Trust and tenure in tense times

Against a backdrop of high hopes for globalisation, CEO optimism is more tempered when it comes to home soils, specifically, the reform agenda in the Middle East. From this, stems a pressure to follow procedure and put in place corporate governance systems. Concurrently, lower oil prices have placed a strain on governments and businesses, resulting in the need to diversify income and drive cost efficiency. Given above, it’s not surprising that 71% of regional CEOs said there is ‘increasing pressure for your organisation to deliver business results under shorter timelines’, compared to 60% of CEOs globally. And 67% of regional CEOS said there is ‘increasing pressure to hold individual leaders accountable for any organisational misconduct’, compared to 59% per cent globally.

The desire to build a strong and transparent workforce is also evident in the results. 81% of CEOs said they are working to create transparency in their organisation’s values, compared to 73% globally. Regional CEOs are also working towards transparency around ‘employee contributions to the overall business results’, with 77% saying this was a focus compared to 61% globally. These results reflect the regional agenda around transparency and the desire to attract foreign investment.

The issue of transparency is also a factor in regional customer strategies. 58% of Middle East CEOs said they are creating transparency around their organisation’s business strategy for a customer audience. There was also another nod to cyber security concerns as 62% of regional CEOs said they would be investing more heavily in customer cyber protections measures, compared to just 50% globally.

79% of our CEOs are conscious that changes in customer behaviours will be a disruption to their business over the next five years compared to 68% globally