Only eight percent of senior executives surveyed believe that the task of complying with the new financial disclosure and corporate governance standards poses a real challenge to running a competitive business, while almost half (45 percent) say the compliance burden is "heavy but manageable." Expressing no misgivings about the compliance requirements, 48 percent say that the burden is "reasonable." Moreover, almost two-thirds of those surveyed believe that it is no more difficult to recruit board members today than it was before the new governance reforms were adopted.

"Moving from the denial stage to the acceptance stage, senior corporate leaders accept the recent wave of corporate governance reform measures and are now focusing their efforts on making substantive, sustainable changes to their governance profile. Their goal is to encourage long-term investor and customer confidence," according to Harlan R. Teller, president of Hill & Knowlton’s worldwide Corporate Practice. "Executives are still split on whether the governance reform movement is justified or whether it is an outgrowth of just a few highly publicized corporate scandals. Yet there is a consensus that the spirit of reform is here to stay -- and that enlightened corporations actually welcome it and embrace it as a means of reinvigorating stakeholder confidence."

Reliable financial data, transparent disclosure and strong corporate governance are either essential or important elements of companies' reputations, according to 66 percent of those surveyed. The trend toward linking governance with company reputation is most pronounced among members of the financial community, according to the executives.

One longtime corporate board director echoed the survey's findings about the search for new board members. "What we have found among potential directors is more of a concern about the time commitment rather than concerns about the new regulations," said Bonnie Hill, president of B. Hill Enterprises, who counts Home Depot among her six board directorships. "My sense is that most of the current directors believe if they are diligent in their review of the company's strategic plan and financial integrity, take nothing for granted and keep their focus on shareholder value, the reward of a well-managed company outweighs the risks associated with serving on boards," Hill added.

Despite the executives' buy-in to governance reform, they do see some downsides. Increased administrative complexity and the diversion of management time are cited as the two top drawbacks, while one in five senior executives (21 percent) admit that the new age of accountability has brought about an increased aversion to risk-taking.

Hill & Knowlton and The Economist Intelligence Unit cooperated in this seventh annual survey, which sought the views of senior executives in leading international businesses throughout North America, Europe and Asia.