Executives See the Pace of Change as a Significant Emerging Risk: Gartner

Executive in multiple industries are anxious about keeping up with change, even as they struggle to take significant action to address this concern.

In fact, they rank keeping up with the pace of change as the top emerging risk as of the 2019 second quarter, according to Gartner Inc.’s newest Emerging Risks Monitor Report.

Risks ranked 2 through 5 were all related to the first: lagging digitalization, a talent shortage, digitalization misconceptions and data localization, the report noted.

“Among the top five emerging risks in the quarter’s survey, the linkages are clear,” Matt Shinkman, managing vice president and risk practice leader in the Gartner audit and risk practice, said in prepared remarks. “Organizations are concerned with the pace of business change and vulnerability to disruption. Part of the reason they may feel this risk so acutely is related concerns around their own operations, including digitalization strategies and an inadequate talent pipeline.”

Gartner’s Q2 2019 survey of 133 senior executives in multiple industries and geographies found:

• 71 percent of respondents said that the pace of change was a key risk for their organizations, particularly in insurance, healthcare and industrial sectors.
• 24 percent of organizations said they’ve taken no action to address their worries about risks behind the pace of change.
• 28 percent said they are bringing concerns about the pace of change to their board of directors.
• Executives worry that their digital budgets aren’t high enough and that a large number of digital projects in the pipeline aren’t working.

Source: Gartner, Inc.