12th Annual Global CEO Survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers: An Opportunity for Information Professionals

I happened to be browsing the PWC website and noticed that they have released their 12th Annual Global CEO Survey. This makes for some interesting reading (have a look at the full 44 page report). There is plenty of interest here, ranging from general economic impressions to opinions on working with government to an interesting stress on the need for greater collaboration. On a related note, I like how the report is presented and I appreciate that the company decided to make it publicly available.

For people in my field, there is a particularly important section on pages 26-27:

As companies collaborate more with more stakeholders, they are able to gather more information, for example, about the risks their supply chain partners face. But CEOs still see major gaps in the information they need to survive the next 12 months and make decisions about the long-term success of their businesses. CEOs believe that agility, customer service, talent, management and reputation are the four most important factors in long-term competitive advantage.

Not surprisingly, most also believe that data about their customers (94%), brand (91%) and employees (88%) are important or critical to long-term decision-making. However, strikingly low percentages of CEOs say they have comprehensive information in these and other critical areas that contribute to organisational agility. Just 21% have comprehensive information about the needs and preferences of customers and clients. Less than one third feel they have all the information they need about reputation (31%) and the views and needs of employees (30%).

CEOs do not just want more data. They want different kinds of information than the historical financial metrics they already have in abundance. More specifically, they want forward-looking information, which includes non-financial data. For example, the widest gap, 74 points, concerns the information necessary to anticipate customer needs. The second largest gap, is 70 points, between the importance and availability of risk information (see figure 3.2.2).

In order to make effective decisions in today’s extreme operating conditions, CEOs are trying to see over a horizon that is approaching at high speed. To meet this challenge, companies need to collaborate more effectively, build relationships that can provide access to better information and use this intelligence to create the critical balance

I added emphasis to a particularly important point in the third paragraph – financial data (internally at the very least) will already be collected and analyzed by accountants. What about other kinds of data? That is something where we can add value. When decision making happens without good information and evidence, all you’re left with luck and hope that things will turn out right. The unexplored territory in this territory is the public sector. Do university presidents have the right information they need to lead through the recession? What about deputy ministers? What about hospital CEOs? Or mayors? I would suspect that they are in a similar situation of acting with poor or inadequate knowledge – though I am more happy to be corrected on that point.

Finally, I think the firm launched the survey in a great way. Not only do you have access to the full report and the executive summary,there is also a breakdown of results by industry and a great Web 2.0 feature called Explore the Data. I appreciate when this sort of information is made available in multiple forms and to this level of depth.

Related posts:

1. Global advances in electronic medical records: India, UK and US