The CEO Survey 2012, release by the School of Business, saw greater concern among CEOs on public policy issues.

“It is interesting to see that in 2011, “improving public transportation” was the most critical issue, whereas in 2012, “combating corruption” and “improving the public education” are the most pressing public policies, followed by improving the public transportation (91%), reducing crime rate (90.2%), and increasing foreign trade (90.2%).”

The CEO Survey 2012: The Climate of Our Business – A Perspective From Malaysian Executives was refined by adding new questions intended to measure the current issues of concern and reflect the opinions of 124 business executives from Kuala Lumpur.

The study highlighted six sections – CEO challenges and issues, Malaysia’s economic climate, the government’s role in economic development, human resources and diversity, Malaysia’s education system, and long term outlook. 

According to the survey, the CEOs appeared to be less optimistic and more uncertain about the business climate in Malaysia in 2012 than in 2011 despite more than 50% of the CEOs seeing expansion as a possibility.

In addition, they foresaw many challenges ahead in formulating and implementing public policies, particularly related to human resources, skills development and combating corruption.

Dr Robert Terpstra said more than 90 % of CEOs named the same five public policy concerns.

During a CEO Survey 2012 Roundtable Discussion held at KL Hilton, the country’s business leaders also felt that the challenges related to human resources were caused by flaws in the current education system.

The survey reported that a higher percentage of respondents in 2012 than in 2011 were of the opinion that foreign private colleges and universities in Malaysia were the best adapted to the changing business climate (72.6%), in contrast to local private colleges and universities of higher education (49.6%) and local public colleges and universities of higher education (25.4%).

The discussion also pointed out that the biggest challenge Malaysia was currently facing was unemployment, which they believed was caused by flaws in the current education system and poor communication skills among young graduates, especially in the English language.

Associate Professor Shanty Rachagan, also of the School of Business said that the objective of the Roundtable Discussion was also to track and report on the consistencies and trends of key issues raised by Malaysian business leaders, over time.

"Business leaders make decisions everyday which affect all Malaysians – whether to expand their business or lobby to support government policies, for instance.

"Understanding why they make these decisions can help us prioritise and focus on what is critical to the country’s future – their challenges,  their views on government initiatives and on the business climate, or whether they plan to add jobs," she said.

The survey also showed that in 2012 and in 2011, loyalty in the work force and acquiring talented managers were the two most challenging issues for the CEOs – standing at 86.1% this year.

Relating to the issue of maintaining loyalty in the workforce, panelists at the Roundtable Discussion pointed out that the problem involved most local graduates’ preferences to seek jobs outside of Malaysia where salaries were higher.

“Why are our corporates not paying higher wages to win these people back?” questioned the School’s Dr Jane Terpstra Tong, adding that corporates themselves had to work hard to earn the loyalty.

Panellists discussing the report at the Roundtable Discussion.

More than half of the Malaysian executives (57%) believed that the government’s green initiatives would have a positive impact on their business, and close to half of them viewed the government’s “Economic Transformation Plan” and “Government’s New Economic Model” as a positive aspect to their firms.

However, “restrictions on hiring workers” continued to bother almost half of the firms, who expected that the restrictions would have a negative impact on the long term outlook of their business.