Millennials see the rapid rate of tech and digital advancement to be the biggest challenge facing them as future business leaders —ahead of political, economic and environmental concerns—a global study of International Management graduates has revealed. Respondents also clearly saw the innovative and positive mastery of technology as a key business driver and the mark of a successful business leader. Almost a quarter (24%) considered Tesla/SpaceX Founder Elon Musk as the world’s most effective business leader, followed by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson (10%).
The study examined the views of hundreds of recent International Management graduates who are likely to be business leaders of the future. The majority were aged between 24-27 years of age, from 32 countries, with 78% now employed by multinational companies.
Getting an edge with tech
The rapid rate of tech and digital advancement came out as the biggest perceived challenge facing 21st century global business leaders (68%), followed by shifts in world economic and political powers (60%) and environmental challenges such as global warming and energy consumption (59%). Changes in technology and new markets have the power to create completely new business and operating models (potentially improving the value proposition to the customer and/or reducing costs of the offering drastically), meaning leaders will have to work even harder to keep up with competitors.
Digital enhancement is at the core of any business model. If everybody agrees that the digital revolution is changing the way we are doing business, very few leaders today understand fully the scale of this change. Leaders need to react quickly and constantly reinvent themselves as they often work far too slowly, with a piecemeal approach, losing ground to competitors and doing far too little too late. Graduates regard the most effective business leaders in the world to be technology innovators such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson—figures who are successful because they are able to harness rapid technological change and use it for social good, rather than seeing it as a hurdle. The Consumer and Retail industry will change more over the next 20 years than over the last 200 years. It’s an exciting time. It is at times like these that we will recognise the true leaders and innovators.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
