Despite an international context still characterized by economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological transformations, business leaders look to the future with confidence. Nearly seven out of ten executives (69.4%) expect business results to improve in the next 12 months. The level of trust reaches the highest values in the United States (85%), Saudi Arabia (76%) and China (73%), followed by Italy and Germany with 57% and 56% respectively. This is what emerges from an international research by AstraRicerche and commissioned by Omnicom Public Relations Italy, conducted at the beginning of November 2026 on 500 C-suite and top management level executives, with a sample of 100 managers in each of the following countries: United States, Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia and China. The study highlights how organizations see the main driver of future growth in the combination of technological innovation, favorable economic conditions and quality of relationships with stakeholders. Among the factors considered most relevant for strengthening value creation in the long term, executives indicate in first place the acceleration of technological innovation driven by artificial intelligence (48.6%), followed by increased demand (44.8%), greater economic stability (44.6%) and greater customer trust (43.0%). The data also highlights how growth is increasingly linked to intangible assets. 82.4% of interviewees identify at least one element attributable to relational capital - such as customer trust, corporate reputation, talent attraction or quality of relationships with stakeholders - as a determining factor for the creation of value.
When asked which stakeholders are most important for the success of the organization, executives identify customers (58.2%), employees (56.4%), partners and suppliers (55.0%) first. This is followed by investors and shareholders (44.6%), institutions, public authorities and regulators (32.4%). However, precisely the relationships considered the most strategic are often the most complex to manage. Partners and suppliers (32.8%) and customers (30.6%) are in fact the stakeholders with respect to which executives report the greatest difficulties. More than a third of the sample (37.8%) declares having to manage at least two relationships simultaneously considered essential for the business and difficult to maintain. Of those who report difficulties in managing stakeholders, 82.8% attribute these complexities to external factors. Top of the list are political and regulatory uncertainty (32.9%), the impact of tariffs and inflation (32.9%), economic pressures (32.7%), and divergent expectations among different stakeholders (28.8%). The scenario suggests how the ability to build consensus, trust and solid relationships is becoming an increasingly strategic skill for management. 55.2% of executives say that their organization formally measures the quality of relationships with key stakeholders in a systematic and regular way. 32.6% indicate only partial or occasional measurement. 12.2% do not measure the quality of relationships: 8.8% are developing measurement tools, 3.4% have no plans to do so.
However, a gap remains between awareness and operational practices: 32% believe that relationships should be measured with the same rigor as financial performance, while recognizing that their organization does not yet do so systematically. "The results show how the creation of value is increasingly the result of the interaction between technological innovation and the ability to build quality relationships with stakeholders. In a global context characterized by profound transformations, algorithmic fragmentation and growing geopolitical tensions, the management of communication and relationships becomes an even more strategic lever for business, directly linked to the ability to generate growth and performance. Companies that are able to measure and correlate the quality of relationships with concrete performance indicators will also be the best positioned to create value in the long term.” comments Massimo Moriconi, CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Italy and President of the International Communications Consultancy Organization (Icco).
