Expanding markets prove to be the key management challenge

In a study of the concerns facing senior business executives, IBM has found that globalisation - or at least 'Europeanisation' - is their prime focus.

The challenge presented by expanding markets is said to be the main issue keeping company leaders awake at night. This is followed by a concern with meeting cost pressures and increasing profitability, in turn followed by concerns about growing competition.

Strategies for dealing with these concerns increasingly involve concentrating on core business skills, with the goal of protecting brand value. Outsourcing of non-core functions and services is often the next step, though this was cited as the preferred course considerably more often by UK executives than by their continental counterparts.

The majority of all those surveyed, however, expect the use of outside specialists to increase in the future.

IBM's Brian Sellwood comments: "Externally sourced expertise is moving up the scale of importance, joining more traditional strategies such as mergers and acquisitions as a principal means by which organisations are addressing the business challenges and opportunities they face."

Director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre Marcus Alexander added: "We are convinced that managing the boundaries of the organisation will be one of the central strategic issues for the next decade."

Elliott Chase