The Growth Challenge

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Businesses are growing. So say hundreds of CEOs from our community of leaders who participated in our seventh annual NYSE Euronext CEO Report. In addition to CEOs of NYSE Euronext companies, this year’s survey for the first time polls more than 100 CEOs from “emerging companies” (up-and-coming firms, most backed by private equity or venture capital) who are stimulating change in business and society. We also surveyed aspiring corporate leaders — some 200 MBA students and recent MBA grads. Together, they comment on the pressing topics of the economy and growth, the workforce and job creation, innovation, social media, and brand and reputation management.

The groups agree on their concerns regarding protectionism and trade issues, as well as financial and political stability. Regulation and taxes draw their fire, and many worry about our global education systems. Yet their perspectives diverge when it comes to doing business in the future, particularly on the topics of social media and innovation.

The bottom-line finding is this: Our three generations of leaders and aspiring leaders are getting to growth and overcoming economic setbacks while maneuvering around the global political and regulatory obstacles.

Growth Traps

David Johnson, CEO of seven-year-old Achates Power Inc., expects that a world looking to conserve energy will embrace his San Diego-based company’s efficient engine design. But he admits that “economic uncertainty may cause our customers and prospects to be more cautious, to preserve their capital and to move slower. This, in turn, would make it more difficult for us to secure new business and cause us to adjust our growth plans.”

Johnson is hardly alone in his concern about the future. Even as most companies prepare for growth, CEOs express worry over not just the economy but also protectionism and trade restrictions, financial and political instability, regulation and taxes. In fact, six out of 10 listed-company CEOs who participated in the 2011 NYSE Euronext CEO Report expect the U.S. to have an unfavorable corporate tax environment during the next three years.

Current and future business leaders also fret about how well educational systems are preparing the next generation of workers, especially in the U.S.: Nearly twice as many CEOs based in the U.S. as those headquartered elsewhere view their country’s education system as fair or poor. MBA students offer solutions. “The global landscape has changed quickly, yet schools still focus on standardized testing and a curriculum that does not keep up with the times,” says Sean Donnelly, a Fordham University MBA student with a concentration in international finance.

Vlad Karas, who is studying innovation and technology management at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, hopes schools will do more to stimulate creativity: “Kids should not be afraid to take chances and play with new ideas, new concepts and creative thinking — this is what will drive innovation for the next generation.”