The outlook series: the battle for accurate information and truth
The outlook series: the battle for accurate information and truth
The founding purpose of The Economist newspaper is to “take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”. But today, the ignorance that obstructs our progress is no longer timid. It is wilful, powered by technology and network effects, enabled by business models and lax policy, and manipulated for political and geopolitical purposes.
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Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
Rethinking professional services in an age of disruption
Podcast | Pride and Prejudice: The next chapter of progress
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Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a global, 24-hour event spanning three cities around the world. It will catalyse fresh debate on the economic and human costs of discrimination against the LGBT community. The event will challenge policymakers and industry leaders to rethink the future of the LGBT movement and its impact on business.
Download report | More about Pride and Prejudice
阅读报告：简体中文 | 繁體中文
Pride and Prejudice: The next chapter of progress
For many, the United States Supreme Court decision in 2015 to legalise same-sex marriage nationwide was a recent high-water mark for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, an inspiring moment that served as the culmination of decades of struggle. Although the past few years of turbulent political shifts, trade wars and a major pandemic have seen the global spotlight shift away from LGBT rights, they have not been without significant victories, especially in Asia. Taiwan’s recent adoption of same-sex marriage is the most prominent, but other, more incremental advancements—including significant court rulings in China and India—have also pushed the envelope forward.
With this context in mind, our most recent study under the Pride and Prejudice banner—the fifth in an annual series of surveys and research reports exploring LGBT rights—focuses on Asia. Although the West still contains pockets of discrimination, it is far closer to full equality than it was even a few years ago. Asia, on the other hand, still has a long journey ahead, making the region the true next chapter of progress in this ongoing global fight. With attitudes among young, urban-dwelling Asians changing rapidly, the continent will hopefully pick up the baton.
In keeping with the Pride and Prejudice approach of years past, our research, sponsored by Manulife, Barclays and Nomura, focuses roughly equally on the business community and society at large. In particular, this year it compares corporate attitudes to those of rank-and-file staff with regard to LGBT rights; just as the wider social compass may lag behind—or diverge entirely—from the attitudes and opinions of individuals, so too do companies often default to a conservative “groupthink” mentality that obscures potentially rapid change in attitudes among individual workers. These attitudes are captured via a survey, fielded in August and September 2020, of 359 full-time employees at companies across seven economies: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. Our sample is 44% director-level and above, including 16% C-suite executives. It is 77% male and 8% members of the LGBT community. See the report appendix for full survey results, including demographic data.
Download the report in English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文（香港） | 繁體中文（台灣） | 日本語
Pride and Prejudice: Changemakers
Amid the rise in right-wing populist movements across the Western world, one perennial whipping boy has been relatively absent: the LGBT community. While liberals fret over trade wars, warn of environmental disaster and lament the degradation of human rights in multiple contexts, the outlook for LGBT rights has not darkened as significantly as many feared it would. Setbacks do and will still occur; the transgender community remains particularly vulnerable. Much of the world has yet to reach the West’s level of acceptance. But in many places, being openly LGBT is still easier than it once was.
In The Economist Intelligence Unit’s recent report, Pride and Prejudice: Agents of change, to be launched on March 23, 2017, at The Economist's Pride and Prejudice event, we explore the advancement in LGBT diversity and inclusion via three key groups: influential advocates in leadership positions, young people and women. Their central role in the debate applies as much to the workplace as it does to society overall. By focusing on the specific groups best positioned to effect positive change for LGBT people, resources can be more efficiently deployed and the discussion sharpened to reach the eyes and ears of these cohorts.
Why these three? The EIU’s previous work on this topic hinted at the role these employees play: for example, 63% of respondents in last year’s survey cited management (C-suite and senior managers) as those who can most influence LGBT workplace advancement. Women and young people were more likely to agree than their male and older counterparts that the business world has a fundamental imperative to drive change around LGBT diversity and inclusion. These findings served as the framework for this year’s survey, which delved deeper into the attitudes and opinions of these groups and explored the underlying reasons for them.
Those at the top of the ladder occupy perhaps the most complex position in the discussion. When asked which cohort guides company thinking around LGBT diversity and inclusion in the workplace, our survey respondents ranked C-suite/leadership a close second, after young people. Far fewer respondents—only about one in six—believe they are most eager to support said diversity. Yet among C-suite or board members themselves, one in three believes that broader company leadership is more eager than others to support LGBT diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This suggests there’s a disconcerting disconnect between the top and bottom of the corporate pyramid on this issue.
This matters because young people and women—two groups which, according to our survey at least, are more likely to occupy the lower rungs—want to see their values reflected in the workplace and their voices heard by those in power. Increasingly, those values incorporate support for all forms of diversity, including that surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity. Young people, influenced by global pop culture and connected to each other via social media, are more receptive to difference than their elders; women, themselves an oppressed minority, share a natural affinity with LGBT people. Their struggle can inform the march of progress for others facing discrimination, and can open doors of tolerance in the workplace and beyond.
LGBT people may still be waiting for the tide of economic and cultural nationalism sweeping the Western world to engulf them too. On a global scale, much still needs to be done to match even the West’s fragile gains. For those working to effect change, both in the corporate world and society as a whole, the road ahead is challenging, but it is hardly insurmountable.
Pride and Prejudice is The Economist's flagship conference on LGBT rights. Now in its second year, Pride and Prejudice began in 2016 and will continue in 2017 as a global LGBT conference and initiative that will catalyse fresh debate on the economic and human costs of discrimination against the LGBT community.
Visit the Pride and Prejudice website for more information and join the discussion at #EconPride.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.
The next glocalisation: opportunity out of crisis in Asia
The next glocalisation: opportunity out of crisis in Asia
While globalisation may be under threat, so-called glocalisation looks set to resurge. In essence, to be “glocal” means making the most of both global and local resources—creating standalone ecosystems in individual markets. The term was popular in marketing parlance several years ago, but in a new incarnation it could apply as much to services and operations.
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Podcast | US elections: What will a Trump / Biden presidency mean for Asia...
In this episode, The EIU's senior editor Jason Wincuinas speaks to Zhang Lipei, Director of the Beijing Office at the US-China Business Council, and Nick Marro, Lead Analyst for Global Trade, China and Macau, and supporting analyst for Taiwan at The EIU about the two possible outcomes of the US elections, what they might mean for businesses in Asia and how they might impact US-China relations.
Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Google podcasts | Your preferred podcasting platforms
Listen to part 2 of this US elections special podcast and subscribe for upcoming episodes.
Relevant reports by The Economist Intelligence Unit:
US-China relations under a Biden presidency Asia’s inward turn, looking at regional trade policy amid US-China strains and Covid-19 disruptions Telecoms demand will be strong in 2021 but US-China disputes will complicate 5G rollout EIU Global Outlook: Siding with the US or with China?
Global business barometer
Optimism is in short supply almost everywhere. The covid-19 pandemic has led to society-wide lockdowns across the world, bringing all but commerce and services deemed most essential to a sudden halt, large portions of countries are sheltering at home and unemployment is spiking. The IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook, forecasts the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression as a result of these measures. The WTO has also revised its projections for global trade in 2020; total volumes could fall from 13% to 32%, depending on the length of the pandemic and the effectiveness of policy responses.
To understand and track private-sector views on the impact of covid-19, how businesses are coping and their plans for the next three months and beyond, The Economist Intelligence Unit, supported by SAS, is launching the Global Business Barometer (GBB) this month. Based on an initial online survey of 2,758 executives from 118 countries, fielded from March 26th to April 6th, we ask questions ranging from their outlook on the global economy and investment plans to operational and risk management strategies. The Global Business Barometer will be updated every month to track changes in sentiment over time.
The first podcast episode on the Global Business Barometer is hosted by Charles Ross, editorial director of The EIU for Asia, with guest Andrew Staples, editorial director of the Economist Corporate Network.
In the second episode, the editorial team at the Economist Intelligence Unit continue the discussion on the Covid-19 pandemic with the UK and other countries' responses, and the outlook for a vaccine and treatments. This episode is hosted by Chris Clague, managing editor and global editorial lead for trade and globalisation, with Elizabeth Sukkar, managing editor and global editorial lead for healthcare.
In the third episode, The EIU speaks to Dr Steve Bennett, director of global government practice at SAS, about where companies are on the survival / adaptation / recovery curve. This episode is hosted by Chris Clague, managing editor and global editorial lead for trade and globalisation.
In the fourth episode of this series, Chris Clague, managing editor at The EIU speaks to Taimur Baig, managing director and chief economist at DBS Bank (00:00-21:17); Alex Kwiatkowski, industry lead for banking and capital markets at SAS (21:17-37:03); and Jesse Quigley Jones, managing editor for healthcare at The EIU (37:03-46:15) about industry responses against the macro backdrop.
Get full barometer readings >
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Podcast | Intertwined relations: China, the US, and the global trade of AI
In this episode, senior editor Jason Wincuinas speaks to Jeffrey Ding, a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford and the China lead at “The Centre for the Governance of AI”, which is part of the Future of Humanity Institute, and founder of "ChinAI" (chinai.substack.com), a newsletter that shares translations of Chinese AI research papers.
Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Google podcasts | Your preferred podcasting platforms
THE RESILIENT TREASURY: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19 | Video
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THE RESILIENT TREASURY: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19
The resilient treasury: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19 is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, supported by Deutsche Bank. Our analysis explores attitudes among corporate treasurers towards the drivers of strategic change in the treasury function, the macro and financial risks that impact strategy, the effect of negative interest rates on investment plans and the regulatory initiatives that are currently top of mind for treasurers. The study also analyses the technologies that treasurers are using today, the skills that the treasury function requires and approaches towards cyber security. Finally, it identifies the priorities that treasurers will pursue up to 2025.
The report is based on a survey of 300 senior corporate treasury executives conducted between April and May 2020. Of these, a third of respondents represent companies with an annual revenue of at least US$5bn. The 2020 survey also includes findings from previous Economist Intelligence Unit corporate treasurer surveys in this series, conducted between 2015 and 2019.
Executives were drawn from three regions (North America, AsiaPacific, Europe and the Middle East and Africa) and a broad range of sectors, including aerospace/defence (2.3%); agriculture and agribusiness (4%); automotive (7.7%); chemicals (6.7%); construction and real estate (5.7%); consumer goods (7%); energy and natural resources (7%); entertainment, media and publishing (6.3%); financial services (7.7%); healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology (7.3%); IT and technology (7%); logistics and distribution (4.7%); manufacturing (8.0%); professional services (1.7%); retail (5%); telecommunications (7%); and transport, travel and tourism (4.7%).
As part of the research, we conducted a series of in-depth interviews in May 2020 with senior treasury executives from around the world. Our thanks are due to the following for their time and insight:
Rando Bruns, head of group treasury, Merck KGaA Charles Cao, group treasurer, Ant Financial Neil Peacock, global head of cash management, ABB Anita Polzhofer, head of treasury, Arup Jim Scurlock, head of cash management, MicrosoftExecutive summary
No sooner had treasurers started to implement strategies for 2020 than the economic picture for the year changed irrevocably. The covid-19 pandemic spread across the globe at extraordinary speed and treasury plans had to alter dramatically. The treasury function had to quickly shift to a remote working environment and switch focus away from long-term cash forecasts in favour of shorter-term and more regularly interrogated forecasts to get an accurate picture of cash and liquidity. Covid-19 has also impacted treasurers’ short-term concerns about the outlook for the macro global environment and the likely consequences. Furthermore, non-core treasury activities, such as sustainable finance, are lesser priorities in the present climate.
In order to highlight the forces that will shape and define both the priorities of the future and the corporate treasury function itself over the coming decade, the first chapter of this report discusses the financial and macro risks that are impacting strategy and investment plans. The second explores the regulatory initiatives that are currently top of mind for treasurers and their implications. The third examines the technologies that treasurers are using today, the skills that the treasury function requires and approaches towards cyber security. The final chapter identifies and discusses the priorities that treasurers will pursue up to 2025. In each chapter we compare results from this year’s survey with those from previous years where relevant.
Key findings
Macro risks will drive change within the treasury function and specifically the way in which strategy is defined. Respondents believe pandemic risk driven by covid-19 will have the most impact on corporate treasury, not just in the short term (43%), but also in the medium term (27%). Other pandemic-related risks also poll strongly: global economic growth concerns are high on the list (31%) and geopolitical risks are deemed problematic by a quarter of treasurers (25%) in the medium term. Due to the current climate of uncertainty treasurers plan to diversify investment portfolios. The survey shows that the pandemic has pushed a variety of risk management techniques to the fore. Liquidity risk, foreign exchange risk and mitigation of interest rate risk have become vital to navigate increasingly volatile markets. Meanwhile, a focus on counterparty risk is critical for supply chain management as smaller suppliers face tough times as a result of the sudden economic downturn. Treasurers say that over the next 12-24 months they plan to increase investments in long-term instruments (55%), bank deposits (48%), local investment products (48%) and money market funds (47%). The replacement of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for lending and borrowing, and other Interbank Offered Rates (IBORs), is the most challenging regulatory initiative for treasury. Thirty-eight percent of respondents in this year’s survey consider it to be the main challenge for their function. Other regulatory initiatives whose impact will need to be managed include General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, cited by 32%, up from 29% in 2019), the OECD’s initiative against base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS, 31%, up from 18%) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II, 30%, up from 7%). Digital transformation, accelerated by the pandemic, continues to impact the corporate treasury and there is increasing reliance on technology dayto-day. Treasurers are increasingly seeing new technologies as a way to bridge existing data issues in the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) process, for example. The majority of treasurers (74%) have identified the use of new technologies as the most useful action to improve the KYC process. This is a significant jump from 58% in 2018. As corporate treasurers wade deeper into their data strategy, concern over data quality has grown. The survey found that 78% of treasurers say they are either very or somewhat concerned about the quality of data, which is up from 69% only a year ago. Internal data issues stem from having to link up numerous systems and software. Externally, the lack of standardisation on electronic bank account statements is particularly problematic. Treasury priorities for the future will be shaped by macro risks, regulatory changes and emerging technologies. The utmost priorities on the treasury agenda in 2020 are managing relationships with banks and suppliers (32%) and collaborating with other functions in the business (32%). Looking ahead, our survey suggests that the data-driven approach of treasury will allow the function to become an even more supportive and proactive partner to the rest of the business. By working with banking partners, suppliers and third parties to optimise processes, treasury can collaborate more closely with other business functions to drive corporate growth.For a compelling summary of the key findings of our research, view our animated infographic here.
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
THE RESILIENT TREASURY: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19
THE RESILIENT TREASURY: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19
The resilient treasury: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19 is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, supported by Deutsche Bank. Our analysis explores attitudes among corporate treasurers towards the drivers of strategic change in the treasury function, the macro and financial risks that impact strategy, the effect of negative interest rates on investment plans and the regulatory initiatives that are currently top of mind for treasurers.
Related content
THE RESILIENT TREASURY: Optimising strategy in the face of covid-19 | Video
For a compelling summary of the key findings of our research, view our animated infographic here.
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
Imaginative Leadership for a New Decade
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Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
Rethinking professional services in an age of disruption
Work in progress: Aligning workforce transformation to business strategy
Work in progress: Aligning workforce transformation to business strategy
About the research
Work in progress: Aligning workforce transformation to business strategy is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by Fujitsu and Citrix, that examines the extent of workforce change within organisations and the different approaches that firms take to manage it.
Related content
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
Rethinking professional services in an age of disruption
ّ القيادة يف خضم عمليات التحول:الفرص التجارية واملخاطر يف الرشق األوسط
ّ القيادة يف خضم عمليات التحول:الفرص التجارية واملخاطر يف الرشق األوسط
تبديد التصورات الخاطئة حول األعامل التجارية يف املنطقة، واتخاذ منهج قائم عىل األدلة يف تقييم الفرص التجارية واملخاطر، والتي حددناها من خالل تحليل نتائج االستطالع، وما يكملها من مقابالت متعمقة. ويعرض هذا التقرير هذه النتائج، إىل جانب االسرتاتيجيات التي تتبناها الرشكات للتعامل مع هذه الظروف الغامضة.
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Leadership Amid Transformation: Business opportunities and risks in the Mid...
Operating a business in the Middle East requires executives to navigate an exceptionally challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment while dealing with unique labour and technological considerations on the ground. This often requires managing expectations against reality. The aim of this report is to dispel regional business myths and take an evidence-based approach to assessing business opportunities and risks. We have identified these through a survey of business executives in the Middle East, complemented with in-depth interviews. This report presents these findings, along with strategies businesses are adopting to navigate these unchartered waters.
Key findings include:
The region’s business executives appear not to be swayed by short- and medium-term international and regional geopolitical risk factors. Respondents were more concerned about short-term macroeconomic risks such as oil price volatility (61% of respondents), changes to domestic tax structures (55%) and exchange-rate volatility (52%). Although Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) tensions with Qatar were cited by 47% of respondents, it was only perceived as a lower level risk. The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt will continue over the medium term, as close ties with Iran are unlikely to be radically reformed over the next five years, a major point of contention. Furthermore, as the oil and gas industry in Qatar has largely been unaffected and they have taken steps towards self-sufficiency, the economic pressures of the boycott have been limited. Longer-term geopolitical events such as the ongoing conflicts within Yemen and Syria as well as the US withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal were cited as having no direct impact on their business by a majority of respondents. However, respondents were concerned by the risk posed by civil unrest in the country they are located in (45%). Executives recognise the longer-term shifts in oil demand and supply and the risk of continued reliance on oil for economic growth. They strongly advocated for economic diversification to reduce the region’s exposure to oil price volatility. With the exception of the infrastructure and energy sectors, all other sectors broadly support continued reform with between 40% and 56% of respondents in each sector viewing a slowdown in economic diversification as a risk. Short-term mega-events in the region (Expo 2020 and the World Cup in 2022) are perceived to bring positive spillovers. Respondents believe the economic benefits of Dubai’s hosting of Expo 2020 will be felt beyond the UAE’s borders—the event was cited as an opportunity by more than 60% of respondents in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Oman and Bahrain. Larger companies responded more positively to these mega-events than smaller companies. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt continue to be sweet spots for business operations in the Middle East. Market size and level of political stability are the key factors facilitating business expansion in the region. A key impediment to expansion in the Middle East is fierce competition from domestic players, as business is still highly driven by personal networks and implicit state support in some cases. Beyond the Middle East, executives prefer expansion into Asian markets (particularly India and China) over East Africa. The vast majority of respondents believed that advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and blockchain will have a positive impact on business operations. Building on digital transformations under way in their countries, survey respondents expect to see these implemented across the region in three to five years, and some are already taking steps to prepare for their adoption. Over 55% of respondents have taken five or more steps to prepare for the adoption of advanced technologies. Upskilling employees (71% of respondents) and hiring new talent (66%) were prioritised over investments and redesigning business practices. Region-wide interviews indicate that more needs to be done to accelerate the pace of adoption of advanced technologies. Interviewees attribute the slow adoption to limited understanding among senior management of advanced technologies, although the survey identified high capital investment, cyber-security risks and the skills shortage as greater impediments. Our survey revealed that non-C-suite respondents are more likely to recognise that advanced technologies will increasingly disrupt their business than the C-suite. Financing instruments remain focused on traditional and Islamic bank financing mechanisms, according to 93% of respondents. Alternative funding mechanisms like peer-to-peer, crowdfunding, private equity, private debt and venture capital are largely underdeveloped in the region.
Infographic: Leadership Amid Transformation: Business opportunities and ris...
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Related content
Leadership Amid Transformation: Business opportunities and risks in the Mid...
Operating a business in the Middle East requires executives to navigate an exceptionally challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment while dealing with unique labour and technological considerations on the ground. This often requires managing expectations against reality. The aim of this report is to dispel regional business myths and take an evidence-based approach to assessing business opportunities and risks. We have identified these through a survey of business executives in the Middle East, complemented with in-depth interviews. This report presents these findings, along with strategies businesses are adopting to navigate these unchartered waters.
Key findings include:
The region’s business executives appear not to be swayed by short- and medium-term international and regional geopolitical risk factors. Respondents were more concerned about short-term macroeconomic risks such as oil price volatility (61% of respondents), changes to domestic tax structures (55%) and exchange-rate volatility (52%). Although Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) tensions with Qatar were cited by 47% of respondents, it was only perceived as a lower level risk. The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt will continue over the medium term, as close ties with Iran are unlikely to be radically reformed over the next five years, a major point of contention. Furthermore, as the oil and gas industry in Qatar has largely been unaffected and they have taken steps towards self-sufficiency, the economic pressures of the boycott have been limited. Longer-term geopolitical events such as the ongoing conflicts within Yemen and Syria as well as the US withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal were cited as having no direct impact on their business by a majority of respondents. However, respondents were concerned by the risk posed by civil unrest in the country they are located in (45%). Executives recognise the longer-term shifts in oil demand and supply and the risk of continued reliance on oil for economic growth. They strongly advocated for economic diversification to reduce the region’s exposure to oil price volatility. With the exception of the infrastructure and energy sectors, all other sectors broadly support continued reform with between 40% and 56% of respondents in each sector viewing a slowdown in economic diversification as a risk. Short-term mega-events in the region (Expo 2020 and the World Cup in 2022) are perceived to bring positive spillovers. Respondents believe the economic benefits of Dubai’s hosting of Expo 2020 will be felt beyond the UAE’s borders—the event was cited as an opportunity by more than 60% of respondents in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Oman and Bahrain. Larger companies responded more positively to these mega-events than smaller companies. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt continue to be sweet spots for business operations in the Middle East. Market size and level of political stability are the key factors facilitating business expansion in the region. A key impediment to expansion in the Middle East is fierce competition from domestic players, as business is still highly driven by personal networks and implicit state support in some cases. Beyond the Middle East, executives prefer expansion into Asian markets (particularly India and China) over East Africa. The vast majority of respondents believed that advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and blockchain will have a positive impact on business operations. Building on digital transformations under way in their countries, survey respondents expect to see these implemented across the region in three to five years, and some are already taking steps to prepare for their adoption. Over 55% of respondents have taken five or more steps to prepare for the adoption of advanced technologies. Upskilling employees (71% of respondents) and hiring new talent (66%) were prioritised over investments and redesigning business practices. Region-wide interviews indicate that more needs to be done to accelerate the pace of adoption of advanced technologies. Interviewees attribute the slow adoption to limited understanding among senior management of advanced technologies, although the survey identified high capital investment, cyber-security risks and the skills shortage as greater impediments. Our survey revealed that non-C-suite respondents are more likely to recognise that advanced technologies will increasingly disrupt their business than the C-suite. Financing instruments remain focused on traditional and Islamic bank financing mechanisms, according to 93% of respondents. Alternative funding mechanisms like peer-to-peer, crowdfunding, private equity, private debt and venture capital are largely underdeveloped in the region.
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.
Leadership Amid Transformation: Business opportunities and risks in the Middle East
Leadership Amid Transformation: Business opportunities and risks in the Middle East
Operating a business in the Middle East requires executives to navigate an exceptionally challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment while dealing with unique labour and technological considerations on the ground. This often requires managing expectations against reality. The aim of this report is to dispel regional business myths and take an evidence-based approach to assessing business opportunities and risks. We have identified these through a survey of business executives in the Middle East, complemented with in-depth interviews.
Related content
Steering through collaboration: CFOs driving new priorities for the future
It is well established that the modern CFO has a more strategic role to play in a business, but a clear action plan to achieve this is lacking. A key element of this is helping the business to deal with change. Some changes are planned: launching a new product or service, setting up operations in a new region or acquiring a competitor. Others may be unexpected: a major disruption to supply-chain operations, the emergence of new regulation and legal reporting requirements or the unpredictable impacts of global economic uncertainty.
Either way, when asked about the biggest challenges they face in executing their day-to-day activities, change is a recurring theme, according to a new survey of 800 CFOs and senior finance executives, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top of mind.
Managing unexpected changes to financial forecasts and adapting finance processes to rapidly evolving business models are top challenges finance executives face in executing their day to-day activities.
Finance executives are also concerned with identifying how to align strategic, financial and operational plans towards common objectives and meaningfully analysing data across business units and regions. “All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals,” says Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer. It is incumbent upon CFOs therefore to be prepared not only to help their own function navigate uncharted territory, but the rest of the business too. That means breaking down the silos that commonly exist in organisations, in order to collaborate closely across functions, sharing information and data in the pursuit of common objectives.
All functions are working to meet these challenges and, as a finance head, we have to have visibility across all functions, how they are progressing [towards meeting goals] and ensuring that their direction is in line with overall strategic goals - Lalit Malik, CFO of Dabur, an Indian consumer goods manufacturer.
The clear custodian of collaboration
There are a number of reasons why the role of leading cross-company collaboration around steering should fall to the CFO and their team. First, through the activities of budgeting, the finance function is the custodian of the clear, quantitative expression of management expectations and determines how resources such as cash and people will be allocated in order to achieve them. In our survey, 90% of respondents say that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.
Second, through performance management, the finance function is the gatekeeper for critical data that illustrate how well—or otherwise—the company is rising to the challenge of change. That includes data relating to sales, supply chain and delivery, which need to be reported back to the business in ways that help drive improved decisionmaking. Our survey reveals that companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions are more likely to report a higher financial performance in fiscal year 2016/17 and 2017/18 and anticipate higher growth rates for 2019/20.
Download Complete Executive Summary PDF
Transforming data into action
As businesses generate and manage vast amounts of data, companies have more opportunities to gather data, incorporate insights into business strategy and continuously expand access to data across the organisation. Doing so effectively—leveraging data for strategic objectives—is often easier said than done, however. This report, Transforming data into action: the business outlook for data governance, explores the business contributions of data governance at organisations globally and across industries, the challenges faced in creating useful data governance policies and the opportunities to improve such programmes. Learn more by downloading our whitepaper below.