Chief Executive Boards Blog: McKinsey's Dom Barton on Four Things That Worry Business

Monday, November 24, 2014

McKinsey's Dom Barton on Four Things That Worry Business

As global managing director of McKinsey, Dominic Barton talks regularly with the CEOs of the world’s largest companies and leaders of nations worldwide—they’re clients of the elite management consulting firm, which serves some 90% of the

Fortune 100 as well as nonprofits and governments. Barton thus gets an unparalleled inside view of what global leaders are doing—and how the world’s business climate is changing. Barton, 52, talked recently about the trends of most concern to leaders now, how infotech is forever changing their jobs, and much else.

What are your clients’ worries right now?
They’re pretty consistent around the world. The big one now is:

Geopolitics: Whether you’re in Russia, China, anywhere, the assumed stability that was there for the past 20 or so years—it’s not there.
Technology: Which is moving two to three times faster than management. Most CEOs I talk to are excited and paranoid at the same time.
Cybersecurity: The amount of time and effort to protect systems and look at vulnerabilities is big.
The shift in economic power: With 2.2 billion new middle-class consumers in the next 15 years, and it’s moving to Asia and Africa. Do you have the right type of people in your top 100? Are you in those markets? Those are the four big ones we see everywhere.