There's now evidence that the world's biggest firms are shaping strategy from news and social media

Global executives are increasingly using public sentiment to form new business strategies. Photo: Reuters
Global executives are increasingly using public sentiment to form new business strategies. Photo: Reuters

With the internet creating a 24-hour news cycle and birthing the ability for everyone to have a voice on social media, it’s now hard for companies to ignore what the public really want. That can be anything from better customer service, to activists pushing for social change across a numbers of areas.

According to a Deloitte Global’s latest inclusive growth survey, first seen by Yahoo Finance UK, over two-thirds of global executives said “external factors like public sentiment and media coverage are either encouraging them to re-evaluate current strategies and take new action or add momentum to existing efforts.”

The report surveyed 350 senior executives globally across a range of sectors. They include C-Suite executives or board members who work at companies that have a minimum of $500m in annual revenue—43% of respondents work at groups that make $5bn or more in sales each year.

David Cruickshank, global chairman of Deloitte Global, told Yahoo Finance UK that one of the most surprising takeaways from the report was how the #MeToo movement had an impact in the Asia-Pacific region. “It just shows the scope and scale of the recognition that public sentiment moves the needle on business strategy,” he said.

Charts: Deloitte Global
Charts: Deloitte Global

The survey showed that 67% of executives noted the #MeToo movement as having the greatest influence on inclusive growth initiatives. The chart below shows that business leaders in the APAC region were increasingly motivated by the #MeToo movement.

Chart: Deloitte Global
Chart: Deloitte Global

Inclusive growth initiatives are companies putting processes in place to make sure the workplace is diverse, inclusive, as well as actively contributing to programmes that tackle areas of concern, such as climate change.

Cruickshank said that businesses and their leaders have radically changed over the last few decades and “when I think back to the 1980s and guessed what the percentage would’ve been if asked whether inclusive growth programmes are built into business priorities, the answer would’ve been less than 10%.”

But according to the study, 81% of executives surveyed noted that inclusive growth programmes are built into business priorities.

“This change in business and inclusive growth initiatives does require a different style of leadership as well. Leaders need to listen carefully and have a wide lens when talking to staff and also their communities,” said Cruickshank.

Inclusive growth initiatives aren’t just important for the greater good—there’s a major business case for them as well. The survey showed that 93% of companies saw business returns and 97% saw social returns. On top of that, business leaders said there was also an improvement in employee engagement and retention as well as increased attraction of talent.

“More and more companies are starting to understand that the new generation of workers will walk if they don’t work for a company that is purpose-led and have positive impact on society and the environment,” said Cruickshank.