Description
This report is part of the RSM Business Resilience Survey. European entrepreneurs and experts from the RSM network in Europe.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESILIENCE SURVEY
AN ASSESSMENT BY THE RSM NETWORK
THE POWER OF BEING UNDERSTOOD
AUDIT | TAX | CONSULTING
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESILIENCE SURVEY 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
STRUCTURE
I Introduction
II Te expert survey
II.1 Accelerating growth in 2016 globally
II.2 Improving business culture in Europe
II.3 Te entrepreneurial countries
II.4 Te business leaders’ mentality
II.5 Companies’ strategy
III Entrepeneurs survey
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
III.3 Additional information on China
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
IV Economic interdependencies
IV.1 Te role of trust
IV.2 Resilience
V About this survey
International Business Resilience Survey
1
INTRODUCTION
Tis report is part of the RSM Business Resilience Survey.
European entrepreneurs and experts from the RSM network
in Europe, were asked to evaluate companies’ strategy choices,
the mentality of business leaders, the business culture of their
country and key macroeconomic data.
410 auditors and other members of the RSM network (referred
to as “RSM experts” in this report) and 291 entrepreneurs from
several countries, including nine European countries, participated
in the survey in July and August 2015. See the appendix for a
table of participants.
Highlights of this report
RSM expert survey:
? With regard to sentiment and growth expectations of RSM
experts, three groups of countries could be identi?ed:
- Economically progressing countries: UK, Netherlands,
Spain
- Stable or stabilised countries: Belgium, France, Germany
and Portugal
- Apprehensive recessive countries: Austria, Brazil and
Norway. Norway fears a further decrease of oil prices
although GDP growth might be modest.
? In terms of business culture, Norway is the leading country,
followed by the Netherlands, UK and Australia.
? Te entrepreneurial spirit is the most pronounced in the UK
and the Netherlands. In both countries, entrepreneurship
is favoured with a strong reputation in the society and the
number of entrepreneurs is expected to rise in 2016. Tey
also reveal a highly proactive mentality of their business
leaders.
? Internationally active companies behave more similarly
across countries in terms of research and growth strategies
than companies with a focus on domestic markets only.
Entrepreneur survey:
? Companies which expect an improvement of their business
situation are characterised by a greater willingness to
delegate authority within the company, greater willingness
to foster the innovation and creativity of employees, more
intense use of social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) for
customer loyalty and managers‘ higher risk appetite in at
least 90% of the countries surveyed.
? Managers’ individual resilience is a linchpin for organisational
success.
? Norway, Australia, Germany and the UK have the most
positive trust culture on average across all four dimensions.
A distinctive mistrust in political parties is a phenomenon in
all countries.
III Entrepeneurs survey
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
III.3 Additional information on China
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
IV Economic interdependencies
IV.1 Te role of trust
IV.2 Resilience
V About this survey
International Business Resilience Survey
2
II THE EXPERT SURVEY
II.1 Accelerating growth in 2016 globally
Te following chapters are based on the assessments of the RSM
experts.
GDP growth is one of the most important economic variables and
it mainly relies on the activities of the companies in a country. Fig.
1 shows the predictions of the RSM experts for GDP growth rates
in 2015 and 2016
1
. Most countries are above the straight line,
indicating that growth will accelerate in 2016.
RSM experts predict that Spain will achieve the highest growth
rate of the countries surveyed and growth will accelerate in 2016
compared to 2015. Spain is a turnaround country moving away
from the economic crisis. Ranked by GDP growth rate, Spain is
followed by the UK and the Netherlands, which are countries
with a pronounced entrepreneurial stance. Te RSM experts
of Australia expect GDP growth rates above 2% in both years
although the dynamic slows down. Australia and Germany are the
only countries below the line indicating a loss of momentum in
GDP growth. Brazil is almost in a recession, but will recover in 2016
according to the RSM experts.
A parallel survey was conducted among entrepreneurs.
Except for Australia, the direction of change predicted by the
entrepreneurs corresponds to the assessment of the RSM
experts
2
.
Compared to the most recent OECD growth forecast
3
, the RSM
experts are slightly more pessimistic about the future GDP
growth rates expected in the Netherlands, UK and Spain.
Fig. 2 shows the expected growth rates in 2016 and the expected
development of the business sentiment indices
4
. RSM experts
in countries above the horizontal line expect an improvement of
the sentiment index by the end of 2016, whilst those below the
horizontal line expect a deterioration.
Te diagram clearly shows three clusters of countries:
? Economically progressing countries: UK, Netherlands, Spain.
China and the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) might also be
members of this group, but their expected growth rates
are out of reach for the other countries. On average, the
Chinese entrepreneurs surveyed expect a GDP growth rate
just under 7% in 2015 and 2016.
1
Related to the number of respondents, the 95% con?dence interval of the growth rates varies between 0.2 (Germany) and 0.6 (Norway, Portugal, NL) percentage points. Te
means are displayed in the ?gures.
2
Without the Netherlands, the mean absolute deviation in 2016 growth rates predicted by RSM experts and entrepreneurs is 0.19 percentage
points. If considering the Netherlands, the mean absolute deviation rises to 0.33 percentage points due to outlier ?gures.
4
Source:https://data.oecd.org/gdp/real-gdp-forecast.
htm#indicator-chart.
Fig.1 Real GDP growth forecast by RSM experts; 2015 and 2016
Fig.2 Real GDP growth vs. sentiment by RSM experts; 2015 and 2016 in %
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
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Growth 2015 - %
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Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
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Growth 2016 - %
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Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
International Business Resilience Survey
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Australia Austria Brazil
Legend: purple: decrease signi?cantly (? -5%); red: decrease (-1% to -5%); blue: remain stable
green: increase (+1% to +5%); orange: increase signi?cantly (? +5%)
0
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NL Norway
Fig. 3: Expected development of job vacancies in 2016
? Stable or stabilised countries: Belgium, France, Germany
and Portugal.
Te expected growth rates range from 1.4% to 1.7% and
the experts predict a slight improvement of the sentiment
indices.
? Apprehensive countries: Austria, Brazil and Norway.
Te RSM experts in these countries expect a deterioration
in the sentiment indices. Norway fears a further decrease
in oil prices although the GDP growth might be modest
5
.
Te same is true for Australia: Despite the slowdown in the
mining business, the economy grows. Australia seems to be
in a standby position, hoping for a devaluation of the AUD
or improving the business culture and developing adequate
strategies.
Te real or feared depression in these countries also comes
through in the job expectations. Te share of RSM experts
expecting a decrease in job vacancies in 2016 outweighs the
share of optimistic experts. For comparison, the Dutch data
is also displayed in Fig. 3. 64% of the RSM experts predict an
increase or strong increase in job positions in the Netherlands.
5
Te survey asked for the ESI (European Sentiment Index) for European countries and the BCI (Business Con?dence Index) for other countries.
International Business Resilience Survey
4
Te favourable position of the Netherlands is also re?ected by net
investments. Fig. 4 shows the assessment of the RSM experts on
the change in net investments.
In the UK, 95% of the RSM experts expect that net investments
will increase or strongly increase in 2016. In the Netherlands, this
share amounts to 82%. In Spain, 17% of the RSM experts predict
that net investments will increase strongly, e.g. more than 5%
compared to the previous year. Tis is a record in the survey
(green segment in the bars). Additionally, 56% of the Spanish
experts forecast a modest increase in net investments.
Fig. 5 shows a typical situation in a turnaround country like
Portugal. In 2015, 70% of the RSM experts expect an increase in
net investments in the following year compared to 50% of those
surveyed in 2014. Tis perspective emphasises the dynamics
of change. In a country with moderate but stable growth,
such as Germany, the relative majority of RSM experts (2014
survey: 48%; 2015 survey: 47%) expect a stable volume of net
investments.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
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%
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%
Legend: purple: decrease signi?cantly (? -5%); red: decrease (-1% to -5%); blue: remain stable; green: increase (+1% to +5%); orange: increase signi?cantly (? +5%)
Fig.4 Net investments in 2016; forecast by RSM experts
2
0
1
4
2
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1
5
Legend: red: decrease; blue: remain stable; green: increase
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig.5 Expected change in net investments in Portugal next year; expert
survey 2014 vs. 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
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6
A few RSM experts from countries joining the Gulf Cooperation Council also took part in the survey. Tey expect comfortable GDP growth rates, which will mainly be driven by the
expansion of government expenditure. Tey also expect a worsening of the trade balance due to the decline in oil prices. From this perspective the GCC countries are comparable to
Norway.
7
Te UK has participated in the survey for the ?rst time in 2015, therefore no change is indicated.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
Legend: red: relatively low; blue: normal; green: relatively high
0
%
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%
4
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%
6
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%
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%
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%
Fig. 6: Current order backlog, RSM expert survey 2015
Tis interpretation is con?rmed when the level of order backlog
is considered. Fig. 6 shows that 36% of the RSM experts think
that the current order backlog is relatively high in Germany. Tis
is compared to corresponding shares of 0% in Australia, 5% in
Belgium and Norway, 6% in Brazil and 7% in France, recognising a
relatively high order backlog.
In summary, macroeconomic data clearly show that the countries
surveyed have di?erent positions in the macroeconomic cycle.
Overall, growth accelerates in most of the countries considered.
Top 25%
Middle 50%
Last 50%
Fig. 7: Business Culture in Europe; arrows indicating change (improvement
or worsening) in 2015 compared to 2014
II.2 Improving business culture in Europe
Business culture is an aggregate which describes the
political, organisational and social framework of a country
determining the conditions for starting a business or
running a company. In this study, the ?ve dimensions
‘society’, ‘employment’, ‘organisational culture’, ‘political
conditions’ and ‘?nancing’ with 17 elements contribute to
the business culture of a country.
Te map shows the European countries which participated
in the survey. Te arrows indicate the changes from the
previous Business Resilience Survey. All countries, except
for Belgium, could improve their business culture according
to the RSM experts
6
. Te change of business culture in
Belgium is very small and statistically not signi?cant. Spain
could achieve the greatest improvement
7
in business
culture although the absolute level is still below average.
Bear in mind it has started from a remarkably poor position
last year.
International Business Resilience Survey
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On an international scale, Brazil approximately shares the
business culture level of Spain, whilst Australia is on the same
level as Austria. More striking, Australia achieves the best ranking
in the dimension ‘society’; however, Brazil falls in the last position.
Te most evident di?erences, according to the assessments
of the RSM experts are to be found between the educational
systems (see Fig. 8).It will be important for the next Brazilian
government to tackle this if it hopes to improve its business
culture.
Considering the dimension of Business Culture, some countries
show signi?cant changes
8
:
? Employment: signi?cant improvements in Norway
and Spain. In Norway, the organisational investment in
employees (e.g. training and education, working time
?exibility, parttime solutions) is rated much more highly
than in the year before. Facing a slow down in oil prices,
companies are choosing to invest more in human resources.
In Spain, the availability of quali?ed employees and the
willingness to employ foreign workers has improved.
8
Statistically signi?cant at least on a .05 level (employment and ?nancing in Spain on .1 level).
9
rankings benchmarked to June 2015 , published by World Bank Group; Source: http://
www.doingbusiness.org/rankings;
10
Date of data collection or release: 1st September 2015; published by the World Economic Forum, source:http://reports.weforum.org/global-
competitiveness-report-2015-2016/competitiveness-rankings/
A
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Legend: purple: very poor; red: poor; blue: neutral; green: good; orange: very good
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig. 8: Comparison of the evaluation of the educational systems by RSM
experts: Brazil vs. Australia
? Financing: signi?cant improvement in France, Germany,
Portugal, Spain and Norway. In Euro countries, the e?ect
could be related to the expansive monetary policy of the
European Central Bank. In Norway, the surplus of the
sovereign wealth fund adds to liquidity.
? Organisational culture: signi?cant improvement in France.
According to the French RSM experts, the willingness
to serve customers in di?erent languages has improved
strongly. French businesses have also started to act more
intensively on an international playing ?eld.
? Political conditions: signi?cant improvement in France and
Norway. In France especially, the tax system was rated
more business-friendly than the year before. In Norway,
bureaucracy seems to be less burdensome.
? Society: signi?cant improvement in Spain. Te fostering of
entrepreneurship by schools, universities, politics and the
reputation of entrepreneurs in society have improved since
the last year according to the Spanish RSM experts.
Te changes in business culture re?ect the dynamics of change,
but the levels of the di?erent elements are far di?erent between
the countries. For example, the next diagram shows the
availability of bank loans according to the RSM experts:
Although the situation has improved in Spain and France since the
last survey, the overall availability of bank loans is still better in
Norway and Germany. In the Netherlands, it is more di?cult to be
?nanced by banks. While Dutch banks were directly a?ected by
the banking crisis, the Netherlands are the second best country
regarding the availability of risk ?nancing (after Norway).
To summarise, in the ranking of business culture of all
participating countries, Norway is the leading country, followed
by the Netherlands, the UK and Australia. Compared to the Doing
Business Index
9
and the World Competitiveness Index
10
, the rank
correlation coe?cients of the countries surveyed amount to 0.71
and 0.75 respectively. Te Doing Business Index states that the
UK, Norway, Australia and Germany form the top 4. According
to the World Competitiveness Index, the top group consists of
Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Norway.
International Business Resilience Survey
7
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France GCC Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
Legend: purple: very poor; red: poor; blue: neutral; green: good; purple: very good
0
%
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Fig. 9: Expert Survey 2015 - availability of bank loans
?0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
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Change in number of entrepreneurs
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Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
The Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
I II
III IV
Fig. 10: Presumed development of the number of entrepreneurs
vs. reputation of the entrepreneurs in the society
II.3 Te entrepreneurial countries
Te di?erences in economic dynamics can also be seen in the
expected change in the number of entrepreneurs in a country.
Fig. 10 shows the means of the assessments from the RSM
experts.
For those countries right of the vertical line the relative majority
of RSM experts expect the number of entrepreneurs (owner-
manager with at least ten employees) to increase in 2016,
whereas those countries to the left are expected to decrease.
In all countries above the horizontal line, the relative majority of
RSM experts believe that the reputation of entrepreneurs in the
society is good or very good.
Te resulting quadrants could be interpreted as:
? Quadrant I: Entrepreneurial spirit
Led by the UK, entrepreneurship is favoured by a high
reputation in the society and the number of entrepreneurs
is expected to rise in 2016.
? Quadrant II: Lack of momentum
On the one hand, the reputation of entrepreneurs is above
average in Norway and Germany. But on the other hand, the
number of entrepreneurs is expected to decrease in 2016.
In Germany, this is related to the very strong labour market
and the combination of good protection and high earnings
which can be achieved by managers inside companies. Also,
the intended work-life balance may also be seen a a stall to
entrepreneurship. In Norway, the prospects are depressed
due to the slowdown in oil prices, as can clearly be seen in
the sentiment index (see Fig. 2).
International Business Resilience Survey
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Dimension: proactivity
high
2014 (blue) and 2015 (green)
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
low
Fig. 11: Dimension proactiveness across countries in 2015 (and, where available, in 2014)
11
Unemployment rates in July 2015, seasonally adjusted; Source: Eurostat;http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6976371/3-01092015-AP-EN.pdf
? Quadrant III: Danger
It is a sign of danger for an economy when the reputation
of entrepreneurs is low and the number of entrepreneurs is
expected to slow down, as in Brazil.
? Quadrant IV: Exceptional entrepreneurs
Despite the reputation of entrepreneurs in the society
being below average, the number of entrepreneurs is
expected to rise in France and Portugal. Te labour market
is still stressed by the most recent unemployment rates
11
of 10.4 % in France and 12.4% in Portugal, which could be an
explanation for this phenomenon.
In summary, the strength of entrepreneurial spirit di?ers
enormously among the countries surveyed. Tis re?ects the
business leaders’ mentality (see next chapter) as well as the
macroeconomic situation per country.
II.4 Te mentality of business leaders
Te mentality of a countries’ business leaders can be shown by
their proactiveness when introducing new services, products
or processes. In this way, they are actively initiating or passively
responding to actions of other competitors in the market.
Finally, proactiveness manifests itself in the business leaders’
attitude towards being risk-friendly or risk-averse. Two aspects
are notable in the comparison of the global index values of
proactiveness across all evaluated countries, two aspects are
eye-catching.
Fig.11 shows the subdimension proactivity in alphabetic order.
Firstly, it’s noticeable that business leaders in the UK show
the highest degree of proactiveness of all countries surveyed
and they are more risk-friendly than the country average. Tis
mentality of being proactive and taking initative is consistent
among the di?erent facets of proactiveness. Compared to
the other countries, especially from Europe, business leaders
from the UK rather proactively initiate actions to which other
competitors have to respond, and they are more often the ones to
introduce new products, services and processes. Finally, business
leaders in the UK tend to adopt a signi?cantly more competitive
“undo the competition” attitude than avoiding competitive
clashes with a more passive “live and let live” attitude (e.g. 53%
vs. 24% of other EU countries).
A second prominent result in the country comparison of
proactiveness lies in the developmental change in the business
leaders’ mentality over time. On that note, the Dutch business
leaders are of interest. Being slightly above the level of the
European average regarding their proactiveness in 2015, these
current tendencies seem to be developed recently. With a view
to the results from 2014, it becomes clear that there has been a
signi?cant attitudinal change.
International Business Resilience Survey
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Netherlands
2015
2014
0%
11.8%
41.2% 41.2%
5.9%
0%
1
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2 3 4 5
very seldom the ?rst
to initiate innovation
Legend: In dealing with its competitors, business leaders in the Netherlands...
very often the ?rst
to initiate innovation
Fig. 12: Evaluation of Dutch business leaders by RSM experts in 2014 and 2015
As such, results on the Dutch business leaders’ proactiveness
indicate a signi?cant increase compared to 2014. Fig. 12 shows
the Dutch business leaders’ frequency distribution on their
tendency to introduce new products, services and processes
for 2014 and 2015. From the perspective of the RSM experts
they are more likely to be the ?rst to introduce new products or
services etc. and they have adopted a more competitive attitude
within the last year. In detail, compared to the EU average, Dutch
business leaders tend to proactively initiate actions to which
other competitors have to respond. Te data also demonstrates
that Australia is not so far from the EU average. One might say
that Australia’s business leaders reveal themselves as having
a ‘European’ mentality. According to the RSM experts, both the
proactiveness of the Australian business leaders as well as their
risk attitude corresponds to the European averages.
II.5 Strategy of companies: Strategic convergence of
internationally active companies
Companies aim to expand internationally. But on country level,
the degree of internationalisation di?ers clearly. Te RSM experts
in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Spain and Portugal all feel
that companies in the industrial and manufacturing sector have a
strong focus on the worldwide market (Fig.13).
In France, the RSM experts see the highest share of companies
focusing on European rather than on the worldwide markets.
Te lowest internationalisation degrees can be found in Australia
and Brazil, a consequence of geography (Australia) and economic
development (Brazil).
Te internationalisation strategy and the other strategic variables
are interdependent.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
teal = worldwide, blue = continent (e.g. Europe), purple = the domestic market
0
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Fig 13: Internationalization strategy, expert survey 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
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Te top diagram (Fig. 14) shows the assessment of RSM experts
regarding all internationally active companies. Te bottom
diagram (Fig.14) shows the view on companies, which focus on
the domestic market only. Obviously, research is integral for
internationally orientated companies. At the other end of the
spectrum, 23% of RSM experts surveyed characterise companies
focused on the domestic market only as conducting research
‘hardly’ or ‘never’.
Te ?nding that internationally orientated companies are more
active can also be con?rmed by other aspects.
Fig.15 shows that internationally orientated companies in EU
countries are more aggressive than domestically orientated
companies according to the RSM experts. Te same e?ect can
be found worldwide. Furthermore, internationally orientated
companies clearly focus more on quality leadership than on price
leadership and they rely more on an external growth strategy
than on an organic growth strategy.
A strategic convergence of internationally orientated companies
can be concluded. Te country speci?c di?erences are more
pronounced with domestically orientated companies. For
example, only 12% of RSM experts see a price leadership
prevailing in Germany, but the shares are 44% and 50% in Spain
and Portugal respectively.
58.1%
38.1%
3.1%
0.7%
... c
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40%
60%
80%
100%
Fig. 14: Internationally orientated companies focus more on research, expert
survey 2015
Estimated share of aggressive companies
domestically
orientated companies
0
%
2
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%
4
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%
6
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%
8
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%
1
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%
internationally
orientated companies
average assesment (median)
average value, medial
50% (median)
Fig. 15: Internationally orientated companies are more aggressive, (expert
survey, EU)
25%
52.3%
22.2%
0.5%
... c
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60%
80%
100%
Fig. 14: Domestic orientated companies focus more on research, expert
survey 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
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III SURVEY OF ENTREPRENEURS
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
Te Business Resilience Survey examines the interdependencies
between companies’ strategies, business culture and
macroeconomic variables. Generally, there are two possibilities
for exploring the topic: analysing data based on a survey of
entrepreneurs or using third-party data.
Te Business Resilience Survey uses a twofold approach: 1.
Auditors and other experts of the RSM network are surveyed
as a homogeneous group with common education, experiences
and standards. Te results of which are presented in the
preceding chapters. 2. Simultaneously, entrepreneurs from
several countries have been interviewed during the 2015 survey.
Comparing the data, we are informed on:
? the self-perceptions of entrepreneurs (how they see
themselves) and
? the third party perceptions of entrepreneurs (how they are
seen by the RSM experts) in the countries surveyed.
Te result of the analysis demonstrates that entrepreneurs
systematically evaluate themselves better than the experts
regarding aspects asking for the institutional culture of their
companies.
Fig.16 shows an example.Te lines represent the mean of the
assessments from the RSM experts (2015experts) and the mean
of the assessments of the entrepreneurs (2015entrepreneurs)
about the service orientation of (their) companies in a country.
Te upward sloping of all lines implies that across all countries
the self evaluation of the service orientation is better than the
third party evaluation. Te slopes of the lines are roughly similar
so it can be concluded that the extent of the self evaluation
e?ect is more or less similar in all countries surveyed. It is a global
phenomenon and the ranking of the countries (Austria leading,
France and Brazil lagging behind) seems to be relatively robust.
Tis self evaluation e?ect amongst entrepreneurs can also be
found with the business culture criteria “employees’ identi?cation
with the company” (except for Austria), “willingness to
delegate authority in the company” (except for Norway) and
“willingness to foster innovativeness and creativity of the
employees”. Te strongest self evaluation e?ect arises when
the participants are asked to assess the following statement:
“Te management systematically identi?es new internal and
external risks, evaluates them and tries to limit or avoid them
(risk management).”
Te other variables show no clear self evaluation e?ect.
Furthermore, entrepreneurs and RSM experts view
macroeconomic variables more similarly than they do assess
their risk management. Any further di?erence between the
two groups may depend on country, size of the company,
internationality or other variables, but not on a global and
systematic self evaluation e?ect.
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
One goal of the entrepreneur survey was to look behind the
strategic success factors of companies. To analyse this topic,
we built up the sub-groups of companies which expect an
improvement of their business situation (successful companies)
and compared them with all companies country by country
12
.
Of the successful companies, at least 80% of the countries
surveyed saw higher means in the following areas:
Te table shows the success factors identi?ed in a vast majority
of countries. It’s striking that the survey data from the business
leaders in Brazil does not con?rm the above mentioned
relationships in many cases. Obviously, the business situation
of Brazilian companies is in?uenced by other, stronger factors,
potentially a sign of the recession mode. Te other deviations
should not be overinterpreted. Partly they are very small as in the
case of Germany.
12
Te analysis was restricted to 10 countries to make sure that enough observations are available.
3
.
0
3
.
5
4
.
0
4
.
5
Service orientation of companies
2015 experts 2015 entrepreneurs
Austria
UK
Australia
Belgium
Austria
Te Netherlands
Germany
Norway
Portugal
Brazil
France
Spain
Fig. 16: Service orientation of companies - mean assessment of
RSM experts vs. entrepreneurs
International Business Resilience Survey
12
Item E?ect observalbe
in x out of 10
countries
Exceptions from this rule in
Service orientation of the company 8/10 Brazil and France
Willingness to serve customers in di?erent languages 8/10 Portugal and France
Willingness to delegate authority within the company 9/10 Brazil
Willingness to foster innovativeness and creativity of the employees 9/10 Brazil
Use of social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) for customer loyalty 10/10 -
Company’s ability for self-organisation 8/10 Brazil and Portugal
Organisational investments in employees (e.g. training and education,
worktime ?exibility, part-time-solutions)
8/10 Brazil and Belgium
Flexible Workforce; If your plans change at short notice, e.g. due to
additional or cancelled orders, how easily can you adjust the volume of
work (e.g. in hours)?
8/10 Brazil and the Netherlands
Risk appetite of the managers 10/10 -
Employees in the company learn from di?cult situations. 8/10 Germany and Brazil
In all countries, a more intensive use of social media (Facebook,
Twitter etc.) for customer loyalty seems to be a characteristic of
companies expected to improve their business situation in the
next year. Tus, digitalisation is a worlwide matter (see also the
next chapter on China).
Te presumed managers’ risk appetite is also noteworthy. On
average, owners and business leaders of companies which are
expected to be successful see a higher risk appetite amongst
their managers. Tis relationship holds true in all countries
surveyed, although the absolute level di?ers. Te highest
di?erence between successful and less successful companies
can be found in Australia and Portugal. Further, one element
of individual resilience (“employees in the company learn from
di?cult situations”) is identi?ed in this part of the analysis. More
information on the concept of individual resilience will be given in
the next but one chapter.
III.3 Additional information on China
China took part in the entrepreneurial survey, but not in the
expert survey. Terefore, they are not part of the country
rankings in chapter II. Furthermore, 80% of the participants
were managers, not owners of the companies. However, it is a
striking result that Chinese managers emphasise the challenges
of digitalisation. Tey fear the “technology shocks to the
industry“, as a manager stated in quote. Around 70% of Chinese
participants think that digitalisation will force their company to
develop a completely new business model within the next ?ve
years. Te corresponding ?gure is 36% only for the European
countries surveyed (Fig. 17).
Te self perception among Chinese managers is that they are
very proactive. More than 73% of the managers agree with the
statement that the managers in their company are very often the
?rst to introduce new products. Tis ?gure is clearly higher than in
Europe. Accordingly, half of the Chinese managers state that they
follow a continous research strategy.
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
In addition to the survey of macroeconomic data, business
culture and organizational structures we included questions13
about the employees’ behaviour and attitudes. Te results are
labelled as individual resilience. It manifests in the employees’
behavioural and attitudinal tendencies when facing critical
situations in the organisational context. Tus, resilient managers
are theoretically characterised as not being easily thrown o?
track, and usually ?nding ways and means to deal with di?cult
situations. Further, they try to look at problems from di?erent
perspectives and have a good self re?ection on where their
strengths and weaknesses are. Finally, resilient employees are
capable of anticipating critical situations before they arise and are
willing to learn from di?cult situations afterwards.
Beside an organisation’s strategy, it is ?rst and foremost the
acting individuals with their concrete behaviour that will have an
impact on a company’s success or failure. Accordingly, individual
resilience is an essential building block in a company’s or a
country’s capability of resilience. Following the entrepreneurs’
evaluations across all countries, individual resilience is positively
related to a company’s proactive mentality. Te higher the
employees’ individual resilience, the more likely the company’s
tendency to initiate actions to which competitors then respond (r
= .35**)
14
. Furthermore, these companies are more often the ?rst
to introduce new products or services (r = .47**) and more likely
13
Te eight items are summarised in a scale to measure individual resilience. Te scale is based based on the work of Wagnild, G. M. & Young, H. M. (1993). Development and
psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement. Vol.1 (2), 165-178.
Table: Success factors
International Business Resilience Survey
13
to adopt a very competitive “undo the competition” attitude (r =
.30**). Moreover, where the individual resilience is high, the more
likely the management is to systematically identify new internal
and external risks and to evaluate and try to limit or avoid them
(r = .54**). In addition, depending on the company’s strategy
(aggressive, defensive, crisis response), individual resilience
di?ered signi?cantly with aggressive companies showing the
highest levels of individual resilience (M = 3.95)
15
whereas those
companies that reactively responded to crises revealed the
lowest levels of individual resilience (M = 3.69).
Fig. 18 illustrates the di?erence between personnel with high
versus low individual resilience that these two groups have
on di?erent organizational variables. As can be seen there is a
systematic di?erence showing that highly resilient employees
have a positive impact on company variables. When managers
with high and low levels of individual resilience are compared with
a view to strategic variables, it can be shown that highly resilient
individuals reveal a more positive expectation towards the
company’s development in the upcoming year.
On a societal level, the following results emerge. A society
that strengthens the role of entrepreneurs produces more
resilient individuals and vice versa. Furthermore, an employee-
oriented organisational culture seems to be heavily related to
individual resilience. For example, as can be seen from Fig. 18
as well, organisational investments in employees, e.g. training
and education, as well as the openness to innovations were
both higher for those employees with high individual resilience
compared to respondents with low levels of individual resilience.
Te same applies for a ?exible or more heterarchical form of
leadership within the company. Highly resilient individuals
showed a tendency to work for companies that demonstrated
the willingness to delegate authority. Even more interestingly,
resilient employees are the more committed ones. Regarding the
survey’s results, the higher the degree of individual resilience, the
higher the employees’ identi?cation with the company. Individual
and organisational resilience go hand in hand. Individuals with high
levels of resilience are more likely to be found in companies whose
existence would not be at risk even if they lost their biggest
customer.
When comparing levels of individual resilience across countries,
it becomes clear that highly resilient countries have a strong
basis in terms of their companies’ people. For example, the UK
and Germany (as two EU countries) reveal the highest levels of
individual resilience across the countries’ companies. At the same
time, both countries are marked as being rather resilient by RSM
experts as well. Taken together, there is strong evidence that a
country’s potential for resilience heavily relies on the company’s
people.
14
Pearson product-moment-correlation, statistically signi?cant on .01 level
15
Median
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Low individual resilience High individual resilience
Expectation of a
better business
situation of the
company in 2016
Willingness to
delegate authority
within the company
Willingness to
foster
innovativeness
and creativity of
the employees
Employees'
identi?cation with
the company
Te company’s
existence would not
be at risk even if
the biggest
customer would
get lost
Fig 18: Entrepreneur survey 2015: Comparison of managers with high and low levels
of individual resilience regarding several organizational variables
11.2%
27.8%
26.7%
20.9%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
n
e
it
h
e
r
a
g
r
e
e
o
r
d
is
a
g
r
e
e a
g
r
e
e
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Europe
13.4%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
a
g
r
e
e
Fig. 17: Entrepreneur survey 2015: E?ects of digitalization: China vs. Europe
(Digitalization will force our company to develop a completely new business
model within the next ?ve years)
4.8%
7.1%
19.1%
45.2%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
n
e
it
h
e
r
a
g
r
e
e
o
r
d
is
a
g
r
e
e a
g
r
e
e
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
23.8%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
a
g
r
e
e
China
International Business Resilience Survey
14
IV ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCIES
IV.1 Te role of trust
A high culture of trust lowers transaction costs, e.g. for searching,
negotiating and running a business. Trust is an important feature
of the relationships between companies and other businesses,
customers, public institutions and employees. On the country
level, the survey asks the experts to assess four dimensions of
trust: trust in banks, other businesses, political parties and the
justice system. Te results were:
? Norway, Australia, Germany and the UK have the most
positive trust culture on average across all four dimensions.
Te ranking changes slightly when trust in other businesses
and trust in the justice system are considered only.
? In some countries, the justice system or other businesses
seem to be the most trustworthy institutions according to
the RSM experts.
? A distinctive mistrust in political parties is a phenomenon
in all countries. Experts and entrepreneurs of all countries
surveyed (except Portugal and the Netherlands) rate trust
in political parties the lowest. (RSM experts see banks and
the justice system in the last positions for the Netherlands
and Portugal respectively. Norway is the only country
where more participants have trust in political parties than
mistrust. However, political parties are the least trustworthy
institution, also in Norway.)
Trust in other businesses and trust in the justice system are
signi?cantly correlated with many elements of business culture.
Both seem to be proxies for the culture of trust that enhances
the business culture of a country.
IV.2 Strategic Resilience
According to our de?nition, resilience enables gradual changes to
adapt to new situations so that structural breaks can be avoided.
Te strategic resilience ex ante is in?uenced by companies’
strategy choice, the mentality of the business leaders and the
business culture of the country.
Te resilience index will be published in 2017. Overall, we presume
that the countries’ resilience has improved because business
culture variables have particularly improved in the turnaround
countries.
V APPENDIX: ABOUT THIS SURVEY
410 auditors and other members of the RSM network (referred
to as “RSM experts” in this report) and 291 entrepreneurs
participated in the surveys in July and August 2015.
Country Participants RSM
expert survey
Participants
entrepreneurial
survey
Australia 87 43
Austria 12 6
Belgium 19 25
Brazil 86 19
China / 42
France 30 23
GCC countries 10 /
Germany 70 26
Te Netherlands 17 25
Norway 22 35
Poland
16
/ 7
Portugal 20 10
Spain 18 /
UK 19 30
410 291
16
Not part of the analysis.
International Business Resilience Survey
15
About RSM
RSM International is the seventh largest network of independent audit, tax and advisory ?rms, encompassing over 110 countries, 740
o?ces and 37,400 people internationally. Te network’s total fee income is US$4.4 billion.
RSM International is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and
recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.
RSM International is a member of the Forum of Firms. Te objective of the Forum of Firms is to promote consistent and high quality
standards of ?nancial and auditing practices worldwide.
RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory ?rms, each of which practices in its own right. RSM
International Limited does not, itself, provide any accounting or advisory services. Member ?rms are driven by a common vision of
providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs
of their client base.
www.rsm.global
Authors
Te RSM “European Business Resilience Survey” is authored by Prof. Dr. Niels Biethahn, Prof. Dr. Henning Staar, Prof. Dr. Michael
Vogelsang (all: BiTS University for Applied Sciences in Iserlohn, Hamburg and Berlin) and Dr. Amit Ghosh (INWT).
RSM Global Executive O?ce
11 Old Jewry
London
EC2R 8DU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 20 7601 1080
E: [email protected]
rsm.global
RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and consulting
?rms, each of which practices in its own right. Te network is not itself a
separate legal entity of any description in any jurisdiction.
Te network is administered by RSM International Limited, a company
registered in England and Wales (company number 4040598) whose registered
o?ce is at 11 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DU.
Te brand and trademark RSM and other intellectual property rights used
by members of the network are owned by RSM International Association,
an association governed by article 60 et seq of the Civil Code of Switzerland
whose seat is in Zug.
© RSM International Association, 2015
THE POWER OF BEING UNDERSTOOD
AUDIT | TAX | CONSULTING
doc_717339880.pdf
This report is part of the RSM Business Resilience Survey. European entrepreneurs and experts from the RSM network in Europe.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESILIENCE SURVEY
AN ASSESSMENT BY THE RSM NETWORK
THE POWER OF BEING UNDERSTOOD
AUDIT | TAX | CONSULTING
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESILIENCE SURVEY 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
STRUCTURE
I Introduction
II Te expert survey
II.1 Accelerating growth in 2016 globally
II.2 Improving business culture in Europe
II.3 Te entrepreneurial countries
II.4 Te business leaders’ mentality
II.5 Companies’ strategy
III Entrepeneurs survey
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
III.3 Additional information on China
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
IV Economic interdependencies
IV.1 Te role of trust
IV.2 Resilience
V About this survey
International Business Resilience Survey
1
INTRODUCTION
Tis report is part of the RSM Business Resilience Survey.
European entrepreneurs and experts from the RSM network
in Europe, were asked to evaluate companies’ strategy choices,
the mentality of business leaders, the business culture of their
country and key macroeconomic data.
410 auditors and other members of the RSM network (referred
to as “RSM experts” in this report) and 291 entrepreneurs from
several countries, including nine European countries, participated
in the survey in July and August 2015. See the appendix for a
table of participants.
Highlights of this report
RSM expert survey:
? With regard to sentiment and growth expectations of RSM
experts, three groups of countries could be identi?ed:
- Economically progressing countries: UK, Netherlands,
Spain
- Stable or stabilised countries: Belgium, France, Germany
and Portugal
- Apprehensive recessive countries: Austria, Brazil and
Norway. Norway fears a further decrease of oil prices
although GDP growth might be modest.
? In terms of business culture, Norway is the leading country,
followed by the Netherlands, UK and Australia.
? Te entrepreneurial spirit is the most pronounced in the UK
and the Netherlands. In both countries, entrepreneurship
is favoured with a strong reputation in the society and the
number of entrepreneurs is expected to rise in 2016. Tey
also reveal a highly proactive mentality of their business
leaders.
? Internationally active companies behave more similarly
across countries in terms of research and growth strategies
than companies with a focus on domestic markets only.
Entrepreneur survey:
? Companies which expect an improvement of their business
situation are characterised by a greater willingness to
delegate authority within the company, greater willingness
to foster the innovation and creativity of employees, more
intense use of social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) for
customer loyalty and managers‘ higher risk appetite in at
least 90% of the countries surveyed.
? Managers’ individual resilience is a linchpin for organisational
success.
? Norway, Australia, Germany and the UK have the most
positive trust culture on average across all four dimensions.
A distinctive mistrust in political parties is a phenomenon in
all countries.
III Entrepeneurs survey
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
III.3 Additional information on China
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
IV Economic interdependencies
IV.1 Te role of trust
IV.2 Resilience
V About this survey
International Business Resilience Survey
2
II THE EXPERT SURVEY
II.1 Accelerating growth in 2016 globally
Te following chapters are based on the assessments of the RSM
experts.
GDP growth is one of the most important economic variables and
it mainly relies on the activities of the companies in a country. Fig.
1 shows the predictions of the RSM experts for GDP growth rates
in 2015 and 2016
1
. Most countries are above the straight line,
indicating that growth will accelerate in 2016.
RSM experts predict that Spain will achieve the highest growth
rate of the countries surveyed and growth will accelerate in 2016
compared to 2015. Spain is a turnaround country moving away
from the economic crisis. Ranked by GDP growth rate, Spain is
followed by the UK and the Netherlands, which are countries
with a pronounced entrepreneurial stance. Te RSM experts
of Australia expect GDP growth rates above 2% in both years
although the dynamic slows down. Australia and Germany are the
only countries below the line indicating a loss of momentum in
GDP growth. Brazil is almost in a recession, but will recover in 2016
according to the RSM experts.
A parallel survey was conducted among entrepreneurs.
Except for Australia, the direction of change predicted by the
entrepreneurs corresponds to the assessment of the RSM
experts
2
.
Compared to the most recent OECD growth forecast
3
, the RSM
experts are slightly more pessimistic about the future GDP
growth rates expected in the Netherlands, UK and Spain.
Fig. 2 shows the expected growth rates in 2016 and the expected
development of the business sentiment indices
4
. RSM experts
in countries above the horizontal line expect an improvement of
the sentiment index by the end of 2016, whilst those below the
horizontal line expect a deterioration.
Te diagram clearly shows three clusters of countries:
? Economically progressing countries: UK, Netherlands, Spain.
China and the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) might also be
members of this group, but their expected growth rates
are out of reach for the other countries. On average, the
Chinese entrepreneurs surveyed expect a GDP growth rate
just under 7% in 2015 and 2016.
1
Related to the number of respondents, the 95% con?dence interval of the growth rates varies between 0.2 (Germany) and 0.6 (Norway, Portugal, NL) percentage points. Te
means are displayed in the ?gures.
2
Without the Netherlands, the mean absolute deviation in 2016 growth rates predicted by RSM experts and entrepreneurs is 0.19 percentage
points. If considering the Netherlands, the mean absolute deviation rises to 0.33 percentage points due to outlier ?gures.
4
Source:https://data.oecd.org/gdp/real-gdp-forecast.
htm#indicator-chart.
Fig.1 Real GDP growth forecast by RSM experts; 2015 and 2016
Fig.2 Real GDP growth vs. sentiment by RSM experts; 2015 and 2016 in %
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
1
.
0
1
.
5
2
.
0
2
.
5
3
.
0
Growth 2015 - %
G
r
o
w
t
h
2
0
1
6
-
%
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
-
0
+
Growth 2016 - %
S
e
n
t
i
m
e
n
t
E
x
p
e
c
t
a
t
i
o
n
s
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
International Business Resilience Survey
3
Australia Austria Brazil
Legend: purple: decrease signi?cantly (? -5%); red: decrease (-1% to -5%); blue: remain stable
green: increase (+1% to +5%); orange: increase signi?cantly (? +5%)
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
NL Norway
Fig. 3: Expected development of job vacancies in 2016
? Stable or stabilised countries: Belgium, France, Germany
and Portugal.
Te expected growth rates range from 1.4% to 1.7% and
the experts predict a slight improvement of the sentiment
indices.
? Apprehensive countries: Austria, Brazil and Norway.
Te RSM experts in these countries expect a deterioration
in the sentiment indices. Norway fears a further decrease
in oil prices although the GDP growth might be modest
5
.
Te same is true for Australia: Despite the slowdown in the
mining business, the economy grows. Australia seems to be
in a standby position, hoping for a devaluation of the AUD
or improving the business culture and developing adequate
strategies.
Te real or feared depression in these countries also comes
through in the job expectations. Te share of RSM experts
expecting a decrease in job vacancies in 2016 outweighs the
share of optimistic experts. For comparison, the Dutch data
is also displayed in Fig. 3. 64% of the RSM experts predict an
increase or strong increase in job positions in the Netherlands.
5
Te survey asked for the ESI (European Sentiment Index) for European countries and the BCI (Business Con?dence Index) for other countries.
International Business Resilience Survey
4
Te favourable position of the Netherlands is also re?ected by net
investments. Fig. 4 shows the assessment of the RSM experts on
the change in net investments.
In the UK, 95% of the RSM experts expect that net investments
will increase or strongly increase in 2016. In the Netherlands, this
share amounts to 82%. In Spain, 17% of the RSM experts predict
that net investments will increase strongly, e.g. more than 5%
compared to the previous year. Tis is a record in the survey
(green segment in the bars). Additionally, 56% of the Spanish
experts forecast a modest increase in net investments.
Fig. 5 shows a typical situation in a turnaround country like
Portugal. In 2015, 70% of the RSM experts expect an increase in
net investments in the following year compared to 50% of those
surveyed in 2014. Tis perspective emphasises the dynamics
of change. In a country with moderate but stable growth,
such as Germany, the relative majority of RSM experts (2014
survey: 48%; 2015 survey: 47%) expect a stable volume of net
investments.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
Legend: purple: decrease signi?cantly (? -5%); red: decrease (-1% to -5%); blue: remain stable; green: increase (+1% to +5%); orange: increase signi?cantly (? +5%)
Fig.4 Net investments in 2016; forecast by RSM experts
2
0
1
4
2
0
1
5
Legend: red: decrease; blue: remain stable; green: increase
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig.5 Expected change in net investments in Portugal next year; expert
survey 2014 vs. 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
5
6
A few RSM experts from countries joining the Gulf Cooperation Council also took part in the survey. Tey expect comfortable GDP growth rates, which will mainly be driven by the
expansion of government expenditure. Tey also expect a worsening of the trade balance due to the decline in oil prices. From this perspective the GCC countries are comparable to
Norway.
7
Te UK has participated in the survey for the ?rst time in 2015, therefore no change is indicated.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
Legend: red: relatively low; blue: normal; green: relatively high
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
Fig. 6: Current order backlog, RSM expert survey 2015
Tis interpretation is con?rmed when the level of order backlog
is considered. Fig. 6 shows that 36% of the RSM experts think
that the current order backlog is relatively high in Germany. Tis
is compared to corresponding shares of 0% in Australia, 5% in
Belgium and Norway, 6% in Brazil and 7% in France, recognising a
relatively high order backlog.
In summary, macroeconomic data clearly show that the countries
surveyed have di?erent positions in the macroeconomic cycle.
Overall, growth accelerates in most of the countries considered.
Top 25%
Middle 50%
Last 50%
Fig. 7: Business Culture in Europe; arrows indicating change (improvement
or worsening) in 2015 compared to 2014
II.2 Improving business culture in Europe
Business culture is an aggregate which describes the
political, organisational and social framework of a country
determining the conditions for starting a business or
running a company. In this study, the ?ve dimensions
‘society’, ‘employment’, ‘organisational culture’, ‘political
conditions’ and ‘?nancing’ with 17 elements contribute to
the business culture of a country.
Te map shows the European countries which participated
in the survey. Te arrows indicate the changes from the
previous Business Resilience Survey. All countries, except
for Belgium, could improve their business culture according
to the RSM experts
6
. Te change of business culture in
Belgium is very small and statistically not signi?cant. Spain
could achieve the greatest improvement
7
in business
culture although the absolute level is still below average.
Bear in mind it has started from a remarkably poor position
last year.
International Business Resilience Survey
6
On an international scale, Brazil approximately shares the
business culture level of Spain, whilst Australia is on the same
level as Austria. More striking, Australia achieves the best ranking
in the dimension ‘society’; however, Brazil falls in the last position.
Te most evident di?erences, according to the assessments
of the RSM experts are to be found between the educational
systems (see Fig. 8).It will be important for the next Brazilian
government to tackle this if it hopes to improve its business
culture.
Considering the dimension of Business Culture, some countries
show signi?cant changes
8
:
? Employment: signi?cant improvements in Norway
and Spain. In Norway, the organisational investment in
employees (e.g. training and education, working time
?exibility, parttime solutions) is rated much more highly
than in the year before. Facing a slow down in oil prices,
companies are choosing to invest more in human resources.
In Spain, the availability of quali?ed employees and the
willingness to employ foreign workers has improved.
8
Statistically signi?cant at least on a .05 level (employment and ?nancing in Spain on .1 level).
9
rankings benchmarked to June 2015 , published by World Bank Group; Source: http://
www.doingbusiness.org/rankings;
10
Date of data collection or release: 1st September 2015; published by the World Economic Forum, source:http://reports.weforum.org/global-
competitiveness-report-2015-2016/competitiveness-rankings/
A
u
s
t
r
a
l
i
a
B
r
a
z
i
l
Legend: purple: very poor; red: poor; blue: neutral; green: good; orange: very good
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig. 8: Comparison of the evaluation of the educational systems by RSM
experts: Brazil vs. Australia
? Financing: signi?cant improvement in France, Germany,
Portugal, Spain and Norway. In Euro countries, the e?ect
could be related to the expansive monetary policy of the
European Central Bank. In Norway, the surplus of the
sovereign wealth fund adds to liquidity.
? Organisational culture: signi?cant improvement in France.
According to the French RSM experts, the willingness
to serve customers in di?erent languages has improved
strongly. French businesses have also started to act more
intensively on an international playing ?eld.
? Political conditions: signi?cant improvement in France and
Norway. In France especially, the tax system was rated
more business-friendly than the year before. In Norway,
bureaucracy seems to be less burdensome.
? Society: signi?cant improvement in Spain. Te fostering of
entrepreneurship by schools, universities, politics and the
reputation of entrepreneurs in society have improved since
the last year according to the Spanish RSM experts.
Te changes in business culture re?ect the dynamics of change,
but the levels of the di?erent elements are far di?erent between
the countries. For example, the next diagram shows the
availability of bank loans according to the RSM experts:
Although the situation has improved in Spain and France since the
last survey, the overall availability of bank loans is still better in
Norway and Germany. In the Netherlands, it is more di?cult to be
?nanced by banks. While Dutch banks were directly a?ected by
the banking crisis, the Netherlands are the second best country
regarding the availability of risk ?nancing (after Norway).
To summarise, in the ranking of business culture of all
participating countries, Norway is the leading country, followed
by the Netherlands, the UK and Australia. Compared to the Doing
Business Index
9
and the World Competitiveness Index
10
, the rank
correlation coe?cients of the countries surveyed amount to 0.71
and 0.75 respectively. Te Doing Business Index states that the
UK, Norway, Australia and Germany form the top 4. According
to the World Competitiveness Index, the top group consists of
Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Norway.
International Business Resilience Survey
7
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France GCC Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
Legend: purple: very poor; red: poor; blue: neutral; green: good; purple: very good
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
Fig. 9: Expert Survey 2015 - availability of bank loans
?0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
?
0
.
2
0
.
0
0
.
2
0
.
4
0
.
6
Change in number of entrepreneurs
R
e
p
u
t
a
t
i
o
n
o
f
e
n
t
r
e
p
r
e
n
e
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r
s
i
n
s
o
c
i
e
t
y
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
The Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
I II
III IV
Fig. 10: Presumed development of the number of entrepreneurs
vs. reputation of the entrepreneurs in the society
II.3 Te entrepreneurial countries
Te di?erences in economic dynamics can also be seen in the
expected change in the number of entrepreneurs in a country.
Fig. 10 shows the means of the assessments from the RSM
experts.
For those countries right of the vertical line the relative majority
of RSM experts expect the number of entrepreneurs (owner-
manager with at least ten employees) to increase in 2016,
whereas those countries to the left are expected to decrease.
In all countries above the horizontal line, the relative majority of
RSM experts believe that the reputation of entrepreneurs in the
society is good or very good.
Te resulting quadrants could be interpreted as:
? Quadrant I: Entrepreneurial spirit
Led by the UK, entrepreneurship is favoured by a high
reputation in the society and the number of entrepreneurs
is expected to rise in 2016.
? Quadrant II: Lack of momentum
On the one hand, the reputation of entrepreneurs is above
average in Norway and Germany. But on the other hand, the
number of entrepreneurs is expected to decrease in 2016.
In Germany, this is related to the very strong labour market
and the combination of good protection and high earnings
which can be achieved by managers inside companies. Also,
the intended work-life balance may also be seen a a stall to
entrepreneurship. In Norway, the prospects are depressed
due to the slowdown in oil prices, as can clearly be seen in
the sentiment index (see Fig. 2).
International Business Resilience Survey
8
Dimension: proactivity
high
2014 (blue) and 2015 (green)
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
France
Germany
Te Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
UK
low
Fig. 11: Dimension proactiveness across countries in 2015 (and, where available, in 2014)
11
Unemployment rates in July 2015, seasonally adjusted; Source: Eurostat;http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6976371/3-01092015-AP-EN.pdf
? Quadrant III: Danger
It is a sign of danger for an economy when the reputation
of entrepreneurs is low and the number of entrepreneurs is
expected to slow down, as in Brazil.
? Quadrant IV: Exceptional entrepreneurs
Despite the reputation of entrepreneurs in the society
being below average, the number of entrepreneurs is
expected to rise in France and Portugal. Te labour market
is still stressed by the most recent unemployment rates
11
of 10.4 % in France and 12.4% in Portugal, which could be an
explanation for this phenomenon.
In summary, the strength of entrepreneurial spirit di?ers
enormously among the countries surveyed. Tis re?ects the
business leaders’ mentality (see next chapter) as well as the
macroeconomic situation per country.
II.4 Te mentality of business leaders
Te mentality of a countries’ business leaders can be shown by
their proactiveness when introducing new services, products
or processes. In this way, they are actively initiating or passively
responding to actions of other competitors in the market.
Finally, proactiveness manifests itself in the business leaders’
attitude towards being risk-friendly or risk-averse. Two aspects
are notable in the comparison of the global index values of
proactiveness across all evaluated countries, two aspects are
eye-catching.
Fig.11 shows the subdimension proactivity in alphabetic order.
Firstly, it’s noticeable that business leaders in the UK show
the highest degree of proactiveness of all countries surveyed
and they are more risk-friendly than the country average. Tis
mentality of being proactive and taking initative is consistent
among the di?erent facets of proactiveness. Compared to
the other countries, especially from Europe, business leaders
from the UK rather proactively initiate actions to which other
competitors have to respond, and they are more often the ones to
introduce new products, services and processes. Finally, business
leaders in the UK tend to adopt a signi?cantly more competitive
“undo the competition” attitude than avoiding competitive
clashes with a more passive “live and let live” attitude (e.g. 53%
vs. 24% of other EU countries).
A second prominent result in the country comparison of
proactiveness lies in the developmental change in the business
leaders’ mentality over time. On that note, the Dutch business
leaders are of interest. Being slightly above the level of the
European average regarding their proactiveness in 2015, these
current tendencies seem to be developed recently. With a view
to the results from 2014, it becomes clear that there has been a
signi?cant attitudinal change.
International Business Resilience Survey
9
Netherlands
2015
2014
0%
11.8%
41.2% 41.2%
5.9%
0%
1
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2 3 4 5
very seldom the ?rst
to initiate innovation
Legend: In dealing with its competitors, business leaders in the Netherlands...
very often the ?rst
to initiate innovation
Fig. 12: Evaluation of Dutch business leaders by RSM experts in 2014 and 2015
As such, results on the Dutch business leaders’ proactiveness
indicate a signi?cant increase compared to 2014. Fig. 12 shows
the Dutch business leaders’ frequency distribution on their
tendency to introduce new products, services and processes
for 2014 and 2015. From the perspective of the RSM experts
they are more likely to be the ?rst to introduce new products or
services etc. and they have adopted a more competitive attitude
within the last year. In detail, compared to the EU average, Dutch
business leaders tend to proactively initiate actions to which
other competitors have to respond. Te data also demonstrates
that Australia is not so far from the EU average. One might say
that Australia’s business leaders reveal themselves as having
a ‘European’ mentality. According to the RSM experts, both the
proactiveness of the Australian business leaders as well as their
risk attitude corresponds to the European averages.
II.5 Strategy of companies: Strategic convergence of
internationally active companies
Companies aim to expand internationally. But on country level,
the degree of internationalisation di?ers clearly. Te RSM experts
in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Spain and Portugal all feel
that companies in the industrial and manufacturing sector have a
strong focus on the worldwide market (Fig.13).
In France, the RSM experts see the highest share of companies
focusing on European rather than on the worldwide markets.
Te lowest internationalisation degrees can be found in Australia
and Brazil, a consequence of geography (Australia) and economic
development (Brazil).
Te internationalisation strategy and the other strategic variables
are interdependent.
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil France Germany NL Norway Portugal Spain UK
teal = worldwide, blue = continent (e.g. Europe), purple = the domestic market
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
Fig 13: Internationalization strategy, expert survey 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
10
Te top diagram (Fig. 14) shows the assessment of RSM experts
regarding all internationally active companies. Te bottom
diagram (Fig.14) shows the view on companies, which focus on
the domestic market only. Obviously, research is integral for
internationally orientated companies. At the other end of the
spectrum, 23% of RSM experts surveyed characterise companies
focused on the domestic market only as conducting research
‘hardly’ or ‘never’.
Te ?nding that internationally orientated companies are more
active can also be con?rmed by other aspects.
Fig.15 shows that internationally orientated companies in EU
countries are more aggressive than domestically orientated
companies according to the RSM experts. Te same e?ect can
be found worldwide. Furthermore, internationally orientated
companies clearly focus more on quality leadership than on price
leadership and they rely more on an external growth strategy
than on an organic growth strategy.
A strategic convergence of internationally orientated companies
can be concluded. Te country speci?c di?erences are more
pronounced with domestically orientated companies. For
example, only 12% of RSM experts see a price leadership
prevailing in Germany, but the shares are 44% and 50% in Spain
and Portugal respectively.
58.1%
38.1%
3.1%
0.7%
... c
o
n
t
in
o
u
s
ly
... s
o
m
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t
im
e
s
... h
a
r
d
ly
... n
e
v
e
r
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Fig. 14: Internationally orientated companies focus more on research, expert
survey 2015
Estimated share of aggressive companies
domestically
orientated companies
0
%
2
0
%
4
0
%
6
0
%
8
0
%
1
0
0
%
internationally
orientated companies
average assesment (median)
average value, medial
50% (median)
Fig. 15: Internationally orientated companies are more aggressive, (expert
survey, EU)
25%
52.3%
22.2%
0.5%
... c
o
n
t
in
o
u
s
ly
... s
o
m
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t
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s
... h
a
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d
ly
... n
e
v
e
r
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Fig. 14: Domestic orientated companies focus more on research, expert
survey 2015
International Business Resilience Survey
11
III SURVEY OF ENTREPRENEURS
III.1 Self-perception vs. third party perception
Te Business Resilience Survey examines the interdependencies
between companies’ strategies, business culture and
macroeconomic variables. Generally, there are two possibilities
for exploring the topic: analysing data based on a survey of
entrepreneurs or using third-party data.
Te Business Resilience Survey uses a twofold approach: 1.
Auditors and other experts of the RSM network are surveyed
as a homogeneous group with common education, experiences
and standards. Te results of which are presented in the
preceding chapters. 2. Simultaneously, entrepreneurs from
several countries have been interviewed during the 2015 survey.
Comparing the data, we are informed on:
? the self-perceptions of entrepreneurs (how they see
themselves) and
? the third party perceptions of entrepreneurs (how they are
seen by the RSM experts) in the countries surveyed.
Te result of the analysis demonstrates that entrepreneurs
systematically evaluate themselves better than the experts
regarding aspects asking for the institutional culture of their
companies.
Fig.16 shows an example.Te lines represent the mean of the
assessments from the RSM experts (2015experts) and the mean
of the assessments of the entrepreneurs (2015entrepreneurs)
about the service orientation of (their) companies in a country.
Te upward sloping of all lines implies that across all countries
the self evaluation of the service orientation is better than the
third party evaluation. Te slopes of the lines are roughly similar
so it can be concluded that the extent of the self evaluation
e?ect is more or less similar in all countries surveyed. It is a global
phenomenon and the ranking of the countries (Austria leading,
France and Brazil lagging behind) seems to be relatively robust.
Tis self evaluation e?ect amongst entrepreneurs can also be
found with the business culture criteria “employees’ identi?cation
with the company” (except for Austria), “willingness to
delegate authority in the company” (except for Norway) and
“willingness to foster innovativeness and creativity of the
employees”. Te strongest self evaluation e?ect arises when
the participants are asked to assess the following statement:
“Te management systematically identi?es new internal and
external risks, evaluates them and tries to limit or avoid them
(risk management).”
Te other variables show no clear self evaluation e?ect.
Furthermore, entrepreneurs and RSM experts view
macroeconomic variables more similarly than they do assess
their risk management. Any further di?erence between the
two groups may depend on country, size of the company,
internationality or other variables, but not on a global and
systematic self evaluation e?ect.
III.2 Te characteristics of successful companies
One goal of the entrepreneur survey was to look behind the
strategic success factors of companies. To analyse this topic,
we built up the sub-groups of companies which expect an
improvement of their business situation (successful companies)
and compared them with all companies country by country
12
.
Of the successful companies, at least 80% of the countries
surveyed saw higher means in the following areas:
Te table shows the success factors identi?ed in a vast majority
of countries. It’s striking that the survey data from the business
leaders in Brazil does not con?rm the above mentioned
relationships in many cases. Obviously, the business situation
of Brazilian companies is in?uenced by other, stronger factors,
potentially a sign of the recession mode. Te other deviations
should not be overinterpreted. Partly they are very small as in the
case of Germany.
12
Te analysis was restricted to 10 countries to make sure that enough observations are available.
3
.
0
3
.
5
4
.
0
4
.
5
Service orientation of companies
2015 experts 2015 entrepreneurs
Austria
UK
Australia
Belgium
Austria
Te Netherlands
Germany
Norway
Portugal
Brazil
France
Spain
Fig. 16: Service orientation of companies - mean assessment of
RSM experts vs. entrepreneurs
International Business Resilience Survey
12
Item E?ect observalbe
in x out of 10
countries
Exceptions from this rule in
Service orientation of the company 8/10 Brazil and France
Willingness to serve customers in di?erent languages 8/10 Portugal and France
Willingness to delegate authority within the company 9/10 Brazil
Willingness to foster innovativeness and creativity of the employees 9/10 Brazil
Use of social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) for customer loyalty 10/10 -
Company’s ability for self-organisation 8/10 Brazil and Portugal
Organisational investments in employees (e.g. training and education,
worktime ?exibility, part-time-solutions)
8/10 Brazil and Belgium
Flexible Workforce; If your plans change at short notice, e.g. due to
additional or cancelled orders, how easily can you adjust the volume of
work (e.g. in hours)?
8/10 Brazil and the Netherlands
Risk appetite of the managers 10/10 -
Employees in the company learn from di?cult situations. 8/10 Germany and Brazil
In all countries, a more intensive use of social media (Facebook,
Twitter etc.) for customer loyalty seems to be a characteristic of
companies expected to improve their business situation in the
next year. Tus, digitalisation is a worlwide matter (see also the
next chapter on China).
Te presumed managers’ risk appetite is also noteworthy. On
average, owners and business leaders of companies which are
expected to be successful see a higher risk appetite amongst
their managers. Tis relationship holds true in all countries
surveyed, although the absolute level di?ers. Te highest
di?erence between successful and less successful companies
can be found in Australia and Portugal. Further, one element
of individual resilience (“employees in the company learn from
di?cult situations”) is identi?ed in this part of the analysis. More
information on the concept of individual resilience will be given in
the next but one chapter.
III.3 Additional information on China
China took part in the entrepreneurial survey, but not in the
expert survey. Terefore, they are not part of the country
rankings in chapter II. Furthermore, 80% of the participants
were managers, not owners of the companies. However, it is a
striking result that Chinese managers emphasise the challenges
of digitalisation. Tey fear the “technology shocks to the
industry“, as a manager stated in quote. Around 70% of Chinese
participants think that digitalisation will force their company to
develop a completely new business model within the next ?ve
years. Te corresponding ?gure is 36% only for the European
countries surveyed (Fig. 17).
Te self perception among Chinese managers is that they are
very proactive. More than 73% of the managers agree with the
statement that the managers in their company are very often the
?rst to introduce new products. Tis ?gure is clearly higher than in
Europe. Accordingly, half of the Chinese managers state that they
follow a continous research strategy.
III.4 Individual resilience and economic success
In addition to the survey of macroeconomic data, business
culture and organizational structures we included questions13
about the employees’ behaviour and attitudes. Te results are
labelled as individual resilience. It manifests in the employees’
behavioural and attitudinal tendencies when facing critical
situations in the organisational context. Tus, resilient managers
are theoretically characterised as not being easily thrown o?
track, and usually ?nding ways and means to deal with di?cult
situations. Further, they try to look at problems from di?erent
perspectives and have a good self re?ection on where their
strengths and weaknesses are. Finally, resilient employees are
capable of anticipating critical situations before they arise and are
willing to learn from di?cult situations afterwards.
Beside an organisation’s strategy, it is ?rst and foremost the
acting individuals with their concrete behaviour that will have an
impact on a company’s success or failure. Accordingly, individual
resilience is an essential building block in a company’s or a
country’s capability of resilience. Following the entrepreneurs’
evaluations across all countries, individual resilience is positively
related to a company’s proactive mentality. Te higher the
employees’ individual resilience, the more likely the company’s
tendency to initiate actions to which competitors then respond (r
= .35**)
14
. Furthermore, these companies are more often the ?rst
to introduce new products or services (r = .47**) and more likely
13
Te eight items are summarised in a scale to measure individual resilience. Te scale is based based on the work of Wagnild, G. M. & Young, H. M. (1993). Development and
psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement. Vol.1 (2), 165-178.
Table: Success factors
International Business Resilience Survey
13
to adopt a very competitive “undo the competition” attitude (r =
.30**). Moreover, where the individual resilience is high, the more
likely the management is to systematically identify new internal
and external risks and to evaluate and try to limit or avoid them
(r = .54**). In addition, depending on the company’s strategy
(aggressive, defensive, crisis response), individual resilience
di?ered signi?cantly with aggressive companies showing the
highest levels of individual resilience (M = 3.95)
15
whereas those
companies that reactively responded to crises revealed the
lowest levels of individual resilience (M = 3.69).
Fig. 18 illustrates the di?erence between personnel with high
versus low individual resilience that these two groups have
on di?erent organizational variables. As can be seen there is a
systematic di?erence showing that highly resilient employees
have a positive impact on company variables. When managers
with high and low levels of individual resilience are compared with
a view to strategic variables, it can be shown that highly resilient
individuals reveal a more positive expectation towards the
company’s development in the upcoming year.
On a societal level, the following results emerge. A society
that strengthens the role of entrepreneurs produces more
resilient individuals and vice versa. Furthermore, an employee-
oriented organisational culture seems to be heavily related to
individual resilience. For example, as can be seen from Fig. 18
as well, organisational investments in employees, e.g. training
and education, as well as the openness to innovations were
both higher for those employees with high individual resilience
compared to respondents with low levels of individual resilience.
Te same applies for a ?exible or more heterarchical form of
leadership within the company. Highly resilient individuals
showed a tendency to work for companies that demonstrated
the willingness to delegate authority. Even more interestingly,
resilient employees are the more committed ones. Regarding the
survey’s results, the higher the degree of individual resilience, the
higher the employees’ identi?cation with the company. Individual
and organisational resilience go hand in hand. Individuals with high
levels of resilience are more likely to be found in companies whose
existence would not be at risk even if they lost their biggest
customer.
When comparing levels of individual resilience across countries,
it becomes clear that highly resilient countries have a strong
basis in terms of their companies’ people. For example, the UK
and Germany (as two EU countries) reveal the highest levels of
individual resilience across the countries’ companies. At the same
time, both countries are marked as being rather resilient by RSM
experts as well. Taken together, there is strong evidence that a
country’s potential for resilience heavily relies on the company’s
people.
14
Pearson product-moment-correlation, statistically signi?cant on .01 level
15
Median
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Low individual resilience High individual resilience
Expectation of a
better business
situation of the
company in 2016
Willingness to
delegate authority
within the company
Willingness to
foster
innovativeness
and creativity of
the employees
Employees'
identi?cation with
the company
Te company’s
existence would not
be at risk even if
the biggest
customer would
get lost
Fig 18: Entrepreneur survey 2015: Comparison of managers with high and low levels
of individual resilience regarding several organizational variables
11.2%
27.8%
26.7%
20.9%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
n
e
it
h
e
r
a
g
r
e
e
o
r
d
is
a
g
r
e
e a
g
r
e
e
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Europe
13.4%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
a
g
r
e
e
Fig. 17: Entrepreneur survey 2015: E?ects of digitalization: China vs. Europe
(Digitalization will force our company to develop a completely new business
model within the next ?ve years)
4.8%
7.1%
19.1%
45.2%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
d
is
a
g
r
e
e
n
e
it
h
e
r
a
g
r
e
e
o
r
d
is
a
g
r
e
e a
g
r
e
e
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
23.8%
s
t
r
o
n
g
ly
a
g
r
e
e
China
International Business Resilience Survey
14
IV ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCIES
IV.1 Te role of trust
A high culture of trust lowers transaction costs, e.g. for searching,
negotiating and running a business. Trust is an important feature
of the relationships between companies and other businesses,
customers, public institutions and employees. On the country
level, the survey asks the experts to assess four dimensions of
trust: trust in banks, other businesses, political parties and the
justice system. Te results were:
? Norway, Australia, Germany and the UK have the most
positive trust culture on average across all four dimensions.
Te ranking changes slightly when trust in other businesses
and trust in the justice system are considered only.
? In some countries, the justice system or other businesses
seem to be the most trustworthy institutions according to
the RSM experts.
? A distinctive mistrust in political parties is a phenomenon
in all countries. Experts and entrepreneurs of all countries
surveyed (except Portugal and the Netherlands) rate trust
in political parties the lowest. (RSM experts see banks and
the justice system in the last positions for the Netherlands
and Portugal respectively. Norway is the only country
where more participants have trust in political parties than
mistrust. However, political parties are the least trustworthy
institution, also in Norway.)
Trust in other businesses and trust in the justice system are
signi?cantly correlated with many elements of business culture.
Both seem to be proxies for the culture of trust that enhances
the business culture of a country.
IV.2 Strategic Resilience
According to our de?nition, resilience enables gradual changes to
adapt to new situations so that structural breaks can be avoided.
Te strategic resilience ex ante is in?uenced by companies’
strategy choice, the mentality of the business leaders and the
business culture of the country.
Te resilience index will be published in 2017. Overall, we presume
that the countries’ resilience has improved because business
culture variables have particularly improved in the turnaround
countries.
V APPENDIX: ABOUT THIS SURVEY
410 auditors and other members of the RSM network (referred
to as “RSM experts” in this report) and 291 entrepreneurs
participated in the surveys in July and August 2015.
Country Participants RSM
expert survey
Participants
entrepreneurial
survey
Australia 87 43
Austria 12 6
Belgium 19 25
Brazil 86 19
China / 42
France 30 23
GCC countries 10 /
Germany 70 26
Te Netherlands 17 25
Norway 22 35
Poland
16
/ 7
Portugal 20 10
Spain 18 /
UK 19 30
410 291
16
Not part of the analysis.
International Business Resilience Survey
15
About RSM
RSM International is the seventh largest network of independent audit, tax and advisory ?rms, encompassing over 110 countries, 740
o?ces and 37,400 people internationally. Te network’s total fee income is US$4.4 billion.
RSM International is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and
recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.
RSM International is a member of the Forum of Firms. Te objective of the Forum of Firms is to promote consistent and high quality
standards of ?nancial and auditing practices worldwide.
RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory ?rms, each of which practices in its own right. RSM
International Limited does not, itself, provide any accounting or advisory services. Member ?rms are driven by a common vision of
providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs
of their client base.
www.rsm.global
Authors
Te RSM “European Business Resilience Survey” is authored by Prof. Dr. Niels Biethahn, Prof. Dr. Henning Staar, Prof. Dr. Michael
Vogelsang (all: BiTS University for Applied Sciences in Iserlohn, Hamburg and Berlin) and Dr. Amit Ghosh (INWT).
RSM Global Executive O?ce
11 Old Jewry
London
EC2R 8DU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 20 7601 1080
E: [email protected]
rsm.global
RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and consulting
?rms, each of which practices in its own right. Te network is not itself a
separate legal entity of any description in any jurisdiction.
Te network is administered by RSM International Limited, a company
registered in England and Wales (company number 4040598) whose registered
o?ce is at 11 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DU.
Te brand and trademark RSM and other intellectual property rights used
by members of the network are owned by RSM International Association,
an association governed by article 60 et seq of the Civil Code of Switzerland
whose seat is in Zug.
© RSM International Association, 2015
THE POWER OF BEING UNDERSTOOD
AUDIT | TAX | CONSULTING
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