PwC does an annual survey of CEOs. Here are some interesting quotes from their 16th edition, released earlier this year:
One key point of our strategic advantage is the capability to ‘orchestrate’ the production and engineering value chain we create in partnership with other companies. That gives us the ability to scale up or scale down quickly and efficiently. We try to ensure our organisational structure is sufficiently fluid so that we can respond quickly to changes in demand.
Pertti Korhonen, President and CEO, Outotec Oyj, Finland
Our innovation comes from globally collaborative efforts and a lot of encouragement from within. It is also about empowerment, decentralisation and encouragement to come up with new ideas for R&D programmes and product development.
A.M. Naik, Executive Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Limited, India
I prefer a management style based on openness and cooperation at every level; one that does not necessarily obey or respect hierarchy at all times. I believe in leadership that can stay flexible.
Sándor Csányi, Chairman and CEO, OTP Bank Plc., Hungary
To be honest, we wouldn’t dare to predict the future. The fact is the world has been changing a lot more quickly in recent years. And looking back, we find that many forecasts of the global economy turned out to be incorrect. In our company, we just try to do well everything we need to do today. There are so many things out of our control that we feel it’s unnecessary and impractical to make too many predictions about the economy. Instead, we focus on building robust systems that can operate under a variety of conditions.
Alex C. Lo, President, Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, Taiwan
The number one thing that will make people more at ease is transparency. Being a public company, the preservation of transparency is an inherent obligation for us. We keep in touch with our customers in order to understand their needs. Everything is interconnected.
Dr. John Coustas, President and CEO, Danaos Corporation, Greece
…since we’re running scale businesses at a distance, every person leading each of those businesses is invested with trust from the centre. The leaders of our businesses have the authority to make decisions about the business they run. …So part of becoming agile is creating a culture that invests its people with trust. …our approach is to create a culture that empowers people and – within the context of a set of shared values – provides them with the freedom to take action. That gives you tremendous strength, flexibility, and agility.
Carl Sheldon, CEO, TAQA, United Arab Emirates
Hmmm. Seems I’m not the only one thinking and talking about agility, decentralization, and transparency. The culture assessment that Maddie and I developed will allow you to see how your organization scores on issues like trust, transparency, decentralization, and ownership. Check it out.