16th Annual CEO Survey

India cut

India is witnessing multiple changes in economic structures and business environments. As Indian firms adapt to these changes, CEOs in the country are feeling optimistic about prospects for the global economy. In India, 38% of the CEOs think that the global economy will improve in the next 12 months, as opposed to 24% in 2012.

Bharti Gupta Ramola on the 16th Annual CEO Survey: A view from India

Key findings

Concerns of Indian CEOs

Like their global counterparts, Indian CEOs are concerned about increasing tax burden, availability of key skills and cost of energy and raw material. While these are the top three threats to growth for global CEOs, some concerns like shortage of infrastructure, protectionist tendencies of national governments, bribery and corruption and exchange rate volatility are very specific to the Indian CEOs.

Strategies in changing times

This year’s survey shows that Indian CEOs are negotiating the challenges and creating value through the following pathways:

Targeting pockets of opportunities
Concentrating on the customer
Improving operational effectiveness

Increasing engagement with the society

Beyond the three-pronged strategy, CEOs in India are also strengthening ties between businesses and society. A majority of CEOs interviewed in India have started to deepening their engagement with local communities, the media, users of social media and non-governmental organisations. Their attention to reducing environmental footprint is almost at par with the global CEOs. More than half of the CEOs interviewed in India are also encouraging a framework to support a culture of ethical behaviour.

Interview quotes from CEOs

"The current situation is very, very tough and we cannot simply depend on the growth in India. As a result we have launched a number of initiatives: we are building up our team; we are recruiting new people; and we are building the international organisation"

AM Naik Executive Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Limited

"I think that emerging markets will continue to see much higher rates of growth, particularly India where we expect the three year average to be between 7% and 8%. So even though growth this year could be 5.5%, we think it’s going to climb back up."

Shikha Sharma Managing Director and CEO, Axis Bank Limited

"It’s hard to see the global economy doing anything other than going sideways in the next 12 months or so. Over the next three years, if one is optimistic and we avoid some sort of major financial event, maybe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel."

Alex Arena Group Managing Director of HKT Ltd.

"During the past, we saw significant growth in Europe, but that growth was largely fuelled by debt. Now, in order to move from growth that is fuelled by debt, to growth that is fuelled by investment and productivity, we need to change labour relations. We’re very much in need of deep structural changes."

Dr. John Coustas President and Chief Executive Officer of Danaos Corporation

"It’s more useful to view things over the long-term; tough economic times will eventually be followed by a period of growth. My own view is that Asia and Africa are going to be key drivers of future global growth."

Yasuchika Hasegawa President and Chief Executive Officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

"No one has a crystal ball, so we think in scenarios and not in certainties."

Yves Serra President and Chief Executive Officer of Georg Fischer Ltd.

"Recession has adversely affected the national economies of certain countries but, all in all, I would assess the current condition of the global economy as stable rather than regressive or fraught with catastrophe."