Major FT interview with Alan Middleton surveys issues for CEOs in 2010
Alan Middleton has been interviewed for the Financial Times in 'View from the top' – the paper's prestigious series of video interviews in which CEOs from leading global organisations give their views on the major business issues. In addition to this video interview, Alan is also quoted in two news items in the paper, giving his views on the outlook for 2010.
In 'View from the top' Alan comments on the issues facing CEOs as we enter the new year, the shape of the future economy, the opportunities ahead in smart cities and smart infrastructure and, with a UK election imminent, what impact this is likely to have on the consulting industry.
Commenting on the main challenges ahead for CEOs, Alan led with PA's views on the 'zombie economy':
"What we've been talking about is an economy characterised by zombies. By zombie, I mean entities or organisations that have existed before but that operate in different ways now [like the living dead].
"I think one thing is to make sure you're not a zombie yourself. You have to worry very much about liquidity. The second thing is make sure you're not just applying 'business as usual'. I think it is a real challenge for CEOs to recognise it's a different environment, to look at their business and understand how to respond to the new needs. You shouldn't let a good crisis go to waste."
Moving on to the strategies for a low-growth environment Alan says: "What we've seen many of our clients doing is looking at new business models and not simply looking at the cost cutting that we've seen so aggressively over the past 12-18 months. There are huge opportunities afforded by green technology and the like. Merger and acquisition is back on the cards too."
Alan added: "We're very interested in smart cities and the entire smart infrastructure that can be deployed in the world right now. This does not need a big shift in capability."
You can read a summary of Alan's interview here on the FT's website, and view the full 12-minute video version of the interview here.
