In two years' time, the share of respondents identifying geopolitical instability as a very important factor affecting their businesses has doubled - the largest increase for a given trend since we began surveying executives on this topic a decade ago.

Most respondents expect that geopolitical, political and macroeconomic instability—which, taken together, we call geostrategic risks—will affect their companies, with decidedly negative implications for profits. Yet a vast majority say their organizations are not yet taking active steps to address these issues. They also say that among the other trends that have risen in importance since the previous survey, technological developments present their businesses with both challenges (such as cybersecurity) and opportunities (such as the use of big data and data-driven management techniques).

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