Arthur D. Little (ADL) recently released its 2023 CEO Insights Study, highlighting that the leaders of the world's biggest companies are confident despite the current turmoil. Sixty-three percent expect a stable or positive economic outlook over the next three to five years.
Despite the downturn, CEOs are focused on growth – half say they will enter new geographies, and 30% expect to grow faster than the wider market. Even cautious CEOs expect to increase growth investments, with 40% spending more and 55% keeping expenditure constant. At the same time, leading CEOs are becoming truly ambidextrous, combining this innovation with a laser focus on cost optimization.
CEO confidence in the future can be attributed to the lessons learned from the pandemic, which forced many businesses to transform their operations. Ninety-one percent of CEOs understand that developing fit-for-purpose capabilities that drive optimization and efficiency, as well as innovation and growth, are now mission-critical. This is likely to lead to a different capability mix enabling companies to unleash their full potential moving forward.
