In its latest CEO Pulse, PwC elaborates on the results of a survey of the crisis management views of 164 CEOs from around the world.
Key findings include:
- 65 percent of the CEOs had experienced at least one crisis in the past three years. Over half had gone through two or more during that time and 15 percent had been hit by five or more crises in the last three years.
- More than 30 percent of CEOs predict they will face more than one crisis in the next three years compared with just 16 percent who think they’ll face less. These findings 'suggest that managing crises may well become a new normal for all businesses. It’s no longer a matter of if they’ll hit; rather a matter of when.'
- Rapid, real-time and pervasive communication has substantially increased CEOs concerns over the speed at which a crisis can escalate.
- When asked about the types of crisis they have faced, the majority of CEOs (80 percent) say they have experienced a financial crisis. Just over half say they have been hit by an operational crisis (such as a disruption to their supply chain, a facility failure or a recall of products, etc.) or a human capital one (such as a strike, a failure in succession planning or high staff turnover, etc.).
- 91 percent of CEOs said they are in charge when a crisis hits.
- 65 percent of CEOs feel most vulnerable about their ability to gather information quickly and accurately during a crisis; 57 percent of CEOs feel vulnerable because of an out of date business continuity plan; 55 percent worry about communicating with external stakeholders in a crisis and a similar number have the same concerns when it comes to their own employees. Twenty-six percent feel vulnerable due to a lack of understanding about who should be in control, and 38 percent feel there is a lack of clarity when it comes to the responsibilities of the management team and individual teams taking independent decisions.
