Corporate Board Member’s report: “Shareholder Pressure, AI And Economic Volatility Erode Long-Term Planning, Survey Finds,” based on a November 2025 survey of public and private company CEOs and directors, reveals the types of governance mechanisms public and private companies use to maintain focus on long-term strategic objectives in the context of a seemingly growing and limitless number of short-term pressures.
Notably, just 19% of public companies and 25% of private companies conduct scenario planning exercises based on five-year assumptions, with three to five years being the most common timeframe for strategic plans, down from 10 years historically, according to the report. The insights/feedbacks signal short-term pressures effectively squeezing out opportunities for — or the ability to focus on, or dedicate adequate time and attention to — longer-term planning.
The report also notes increasing demands on private companies that are reducing freedoms and flexibility – formerly the hallmark differentiators relative to the public company experience, and provides public company CEO and director perspectives on the cadence of public company reporting requirements in the context of the administration’s push to move away from mandatory quarterly reporting.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!