Davos attendees told that companies across the globe are unprepared for crises
Companies remain unprepared for events that can affect revenue, valuation and reputation, according to a new survey released today by FTI Consulting, Inc. at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The FTI Consulting Resilience Barometer 2020, a survey of more than 2,200 executives from private and publicly traded companies across all G-20 countries, measured the preparedness of companies against 18 regulatory, operational, cultural, leadership and technological threats. The survey found the average resilience score rose from 40 out of 100 in 2019 to 43 out of 100 in 2020. Survey respondents also revealed that 64% of them experienced financial crimes over the past year.
Here’s a surprising result: Five of the countries with the top 10 resilience scores (led by India, with a score of 60) were from emerging markets, while the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France and Japan all saw scores decrease year over year, according to FTI.
“Companies across the G-20 face more complex risks from technology transformation, geopolitical tensions and the polarization of the political landscape,” said Kevin Hewitt, Chairman of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) region at FTI Consulting. “The 2020 elections in the United States, the looming UK exit from the EU, cyber-attacks and increasing regulatory actions are just a few examples of challenges we see companies grappling with each day. It is not a matter of if a company will face an inflection point or crisis, but when it will happen — meaning the senior executives and businesses that are most prepared are likely to remain the most resilient, competitive and viable.”
Cybersecurity remains a top concern for most companies, according to the survey. Despite cyber-attacks being identified as having the most negative impact on revenue, less than half of all executives surveyed say that they are managing cyber-attacks proactively. Companies reported that their largest gaps were in employee awareness, security culture and training (28%), followed by threat monitoring and detection and IT patching and technology stress testing (25%).
