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By Will Sturgeon, 4 February 2005 16:30

NEWS The majority of global CEOs expect their companies to grow during 2005 and are confident they will avoid pitfalls such as a slowing world economy.

But many will be prepared to make unpopular decisions to achieve that growth, with 57 per cent of global execs citing offshoring as a major factor.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, 88 per cent of companies are confident of growth with 34 per cent saying it will be robust – up from 26 per cent for 2004. More than a third (35 per cent) believe the development of new products and services will be the driving force behind this growth while half (50 per cent) believe building stronger relationships with existing customers will be key.

Importantly, exploiting emerging markets is also seen as critical to success (cited by 32 per cent respondents), with more eyes than ever focusing on China in particular.

More than a third (35 per cent) of respondents said China now offered the greatest potential of any country for growth.

However, execs also expressed concern about over-reliance on the relatively unknown quantity that is the Chinese economy.

Daniel Franklin, editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, said innovation must also be key – a fact which will be particularly true for those companies in the technology space, but also on those who must challenge the traditional ways they have used technology.

Brett Dawson, CEO of Dimension Data, which sponsored the study, said: "As companies continue to develop ongoing initiatives to realise growth and make their companies more customer focused, it is important that businesses adapt and adopt technology as a key enabler of change."