Thus, 72% of Romanian CEOs state that the purpose of the companies they lead is to create value for all stakeholders, not just for shareholders, and 79% say that they focus more on long-term profitability rather than short-term gains.
The stakeholders, as defined in the survey, include clients, shareholders, competitors, the local community, the media, NGOs, Government organizations and authorities.
The majority of local CEOs also believe that highly skilled employees prefer to work for organizations that share their values (54%), while 44% of the respondents think the key talents would rather look for employers that offer competitive remuneration packages.
At the same time, 77% of CEOs anticipate that technological breakthroughs, as a global megatrend, will significantly transform the expectations the stakeholders have from organizations.
On the other hand, companies use a wider range of digital technologies as communication and networking tools and also as means to increase the level of stakeholder engagement – 91% of CEOs argue that they are improving the way in which they use technology in order to better understand and satisfy stakeholder requirements.
“Under pressure from technological changes which enhance the speed of information sharing and expose businesses in a direct way to public pressure, companies are at a crossroads that involves changing their business model. Romanian CEOs, similar to their global counterparts, are beginning to focus on creating long-term value. Also, 88% of CEOs believe that having a successful business in the 21 century will mean more than just financial profits. Thus, the present economic system tends to reinstate business ethics at the heart of the organization,” said Ionut Simion, Country Managing Partener, PwC Romania.
Romanian CEOs say that their investors are largely interested in the ethical aspects of their investments (52%), a higher percentage than their global counterparts which believe that both shareholders and investors are more interested in revenues and capital increase (58%).