The Real Cost of Slow Decisions in APAC

Senior leaders in Singapore anticipate another disruption is imminent. A regulatory shift, a trade restriction, or a political flare-up could reshape market access overnight. Despite decades of relative peace in the region, the possibility of conflict cannot be dismissed.

The question is not whether you have a plan. It is whether you can move fast enough when it matters.

I call this “Decision Velocity”: the actual time it takes your executive team to commit to a hard pivot and execute it. Not the time it takes to schedule a meeting about it. Not the time it takes to commission a report. The time it takes to decide and move.

In APAC this gap between shock and action is where enterprise value disappears.

What Changed in 2024-2025

The regulatory environment across Asia-Pacific accelerated. In Singapore new workplace-safety regulations come into effect 1 January 2025. In Vietnam the revised Electricity Law 2024 was passed 30 November 2024 and takes effect 1 February 2025. In Thailand the Climate Change Bill (Thailand) is pending submission in 2025 with enforcement expected 2027 and economic instruments under development (such as a carbon tax). In Malaysia the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2024 (via amendments) took effect 1 June 2024.

Add the global complexity of tarrifs, changing international regulations such as the EU AI Act, as well as ASEAN politcal stability factors, companies have to act quickly to understand implications and adjust operations.

Three Ways Leadership Teams Stall

1. Revenue concentration in volatile markets

In the Gartner, Inc. 1H 2025 CEO survey, 47% of CEOs now cite financial volatility among their top three business concerns, a 17-point jump from the prior quarter.

Your CFO tracks revenue by market. But how much of your total revenue sits in jurisdictions with rising regulatory or geopolitical risk?

Most teams don’t run this number until it's too late. Then they are reacting under pressure instead of repositioning with intent.

2. Functional silos during crisis

When something breaks the CEO wants to protect reputation. The CFO wants to protect cash. The COO wants to keep operations running. All valid.

All different. Unless these mandates are pre-aligned, the first 72 hours turn into internal negotiation instead of external action.

Recent research found that organisations which are “30 % faster at addressing inefficiency and ineffectiveness” claim they always have access to the data they need.

3. No pre-approved communication

A crisis in one APAC market can hit your brand across the region in hours. Yet most leadership teams do not have board-vetted messaging ready to go.

So the first two days are spent drafting, revising and seeking approval while the narrative gets away from you.

What I Actually Do

I work with C-suites to build systems that compress decision time under pressure.

That means:

• Quantifying your exposure to geo-risk and regulatory volatility
• Pre-aligning executive mandates so you are not negotiating during a crisis
• Building decision frameworks that let you move in 24 hours, not 72

This focuses on being operationally ready during narrow action windows.

What’s Coming in 2025-2026

The pressure is intensifying, not easing.

In the Asia-Pacific region the South China Sea is forecast to experience heightened non-military confrontations. Geopolitical risks such as conflicts pose threats to financial stability via disruptions to global supply chains and inflationary pressure.

The 2025 interest rate outlook for Asia-Pacific will be influenced by geopolitical risks, escalating trade tensions and the Federal Reserve System (Fed) policy, with regional factors such as domestic economic conditions and the effectiveness of China’s stimulus shaping central-bank decisions.

More specifically:

Trade and tariff volatility: Tariffs dampen economic growth across many markets by undermining confidence, reducing trade-related jobs, weakening spending power and lowering demand. Economists sharply revise APAC growth and inflation forecasts downward following tariff announcements.

Regulatory fragmentation: New trade alliances and investment hubs are redefining global power dynamics. The US is applying tariffs, triggering retaliatory responses, and regulations/tax are evolving at different speeds in different geographies. This fragmentation adds complexity.

CEO response patterns: Many CEOs plan to reduce their risk appetite for 2025-26 because of geopolitical risks and uncertain U.S. tariffs — prompting more incremental, lower-risk moves such as supply-chain redesign and selective market entry rather than bold, capital-intensive bets.

Here’s the challenge: while CEOs are becoming more cautious the environment demands faster decisions. Decentralised decision making, agile planning and close monitoring of geopolitical signals are becoming core competencies for every executive team.

The Opportunity Gap

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADO April 2025) developing Asia’s growth forecasts are trimmed to 4.9% in 2025 and 4.7% in 2026.

Ongoing US–China negotiations and heightened uncertainty are maintaining elevated risks. The US reliance on rare earth minerals is becoming more public due to the current dispute with China.

In this environment the companies that can make quality decisions in 48 hours instead of two weeks will capture disproportionate market share.

The infrastructure to enable that speed does not build itself. It requires:

• Real-time visibility into political and regulatory-risk exposure
• Pre-negotiated decision rights and authority thresholds
• Scenario planning that is practiced not theoretical
• Crisis-communication frameworks approved in advance

A Simple Test

Think about the last time your executive team had to make a significant strategic shift in response to an external event.

• How long did it take from “we need to decide” to “we have committed and communicated”?
• If it was more than 72 hours you are carrying more risk than your board realises.

If you do not know the answer that is the bigger problem.

The opportunity to act is narrowing, and the cost of reluctance is increasing. The essential question is whether your executive team can adapt to the rapid pace the market now requires.

Whether you call it agility, resilience, or readiness, Decision Velocity is the real differentiator for leaders in 2025.

Through my two practices — MCR.AE (strategic and fractional leadership) and The Clarity Practice (executive and team coaching) — I help organisations close the gap between knowing and acting.

If your executive team is still talking when competitors are already moving, it’s time to run a Decision Velocity Audit and recalibrate how you lead.

Get in touch to start that conversation.