The C-Suite Challenge:
The Future-Ready
Organization Report
January 2019
The Conference Board, AHRI and a range of international partners surveyed more than 1,400 business leaders, CEOs and C-Suite executives on what organisations will look like in 2025 and beyond, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. What emerges is an archetype of a company that is fully committed to sustainability as a growth driver, puts the customer at the centre, reshapes the way we work, and achieves the elusive balance between short-term goals and long-term vision.
Executive Summary
When senior executives paint the picture of what the organization of the future looks like, what emerges is an archetype of a company that puts the customer at the center, reshapes the way we work, and achieves the elusive balance between short-term goals and long-term vision. Reaching this ideal requires a comprehensive, holistic approach. In this year’s C-Suite Challenge™ survey, CEOs and C-suite executives outline their concerns about what lies ahead and their vision for how their organizations will thrive in 2025 and beyond.
Hot-Button Issues for 2019
Hot-button issues are short-term events and situations that executives believe will
require a special focus in the coming year. It’s worth noting that meeting these short-
term challenges can often divert attention and resources away from the commitment to medium- and longer-term growth strategies.
External Impacts: CEOs brace for a turbulent business environment in the short
run Although our economic indicators do not point to imminent recession risks (the
UK being one notable exception), global CEOs nevertheless indicated this is their top concern in the coming year, closely followed by disruption of global trade systems and global political instability. There is little faith this external turbulence can be contained by the traditional levers of power—public policy and political institutions. Among the top concerns of CEOs globally, especially in Europe, Latin America, and the United States, is declining trust in these institutions.
Internal Concerns: Talent, disruptive technologies, and managing costs keep CEOs up at night Talent is CEOs’ top internal hot-button issue for the coming year. While cost control also reemerges as a critical issue, the impact of digital technologies is clearly being felt within organizations as an urgent need to reexamine current business models.
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Utpala Menon
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