Conclusion and Key Takeaways

As executives prepare for the year ahead, they see a rapidly changing landscape. Consumer preferences for local and sustainable goods and the rising importance of mayors and cities in an environment of growing protectionism underpin broader global shifts away from traditional globalization. Although striking technological advances, particularly in the field of AI, are a source of confidence for executives, companies remain worryingly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. And in the midst of these dramatic changes to the global and operational landscape, it is an emphasis on relationships that emerges as a leading takeaway in our 2019 Views from the C-Suite. Strong relationships with consumers and suppliers as well as efforts to prioritize talent management are more important than ever in the digital era.

While the specific business implications from this survey will vary based on each company’s sector, geographic footprint, and strategy, several priorities emerge for the global C-suite in the coming 12 months:

Recalibrate strategies for multi-localism. A confluence of forces—from rising cross-border regulations and friction to changing consumer preferences and the emergence of new technologies—all suggest the need for a new operating paradigm: multi-localism. Executives must reassess their core markets and recalibrate their global footprint and value chain to succeed in an environment that is being shaped by local conditions and preferences. They must become more attuned to the local conditions in which they operate—and how they might be shifting. Such assessments can generate new business insights and strategies tailored to these markets.
Respond to shifting consumer preferences. Growing consumer preference for local, sustainable, and personalized products is evident throughout our survey. These changes point, in part, to demographic shifts and the need for companies to adapt to the preferences of new generational cohorts. To focus on Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2016), companies must adjust their product mix and marketing campaigns to appeal better to these younger generations. Both of these generational cohorts are digitally savvy and display an acute concern for social tolerance and the environment. Executives should, therefore, intensify their product design for omnichannel e-commerce and greater diversity and sustainability.
Define priorities in talent management. Although executives have dedicated more resources to talent management in recent years, our survey results indicate tendencies to emphasize recruitment over retention and a failure to identify specific groups of employees to prioritize in their retention efforts (most executives, in fact, selected “all employees”). As the competition for talent intensifies, executives must assess their companies’ present and future talent management needs and work to achieve them. These efforts may include partnerships with educational institutions to improve the talent pipeline, more targeted and personalized recruitment strategies, more tailored training programs, and retention efforts that concentrate on a specific subset of their talent, such as high performers.
Develop realistic AI expectations. Executives assign great importance to AI and appreciate the significant business opportunities it engenders. But as with many emerging technologies, although AI development holds great promise to remake important business processes, its game-changing potential may not be fully realized for years to come. Executives should work with their technology teams to set reasonable expectations for the benefits that AI can bring to their company in the next year—and where investments may pay off in the longer term.
Actively manage geopolitical risk. This year, geopolitical risk fell from the top external challenge in the previous two years of our survey to fourth place. And executives this year are divided as to whether fragmenting international leadership and cooperation will complicate global business operations. These sentiments reflect a worrying blind spot given the ominous threat of conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere, the escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China, and other developments that threaten to destabilize the geopolitical environment. In the end, executives have no choice but to account for geopolitical risk in their planning and identify potential mitigating actions, especially with regard to cross-border operations.

Appendix

About the Study

The 2019 Views from the C-Suite study uses primary data from a proprietary survey administered to almost 450 senior executives of the world’s leading corporations. The survey was conducted in March and April 2019.

Respondents include C-level executives and board members. About 50 percent are CEOs, and about 48 percent are other C-suite executives; the remaining 2 percent are board members. All participating companies have annual revenues of $500 million or more.

The participating companies are headquartered in 23 countries in all regions of the world. For the purposes of reporting survey results, respondents are aggregated into three regions: the Americas, Asia (which also includes a few respondents from Africa), and Europe. About 40 percent of respondents are based in the Americas, and companies headquartered in Asia and in Europe each represent about 30 percent.

Respondents also work in a wide array of sectors, which we have grouped into three megasectors: industry (primary goods, aerospace and defense, infrastructure and construction, telecommunications and utilities, heavy industry, and light industry), services (transportation, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, wholesale and retail, financial services, and nonfinancial services—excluding IT), and IT (including hardware, software, and IT-related services). Executives at services-sector firms account for about 47 percent of the respondents; industry-sector firms represent 34 percent; 18 percent work at IT firms; and the remaining approximately 1 percent identify as “other.”

For past editions of Views from the C-Suite, please go to www.atkearney.com/web/ global-business-policy-council/views-from-the-c-suite/past-editions.

About the Global Business Policy Council

The Global Business Policy Council is a specialized foresight and strategic analysis unit within A.T. Kearney. Since its first CEO Retreat in 1992, the Council has been a strategic service for the world’s top executives, government officials, and business-minded thought leaders. Through public-facing thought leadership, exclusive global forums, and advisory services, the Council helps to decipher sweeping geopolitical, economic, social, and technological changes and their effects on the global business environment. The Council is dedicated to providing immediate impact and growing advantage by helping CEOs and government leaders anticipate and plan for the future.

The authors would like to thank Terence Toland and Radina Belberova for their valuable contributions to this report.