How will the next generation of retail CEOs tackle the industry’s biggest challenges? According to a study of 58 aspiring CEOs by interim and executive search firm Green Park, 71% will rely on data to make decisions, versus only 11% who say they will rely on their instincts. This fondness for data will come naturally to this next generation of CEOs, 75% of whom will come to the job with extensive digital knowledge.
In what may be a worrying sign for the future of brick-and-mortar retailing, only 21% will have predominantly store-based experience, while more than half (52%) will have experience working outside the retail sector, according to this infographic.
As for gender diversity, the news isn’t great: 71% of this group of budding chief executives are male. Still, retail may do better at closing the gender gap than the business world at large, where less than 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are female.
Source: Green Park
