CEOS ARE PRIMING FOR A RETURN TO GROWTH, SAYS NEW SURVEY BY THE CONFERENCE BOARD

CEOs appear to be emerging from recession mode and priming for a return to growth, according to results of The Conference Board CEO Challenge 2010 Survey, which were reported today.
New York, Feb. 25, 2010…CEOs appear to be emerging from recession mode
and priming for a return to growth, according to results of The Conference
Board CEO Challenge 2010 Survey, which were reported today.

"Both the year-on-year movement and rank order of challenges suggest that
CEOs' focus has moved from crisis reaction to preparations for recovery," said
Jonathan Spector, CEO of The Conference Board. "Clearly, CEOs in the United
States in particular are returning their focus to the road to growth. We're
seeing a similar trend in the overall business questions we capture from our
members."

Each year, The Conference Board CEO Challenge Survey asks hundreds of
senior executives to identify and rate their most pressing concerns and
publishes the results in the CEO Challenge Top 10 report.

Production of the 2008 report was stopped and the survey refielded in late
2008 in response to the exploding global financial crisis. Nearly 200 CEOs,
chairmen, and company presidents updated their responses, offering a
unique "pre" and "post" insight: with no control over a turbulent global
economy, CEOs retrained their sights onto "bread and butter" survival issues,
while longer-term challenges, especially in talent management, were de-
emphasized.

"In that late 2008 survey, worries about global economic performance,
business confidence, geofinancial instability, and integrity of capital markets
leapt up into CEOs' Top 10, and each has now dropped at least 10 places,"
said Linda Barrington, managing director of human capital at The Conference
Board and one of the report's authors. "This year, all the challenges that
jumped into the Top 10 in the crisis have now jumped back out."

The critical issues of excellence in execution and consistent execution of
strategy by top management have consistently remained at the top of the
list. But in the latest survey (which was fielded October-December 2009),
such growth-oriented challenges as sustained and steady top-line growth,
customer loyalty/retention, and profit growth received higher ratings
as "greatest concerns." Also moving up were corporate reputation for quality
products/services, and stimulating innovation/creativity/enabling
entrepreneurship.

"CEOs' focus on these challenges suggests that recession-weary customers
need to be wooed with significant new value to win back their business,"
Barrington added.

The challenge of government regulation also made significant leaps in the
United States (from 19th place to 6th) and in Europe (from 28th place to
6th), particularly in the financial services industry.

"U.S. and European CEOs are bracing for the potential regulatory aftermath of
the near collapse of the global financial system and the associated
recession," Spector said.


Research Report:
The CEO Challenge 2010, Top 10 Challenges
The Conference Board
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