A survey shows that global chief executives have ranked the increasing complexity of the global economy as the top challenge facing businesses this decade, according to a Straits Times report on Friday.

This complexity stems from worldwide trends such as shifting consumer demands as emerging markets gain economic power, and great government involvement and regulation, the report outline the CEOs as saying.

This increasingly interconnected world has resulted in a new economic environment that is more volatile and risky, and less predictable, the report said.

Almost eight in ten CEOs interviewed expect their businesses to get more complicated over the next five years, but 49 percent felt their organizations were prepared for it, the latest IBM 2010 Global CEO study found.

Creativity was singled out as the top leadership quality CEOs thought would help overcome the challenges. This was followed by integrity and global thinking.

An IBM spokesman said that both the information explosion and rise of social media are also posing new challenges to businesses which CEOs have to grapple with.

The survey, done every two years, involved face-to-face interviews with 1,541 senior management leaders in the private and public sectors across 60 countries, economies and 33 industries