A survey of 600 executives from leading enterprises across Asia, Europe and North America reveals three types of business resilience that are essential for success.

In an environment of unpredictable seismic disruptions, resilience—the proactive capacity to absorb stress, protect assets, manage risks and seize opportunities—is the lynchpin for creating business value, according to a new report from Dataminr. Commissioned through Economist Impact, “Building Business Value: Resilience in a Rapidly Evolving Global Environment,” reveals companies’ value creation and resilience priorities.

Three types of resilience emerged as essential for success: organizational, technological and operational, with more than 40% of global executives saying they are prioritizing these areas. The research revealed that when businesses proactively look for emerging risks, prepare for disruption and implement operational flexibility, they outperform others.

When businesses proactively look for emerging risks, prepare for disruption and implement operational flexibility, they outperform others.

Survey respondents revealed they are prioritizing resiliency after reimagining business and working arrangements post-pandemic.

“In an increasingly volatile landscape, it is crucial for forward-looking organizations to seek out solutions to combat the evolving challenges faced by businesses today,” said Jason Edelboim, President and COO of Dataminr. “We are proud to partner with Economist Impact to shed light on business resiliency strategies employed by industry leaders. Insights like these play a vital role in our commitment to provide our customers with the tools and knowledge they need to make data-driven decisions, and prepare for emerging or unforeseen risks.”

Data protection policies and procedures also emerged as one of respondents’ most business-critical strategies: The study found that 48% of respondents assign the highest priority to safeguarding their organizations’ data, systems and digital assets to stay ahead of threats, such as cyber attacks, as well as vulnerabilities where physical and cyber security intersect. As technology and digital innovations increasingly intersect with how businesses operate, respondents also revealed the growing importance of their strategies for risk assessment and threat modeling; business continuity and disaster recovery planning; and identification of physical security risks that may impact digital assets.

Two of the most significant opportunities to create business value are the increased adoption of new technologies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, according to the survey. Forty-one percent of respondents said that increased access to new and rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) provides the most significant opportunities to create value over the next three years. AI can add transformative capabilities to resilience strategies by processing data in real time across a vast and changing landscape—increasing the relevance and actionability of data used for critical business decisions. Leaders within the pharmaceuticals, technology, and manufacturing industries rated this access highest across the six industries.

ESG policies can bolster reputational resilience—aligning an organization’s values to its actions, and helping it prepare for future operational and financial shocks.

Just over 41% of respondents prioritized the increased adoption of ESG policies within their corporate strategies. Leaders within the retail, financial services, and energy and utilities industries indicated that ESG policies are their main priority. ESG policies can bolster reputational resilience—aligning an organization’s values to its actions, and helping it prepare for future operational and financial shocks. Reflecting this urgency, these respondents also said that effectively managing an ESG communications strategy was a top priority for building and protecting their brands.

The report, based on a survey of 600 business executives across Asia, Europe, and North America along with extensive desk research and expert interviews, provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors that contribute to building business resilience. Under the guidance of Economist Impact, contributors to the report include subject matter experts from Boston Consulting Group, General Electric and Cambridge University’s Judge Business School Centre for Risk Studies.

The full report is available for download on Dataminr’s website.