Business leaders expect their companies will be affected in some way by the new president, but they're unsure how.
A recent survey of 246 "executive leaders" at 54 large U.S.-based businesses by ExecOnline finds 78 percent believe their companies will make some type of change as a result of the new leadership in Washington.
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Thirty-nine percent say Trump in the Oval Office means they will likely change their financial projections, while 30 percent expect their organizational strategy to shift, 30 percent anticipate changes in capital investments, 27 percent expect an impact on mergers and acquisitions, and 27 percent predict an impact on external partnerships.
Only 22 percent of the business leaders say they don't expect any change in business decisions as a result of the election.
Unfortunately, the executives polled are not optimistic about how workers will respond to the changes they believe are necessary. Eighty-three percent say they detect resistance to changes among their employees and just under half believe their organizations are succeeding in getting employees to buy-in to changes.
"Employees and key stakeholders will be crucial to any businesses success moving forward, as our survey found that the risk of employee division and conflict scored as a much bigger concern for top business leaders than geo-political conflict," says Stephen Bailey, CEO of ExecOnline.
While the first weeks following Trump's election led to a surge in optimism in corporate America related to the incoming president's promise to lower taxes, cut regulations and pour money into infrastructure, his threats of massive tariffs on imports and his public feuds with companies for moving operations overseas has led to uncertainty about what the next four (or eight) years will mean for U.S. business.
In addition, some economic analysts have poured cold water on Trump's promise of record growth, arguing the underlying trends, including an already-low unemployment rate and an aging population, will make an economic boom hard to come by.
The survey appears to reflect that uncertainty about the new president, as 72 percent of respondents say "planning for scenarios" has become more important since the election. Similarly, 69 percent say a leadership focused on adapting to a new tax and regulatory environment has become more significant.
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