The CEOs’ comments at the turn of the year show that crises catalyze change and innovation and that sustainability and climate protection are increasingly making it into corporate strategies.
Naturally, the industry determines the point of view. This can be seen in the comments at the turn of the year by the captains (CEOs) of 84 domestic companies, who on December 31. appeared in the press. As in previous years, I subjected these assessments to a content analysis, as they are a sensitive barometer for the economic and social situation. No wonder that insurers, asset managers and lawyers emphasized security above all (10% of the contributions), IT, technology and pharmaceuticals innovation (33%), while housing associations and recycling companies tended to emphasize sustainability (24%) and climate (24%).
The picture appears more differentiated this year than before. While the corona pandemic still dominated 48% of the posts in 2021, it was generally ticked off in 2022. This time, 61% of the CEOs described the difficult conditions of a multiple crisis situation consisting of climate (24%) and war (61%), inflation and energy costs (37%). Nevertheless, there is a lot of optimism (48%), either sufficiently striking to raise the suspicion of “whistling in the woods” or indirectly, in the form of “rolling up your sleeves”; often also in explicit trust in innovation (33%), experience (4%) and internal cohesion (6%). In keeping with the spirit of the times, “resilience” appeared in 8% of the posts, and “ESG criteria” (environment, social, governance) in a further 7%. “Growth” was discussed above all by real estate and pharmaceutical companies (5%).
