Optimistic business leaders want more regulation and ethics

Mazars’ latest C-suite barometer reveals that executive managers are optimistic this year, which they consider a year of transformation. However, according to the study by the international auditing, taxation and consultancy company, business leaders want greater regulation and ethical guidelines.

According to Mazars’ annual analysis, which brings together the opinion of around 800 executives from 30 countries, optimism is at a record level: 89% of leaders increased revenue compared to the previous year and 94% have a positive outlook for the future. expected growth in 2024, eight percentage points above last year.

“The high levels of optimism and renewed confidence among our respondents are an indicator of how companies can progress this year”, argues Mark Kennedy, partner and member of the Executive Board of the Mazars Group.

“In what could be a year of recovery for companies, there will still be difficult decisions to make, but we can see growing awareness and confidence in the priority areas that guarantee sustainable economic growth in the global economy”, adds Mark Kennedy, quoted in a statement.

According to the study, economic factors, including inflation and high cost of living (37%), and energy prices (33%) are the main external trends that will affect companies this year. The emergence of new technologies (33%) is expected to have a significant impact, but “companies are confident that they are prepared”.

The barometer also reveals that on average across all business activities, the percentage of companies that increased investment rose to 66% (3% more than last year) and 44% are “very confident” that they can manage external trends (6 % above 2023).

The Mazars survey also points out that the main strategic priority defined by business leaders is “transformation through Information Technologies (IT) or emerging technologies”. Here, three-quarters of respondents who say they already use generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their organization say they “have ethical concerns and 95% say more regulatory guidance is needed”.

The biggest strategic priority for the next 3-5 years (35%) is technological transformation, but another point to highlight in the C-suite barometer: Outlook 2024 is the increasing importance of international expansion, moving from fifth to second place, pair of new or revised sustainability and talent strategies.

The main destinations for international expansion are China, Germany and the USA, with France and the United Kingdom growing at a good pace. Canada, along with Brazil, is also among the destinations to which companies intend to expand in 2024. 53% of leaders also predict that organic growth will be an important driver of expansion in 2024.

Leaders also demonstrate a greater commitment to sustainability, with an increasing number of organizations reporting their impact and budgeting specific costs for ESG reporting. According to the barometer, almost three quarters (71%) of organizations produce a sustainability report, with more and more organizations considering taking this aspect into account in budget planning (72%). These are the highest values ​​recorded to date in Mazars’ annual study.