Confidence of CEOs in India over global economy falls this year: KPMG

The confidence of CEOs in India over the prospects of global economy fell significantly to 53 per cent in 2019, as against 89 per cent in the previous year, according to a KPMG report.

Consultancy firm KPMG India's fifth annual CEO outlook report is based on the views received from 125 CEOs in the country, on their highest priority, opportunities and challenges.

The CEOs in India have to understand and cope with an increasingly unpredictable and fast-changing array of risks, as per the report.

They have identified climate change (23 per cent), return to territorialism (17 per cent) and emerging/disruptive technology risk (17 per cent) as the top three threats to their organisation's growth for a second year in a row, it added.

Globally these numbers stood at - climate change (21 per cent), return to territorialism (16 per cent) and emerging/disruptive technology risk (19 per cent), according to the report.

Moreover, 73 per cent CEOs in India, compared to 71 per cent CEOs globally, agree that the growth of the organisation relies on the company's ability to challenge and disrupt existing business models.

In this regards, mergers & acquisitions will play a key role in enabling organisations to respond to disruption with agility and spur business model innovation, the report noted.

Companies are also focusing on internalising a culture of innovation, with 80 per cent CEOs in India wanting their employees to feel empowered to innovate without worrying about the negative consequences.

However, these CEOs are yet to instil such a culture in the companies. Only 46 per cent believe that their organisation does have a culture in which 'fast-failing' unsuccessful innovation initiatives are not perceived in a negative manner, the report highlighted.

Besides, it revealed that two-thirds of CEOs in India believe agility is the new currency of business. This is in line with the views expressed by CEOs globally. They realise that if they fail to adapt to a constantly changing world, their business will become irrelevant.

"A successful CEO now needs to be an agile CEO," said Arun M Kumar, Chairman and CEO, KPMG in India.