Resilience in the face of adversity

Mazars C-Suite Barometer 2023 reports strong evidence of ‘resilience in the face of adversity’.

We surveyed over 800 business leaders across 27 countries and 86% reported a positive outlook for growth this year.  

Significantly too, this was not at the expense of sustainability and social responsibility. In fact, our research clearly shows increased commitment to integrate both more fully into work practices and corporate goals.

Picking a route through a challenging business landscape  

There’s no denying that the backdrop to 2023 remains one of rapidly changing technology, economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, alongside continued high energy prices. Against this, the reported optimism of global business leaders almost came as a welcome surprise.

It’s clear from their responses that business leaders are squaring up to ongoing change and choosing to view this in a positive light; seeing instead, conditions for genuine opportunity.

To understand this resilience, the context of the last few years is crucial.

The pandemic rocked so many ‘certainties’ that businesses were forced to take a highly pragmatic approach. Inevitably, those who sought and found creative or innovative solutions for unprecedented times, were the ones who prospered. 

Our survey results indicate that this learned resilience is still exerting a positive influence and is actually helping businesses navigate a landscape where technology is also advancing at an unprecedented pace.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for example, is not just something businesses need to consider. It’s here and affecting operational life in ways which were unforeseen as little as a year ago.  

Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues have also moved higher up the agenda, with novel climate events challenging supply chains, and increased customer awareness necessitating ever-new ways of working.

In addition, worldwide ESG regulation now comes with an increasingly sharp bite; designed not only to alter business practices in a changing world, but to minimize opportunities for tokenism or ‘greenwashing’.  

Scarcity of talent and changing workforce expectations also pose immediate challenges on an international scale. The need to attract, recruit and train people to support emerging technologies risks slowing progress and pushing up costs.

Then the global economy throws energy security and price uncertainty into the mix, and the whole process of decision-making starts to feel like a leap into the unknown.  

Business leaders could be forgiven for feeling exhausted by this point, however, the best news is that, according to our annual C-Suite Barometer, business leaders worldwide seem up for the challenge. Find out more in the executive summary.

In 2023, it seems there is simply no escaping the imperative for organisations and economies to remain positive, agile and responsive to change as a constant.

What’s high on the agenda for 2023?

Almost a third of business leaders surveyed globally identified transforming their company IT / technology as their top strategic priority over the next 3-5 years, with 93% feeling confident about the prospect.  

Almost two thirds of those surveyed said they are planning to increase investment in sustainability initiatives – up 20 points from our 2020 survey. 

A quarter of all business leaders identified a new or revised talent strategy as a strategic priority and identified the lack of a suitably skilled workforce as a potential barrier to growth. 

Our survey was taken at the end of 2022 – a time when the challenges of 2023 were already apparent.  The year has produced surprises – most of us did not see the rapid adoption of generative AI, or anticipate the banking issues arising in the US.  We believe that the sentiments of the C-suite survey capture the views of an experienced generation of leaders who have managed significant challenges in recent years, and are realistically assessing how they will manage ongoing volatility and change.

Find out what business leaders worldwide say should be priorities for the year ahead in the full report.

Mazars C-Suite Barometer 2023