics, and other megatrends that is creating new customer needs and preferences, enabling new business models, and blurring the boundaries between industries. Asked which other sectors they’re looking to for growth—whether organically or through acquisitions—the top pick among CEOs globally is technology. Technology company CEOs, in turn, are seeking to grow in healthcare, business services, and banking and capital markets.

Our survey data also shows that companies with a higher percentage of revenue coming from new sectors are more profitable and more confident about their growth prospects. In other words, playing an active role in industry reconfiguration is paying off.

Your next move: Reinvent to outperform. Companies that want to seize the moment should look inwards at their own capabilities, as well as outwards for opportunities. Playing across sector boundaries requires collaborating at scale with new ecosystem partners, which is a skill many companies need to hone. When it comes to deal-making, for example, PwC research has found that acquisitions are more likely to add value if the focus is on acquiring complementary capabilities, as opposed to strengthening market power or acquiring customers.

Idea in motion
Collaboration at scale requires investment in core systems. Consider the example of one industrial manufacturer we know that has embarked on a major upgrade of its data environment and systems to enable interoperation with new value chain partners across the mobility ecosystem.