Excellence of execution is top concern for CEOs worldwide
05 Oct '07
5 min read
CEOs from Europe show a greater concern with getting new, more responsive ideas out sooner, a finding that might be based on the needs of companies operating in a more mature market.
Therefore, execution in terms of speed, flexibility, adaptability to change is a more dominant theme in Europe (third place) than in Asia (tied for eighth) and the U.S. (10th place). Similarly, of the regional top 10 lists, speed to market only appears in the European top 10.
Of the 125 publicly-traded U.S. companies grouped as either “more successful” or “less successful,” CEOs from the “less successful” cohort feel more pressure from the costs of healthcare benefits (17.5%) than CEOs from “more successful companies” (10.4%).
A comparison of the two groups also shows that the “less successful” U.S. CEOs (19.6%) report more strain from the costs/supplies of oil/energy challenge than their “more successful” counterparts (4.4%). (Those with average return on assets (ROA) greater than or equal to the median were labeled “more successful.” Those with ROA below the median were labeled “less successful.”).
With such cost pressures driving a sense of urgency, it seems only natural that 21.1% of the “less successful” U.S. companies rate speed, flexibility, adaptability to change among their greatest concerns, as opposed to 10.4% of their “more successful” U.S. peers.
Similarly, 47.4 percent of the “less successful” rank consistent execution of strategy by top management among their greatest concerns, compared to 32.8% of their more successful U.S. competitors.
The Conference Board's CEO Challenge Survey 2007 was conducted during the first quarter of 2007. Respondents were asked to rate the magnitude that each challenge poses over the next 6-12 months on a scale of 0 (not applicable) to 5 (my greatest concern).
All findings and data in this report represent the accumulated experience of the senior executives surveyed. A subsequent report will explore the implications of this year's survey findings as articulated by chairmen and CEOs of leading companies from a range of industries around the globe.
Their perspectives were gathered through a series of in-depth interviews, in which the topics ranged from balancing short-term and long-term goals under the relentless pressure for speed, addressing uncertainty and risk, succession planning and the availability of skilled labor, to the backlash against global outsourcing, the impact of rising energy costs, and what we are likely to see in the next wave of mergers and acquisitions.
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