Biggest threats to business growth
The CEOs of the largest companies in the world and in Switzerland are positive about the future, according to the KPMG CEO Outlook 2021. Cyber, supply chain and climate risks are seen as the biggest threats to corporate growth.
KPMG's latest CEO Outlook, with more than 1,300 CEOs surveyed worldwide, shows that 60% of executives are positive about the global economy's growth prospects over the next three years. At the beginning of the year, 42% held this view. Only just under one in ten CEOs expects growth prospects to develop negatively.
Inorganic growth as the key to success
The prospect of a stronger global economy is prompting CEOs to invest in expansion and business transformation, with 69% of senior executives focusing on inorganic growth strategies such as joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and strategic alliances. At a global level, 24% of CEOs said mergers & acquisitions will be the most important pillar for corporate growth over the next three years. Among Swiss company executives, only 12% see it this way; they, on the other hand, focus more on joint ventures. In fact, 24% of Swiss executives said that joint ventures would be their most important growth strategy, compared with only 11% of CEOs worldwide.
Although a majority of executives do not see M&A as the most important driver of their company's growth, the appetite for corporate acquisitions and mergers is nevertheless strong, both globally and in Switzerland: 87% of executives worldwide stated that they intend to make acquisitions in the next three years to support the growth and transformation of their company. In Switzerland, all of the CEOs surveyed are planning to acquire (shares in) companies for sure or probably.
Biggest growth risks in the supply chain
Global executives see cyber, supply chain and climate risks as the greatest risks to growth (12% of mentions each). CEOs in Switzerland weight these risks even higher. Just under a quarter of executives in Switzerland, for example, said supply chain risks would pose the greatest threat to business growth, followed by cyber risks (20% of mentions) and climate and regulatory risks (16% of mentions each).
Supply chain risks do indeed appear to be greater in Switzerland than the global average: 76% of CEOs in Switzerland reported that their supply chain had been subject to increased pressure over the past 18 months. Globally, the figure was only 56%. As a countermeasure, CEOs in Switzerland mainly rely on regional diversification of their value chain (47% of the data; globally 30%), while CEOs globally also consider onshoring, i.e. the relocation of value creation steps to the domestic market (19% of the data). In Switzerland, onshoring does not appear to be an issue among executives (0% of data).
The majority of CEOs, on the other hand, see the disruptive potential of new technologies as an opportunity rather than a threat (76% agree). This is particularly true of the CEOs of Swiss companies: 96% see technological disruption as an opportunity for their own company.
Increased need for information on ESG issues
Addressing social and environmental issues beyond their own core business is increasingly critical to the success of companies. 58% of CEOs worldwide rate the public's need for information on ESG issues as high to very high. Among the CEOs of Swiss companies, the figure is as high as 68%. While CEOs worldwide see institutional investors as the main driving force behind this development, CEOs in Switzerland believe it is primarily the regulator. Given the increasing importance of ESG, the willingness of executives to invest in proprietary programs for more sustainable business is high. Only 5% of respondents said they do not put any funds into such programs.
Reduction in office space takes a back seat
The corona pandemic has changed not only the opportunities and risks facing companies, but also how and where employees contribute value. Contrary to last year's statements, only 21% of CEOs worldwide said they had reduced or planned to reduce their company's office space (12% in Switzerland). A stark contrast to the 2020 survey: at that time, 69% of global executives said they wanted to reduce their physical footprint. According to the survey, reducing office space is no longer a priority. Instead, executives are focusing on offering their employees more flexibility and combining the benefits from both worlds, i.e. office and home working. In fact, 37% of global executives said they have implemented or plan to implement a hybrid work model for their employees. In Switzerland, as many as 52% of managers said they had or would implement such a hybrid model.
Press release KPMG
Methodology
In its annual CEO Outlook, KPMG examines the attitudes of executives to various topics such as growth, sustainability and digitalization. For this purpose, 1,325 CEOs of companies with sales of more than USD 500 million were surveyed worldwide in 2021. Twenty-five CEOs of Swiss companies also took part in the survey.
