How executives can help sustain value creation for the long term

Companies create more shareholder value when executives and directors concentrate on long-term results. A new report highlights behaviors that allow them to maintain a long-term orientation.

 
Ample evidence shows that when executives consistently make decisions and investments with long-term objectives in mind, their companies generate more shareholder value, create more jobs, and contribute more to economic growth than do peer companies that focus on the short term. Addressing the interests of employees, customers, and other stakeholders also brings about better long-term performance. The future, it seems, should belong to leaders who have a long-term orientation and accept the importance of treating various stakeholders fairly.

Nevertheless, our research shows that behavior geared toward short-term benefits has risen in recent years. In a recent survey conducted by FCLTGlobal and McKinsey, executives say they continue to feel pressure from shareholders and directors to meet their near-term earnings targets at the expense of strategies designed for the long term. Managers say they believe their CEOs would redirect capital and other resources, such as talent, away from strategic initiatives just to meet short-term financial goals.

Executives may continue to focus on short-term results because adopting a long-term orientation can be challenging. While previous studies have established that long-term companies perform better than others in the long run, they haven’t identified the management behaviors that enable that success. A new report, Corporate long-term behaviors: How CEOs and boards drive sustained value creation, represents our attempt to fill that gap. In it, we show that long-term companies adhere to certain management behaviors, and we recommend actions that CEOs and boards can take to institute those behaviors at their companies.

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Πηγή: mckinsey