CEOs confident of growth prospects

CORPORATE leaders are mostly confident in their own companies' growth prospects despite the overall gloomy global economic outlook this year.

In PwC's 15th annual global CEO survey, 40 per cent of the chief executive officers who participated in the poll said they are "very confident" of revenue growth for their companies in the next 12 months.

This shows that chief executive officers believe they have learned how to manage through difficult and volatile economic times.

However, nearly half or about 48 per cent of the 1,258 chief executive officers polled worldwide, believed that the global economy will decline even further in the next one year.

The survey findings were released in conjunction with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that started this week.

The biggest decline in confidence was in the Western Europe. Beset by the sovereign debt crisis, just a quarter of the European chief executive officers said they are confident of revenue growth, down sharply from nearly 40 per cent last year.

Short-term confidence fell among chief executive officers in Asia Pacific, where confidence among CEOs dropped to 42 per cent from 54 per cent last year.

China saw the biggest decline in confidence in the Asia Pacific region, with 51 per cent of chief executive officers feeling "very confident", down from 72 per cent last year.

"CEO confidence is decidedly down as they deal with the aftershocks to the recession. CEOs are disappointed with the course of the global economy and the pace of recovery. The optimism that had been building cautiously since 2008 has begun to recede," said PwC Malaysia managing director Chin Kwai Fatt in a statement yesterday.

"Nonetheless, despite the uncertainties, the long-term trends that have encouraged corporations to invest in the emerging world, create innovation and develop talent remain firmly in place," he added.

Finding and keeping the right talent also remains a top concern for chief executive officers.

The survey found that recruiting and retaining high potential middle managers is the biggest talent challenge, followed by hiring skilled production employees and younger workers.

"One way to meet this challenge head on is to devote more energy and resources to develop a leadership and talent pipeline.

"Nearly three quarters of chief executive officers surveyed globally say they plan to do this. They expect to make changes to their strategies for managing talent in the next twelve months," said Chin.

Meanwhile, nearly one third of respondents said the best strategic growth opportunities in the next 12 months will come from increasing share in existing markets and from developing new products and services.

The emerging markets remain a vital growth opportunity for chief executive officers. Some 59 per cent agreed that growing markets were more important to their company's future than more developed economies.

-Business Times

Extracted from the Malaysian Chronicle News portal: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=26918:ceos-confident-of-growth-prospects&Itemid=3