NAMIBIA – Audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers’ has launched its annual Global CEO survey entitled ‘Government and the Global CEO: Redefining success in a changing world’.

The survey assesses the critical changing relationship between government, business and society and is based on extensive research to capture the issues at the top of the agenda for the world’s business community.

PwC interviewed a number of senior decision makers in governmental organisations around the world with the aim to compare and contrast the views of business and government, understand the policy and delivery responses for the challenging conditions of today and tomorrow, and contribute to greater understanding and stronger relationships between the public and private sectors.

The survey looks at how organisations are responding to the changing expectations that societies have of the business sector.

Organisations in this era have to adapt by constantly reshaping the way they define success; redefining their corporate purpose, including the broader impact they have on society; and measuring and reporting on their wider business impacts.

State-owned enterprises are an influential force globally and in this year’s survey, 12% of the CEOs interviewed lead organisations with some form of state backing. Looking at business priorities for government, CEOs listed a number of things they would like to see.

Fifty six percent of those surveyed indicated that a clearly understood, stable and effective tax system is at the top of their lists for government attention followed by a skilled, educated and adaptable workforce (53%), and then by adequate physical and digital infrastructure (50%).

The survey identified areas that need attention in the public sector, indicating that organisations need to redefine purpose and restore public finances, strategically manage their costs in the face of budgetary pressure and ever increasing demands on public services, build the digital capability of public sector organisations as well as the agility and resilience to cope with future changes, actively own and manage state-backed organisations, build the foundations for growth and learn to measure success in new ways.

Seventy six percent of the CEOs surveyed agreed that in the future, business success will be defined by more than just financial profit; and many agree that they should be doing more to measure and communicate their impact on wider stakeholders.

According to PwC Namibia’s country senior partner, Nangula Uaandja, ‘the challenges that both private and state-owned organisations face globally are similar to those encountered in Namibia as evidenced by the three Namibian respondents who took part in this year’s survey.’

February 15, 16; http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?page=read&id=37157