Protiviti Looks to the Future with Launch of New Thought Leadership Series Exploring Big Ideas Impacting Businesses: ‘VISION by Protiviti’

Compelling series kicks off with expert insights about the future of cities, featuring results of Protiviti-Oxford University survey of global business executives

MENLO PARK, Calif. and LONDON, UK, November 16, 2021 – Global consulting firm Protiviti has launched VISION by Protiviti, a provocative thought leadership series that puts megatrends under the microscope to provide strategic insights for C-suite executives and board members. The first installment focuses on the future of cities, highlighting points of view from more than 50 luminaries, futurists, executives, urban planners, politicians, professors and other big thinkers, including world-renowned theoretical physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku.

Content is available in a variety of formats, including articles, podcasts, video interviews, roundtables and special events. Subscribe to VISION by Protiviti for free here.

Cory Gunderson, executive vice president of Global Solutions, Protiviti, commented, “The VISION by Protiviti series is unique in that it combines our own deep expertise with a diverse set of external voices – executives, academics and visionaries – to analyze the transformational forces that will impact and alter the world of business in 2030 and beyond. Creating and facilitating these new conversations is critical as executives work to make sure their businesses are future-ready.”

To enlighten the initial VISION installment, Protiviti and the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford partnered to conduct a global survey of 200 board members, C-suite executives and other business leaders in a variety of industries about the future of cities and related business strategies. Survey data was collected in August and September 2021. One of the key takeaways is that even though cities around the world faced significant challenges due to COVID-19, a staggering 94% of executives believe cities will either be more important (64%) or as important (30%) to their overall strategy in 2030.

The Protiviti-Oxford survey also found that while the majority (61%) of business leaders agree that the growing benefits of city size, significance and prestige will propel economic and business growth leading up to 2030, these leaders perceive threats to their local cities differently around the world. These threats span shrinking tax revenues, aging infrastructure, uncertainty in real estate markets, cybersecurity threats, privacy concerns, political and social unrest, and climate change, which many city leaders see as their greatest threat.

Survey Highlights Urban Advantages and Challenges: Disparities Across Regions

Global business leaders found North American, European and Asian-Pacific cities attractive in different ways, according to the Protiviti-Oxford survey. In North America, access to technology hubs and educational systems were the top two drivers attracting business leaders to cities. Meanwhile in Europe, the talent pool and infrastructure were the two main drivers and in Asia-Pacific, technology hubs, tax incentives and pro-business regulation were reported as the biggest benefits of operating in cities.

However, these attractive benefits do not come without costs and challenges. Respondents based in North America and Asia-Pacific cited the political climate, regulation and taxes to be the greatest threats to cities in the coming decade. European respondents were split, reporting the top threats as data privacy and cybersecurity, as well as climate change and sustainability.

Dr. Vlad Mykhnenko, associate professor of Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford who led the survey’s Oxford team of scholars, said: “It has become common to describe cities as engines of growth. But the rise of cities over at least the last 60 years has indeed been accompanied by quite a spectacular expansion of the world economy. Since 1960, for every 1% increase in the level of urbanisation globally, the world economy has grown by US$3.1 trillion. Cities are the engines of growth and global business leaders are clearly recognizing this.”

Learn More About the Future of Cities

The survey report, “Executive Outlook on Cities and Strategy, 2030,” along with an infographic and video commentary, is also available for complimentary download on the VISION web site. In 2022, VISION by Protiviti will explore more topics, including the future of work, social responsibility and money.

About GCHU

Established in 2018, the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation (GCHU), Kellogg College, University of Oxford, brings together leading and influential thinkers in an interdisciplinary approach embracing evidence-based healthcare, sustainable urban development and education, and provides a collaborative forum for organisations active in these disciplines.