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Excellence of Execution is Top Concern for CEOs Worldwide

Chief business priorities shift, while regional challenges reveal pain points.

Published on: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Comments (1) Category: Leadership,

Posted by: Robyn Greenspan

The Conference Board’s survey of 769 global chief executive officers revealed that “excellence of execution” was now their top business priority, replacing “sustained and steady top-line growth,” which had the highest ranking last year. These chief two challenges � chosen from a list of 121 � also held high prominence in the regional results.

Top 10 CEO Challenges

Excellence in execution
Sustained and steady top-line growth
Consistent execution of strategy by top management
Profit growth
Finding qualified managerial talent
Customer loyalty/retention
Speed, flexibility, adaptability to change
Corporate reputation
Stimulating innovation/creativity/enabling entrepreneurship
Speed to market

Source: The Conference Board, 2007

The regional differences revealed the individual pain points in Asia, Europe and the United States. “Finding qualified managerial talent” was of the top concern to Asian CEOs, a challenge that was ranked 6th for Europe and the U.S. “Seizing opportunities for expansion/growth in China” was also of great concern, suggesting that Asia was not fully capitalizing on its location and the growing importance of China to the world economy.

The two top challenges for European CEOs mirrored the overall concerns, with “speed, flexibility, adaptability to change” rounding out the top three. Asia and the U.S. ranked this challenge 8th and 10th, respectively. Immediacy maintained its importance to the European CEOs, as they were the only group listing “speed to market” on their top 10.

Ranked at number seven by American CEOs, “top management succession,” reflects the concern about the impending leadership shortage as Baby Boomers retire. The smaller replenishment pool is expected to leave a gap in knowledge, management and productivity, which could hold grave implications for business leadership.

In ExecuNet’s analysis of the business priorities most affecting CEO performance, workforce planning took high priority, grabbing 40 percent of the top 10 concerns.

Top CEO-identified Business Priorities Most Affecting Performance

Growing revenue
Establishing vision and strategy
Managing plans and objectives
Managing and developing the people on my team
Creating more efficiency in my company’s operations
Recruitment of talent
Raising capital
Investing in new technology
Retaining key talent who report to me
Mergers and acquisitions

Source: ExecuNet, 2007

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Reasons for Executive Dissatisfaction, Ranked by Age Group

One age group is more concerned about money than the others.

Published on: Thursday, October 11, 2007 Comments (0) Category: Human Capital, Managing,

Posted by: Robyn Greenspan

ExecuNet’s surveys frequently find compensation fairly low on the list of reasons executives are dissatisfied at work, but age analysis indicates money is of the greatest importance to executives over 61-years-old, and job security only appears on the top five concerns for executives above the age of 51.

Let’s Do Business

Word Bank releases �Doing Business 2008,� ranking the most business-friendly countries in the world:

Published on: Thursday, October 11, 2007 Comments (1) Category: Entrepreneurship, Finance, Global Mobility & Security,

Posted by: Economist.com

Singapore is the most business-friendly country in the world, according to the World Bank’s �Doing Business 2008� report published on Wednesday September 26th. The bank ranks 178 countries using measures including labour-market flexibility, the complexity of trading across borders and access to credit. One indicator of red tape is how long it takes to open a business. In Congo an entrepeneur would have to wait 155 days and spend five times the annual income per head. Countries that simplify regulations see results. Saudi Arabia reduced the time from 39 days to 15, resulting in an 81% increase in new businesses. Egypt, Georgia and Croatia are among the most enthusiastic reformers.