Asia-pacific ceos quick to adopt practice

Asia-Pacific chief executive officers are investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a faster rate than their global peers, seeing it as a key component of their business strategy, according to the latest global study conducted by IBM.

"Interestingly, one of the study's key findings is that regional CEOs are increasing their CSR investment faster than their counterparts in any other regions - a 42-per-cent increase, compared with a global average of 25 per cent," said Norman Scott, IBM's client and market-development leader for Asean.

The IBM 2008 Global Study is the largest face-to-face research of chief executives ever conducted, covering 1,130 CEOs from 40 countries across 32 industries. Conducted at the end of 2007 and the beginning of this year, it included 400 CEOs from across the Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan.

Titled "Enterprise of the Future", the study shows the enterprise of the future is one that is hungry for change, innovative beyond customer imagination, globally integrated, disruptive by nature - and genuine, not just generous.

From the findings, regional CEOs said they would invest 12.6 per cent of their overall investment in CSR in the next three years, up from 8.9 per cent over the past three years. Their global peers said they would put 13.4 per cent of their investment into CSR in the next three years, up 25 per cent from the level over the past three years.

Scott said the regional CEOs confirmed they were embarking on bold changes in their business designs and models to seize the opportunity of the new environment. This includes increasing their investment in CSR.

"Asia-Pacific CEOs have embraced the importance of becoming genuine, not just generous," said Scott, adding that more than 80 per cent of Asia-Pacific CEOs believed customers' higher CSR expectations would make a positive impact on their business, compared with 69 per cent of CEOs globally.

About 84 per cent of Asia-Pacific CEOs expect to have to deliver substantial change in their organisations in the next two years in response to the market and customer trends. The regional CEOs were found to be more confident about their ability to drive change in their organisations than their global peers.

However, Scott said the findings showed that the "change gap" - the disparity between expected change and success in managing change - in the Asia-Pacific had tripled from 6 per cent in 2006 to 18 per cent now.

Regional CEOs were even more positive about the impact of rising prosperity in emerging economies. This positive outlook was expressed by 82 per cent, compared to 67 per cent globally.

Asia-Pacific CEOs are investing significantly in responding to the requirements of newly prosperous customers, especially in China where more than 30 per cent of investments are allocated.

Regional CEOs are much more likely to enter new markets and grow through mergers and acquisitions than global CEOs, the survey found.

The respondents came from the following business categories: industrial, with 23 per cent; distribution (22 per cent); public (22 per cent); financial services (17 per cent); communications (10 per cent); and others (6 per cent).