@Risk

Has your company spent the last few years adjusting to a “new normal?”

For many firms, the answer to that question is an unequivocal “yes.”

Without a doubt, pressures from the global economy have transformed business practices throughout the enterprise, and recently released key issues research from The Hackett Group confirmed that many large companies are adapting to a new status quo characterized by increased volatility and uncertainty in:

• demand,
• cost of raw materials and energy, and
• availability of talent.

In fact, nearly one in five companies in The Hackett Group’s 2012 study said they expect to see 25 percent or more volatility in these areas over the next two to three years.

How will companies adapt? The research shows that many companies are focusing on: (more…)

Even though business executives from around the world may be disgruntled with their jobs, most are planning to sit tight in their positions –at least for now.

Accenture recently conducted an online survey of 3,900 business executives from medium to large companies in 31 countries and found that:

• More than half of both the women (57 percent) and men (59 percent) surveyed are dissatisfied with their jobs. But even so . .  .
• More than two-thirds (69 percent) of all respondents said they do not plan to leave their current employers. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) cited flexible work arrangements as the reason for staying put.
• Underscoring earlier research which indicated a growing concern for work-life balance, the majority (59 percent) of respondents reported having some type of flexible work schedule. More than four in ten (44 percent) of this group said they have used flexible work options for more than three years. (more…)

What’s the biggest headache for corporate finance executives these days?

No surprise –it’s the unpredictable global economy.

According to a recent poll of 435 CFOs, corporate treasurers and other senior finance executives, nearly three-fourths (72 percent) agreed their top concern is managing financial uncertainty, including the risks associated with credit, liquidity, interest rates and currency/foreign exchange.

In addition, more than one-third of respondents are worried about risks associated with:

• macroeconomic conditions, such as the pace of economic growth and inflation (38 percent)
• business/operations, including supply chain and/or production disruptions, litigation, labor and outsourcing (36 percent)

External risks (country, regulatory, natural disaster) and commodity risks (power/heat, crude oil & distillates, agricultural and metals) also emerged as concerns for a significant share of the organizations polled, but to a lesser degree.

And, four in ten respondents (41 percent) said they expect even more earnings uncertainty in the coming years.

The survey results, released last month by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), also revealed that: (more…)

The results are clear: Private companies in the US are focused on growth.

PwC’s latest Private Company Trendsetter Barometer found that more than three-fourths (78 percent) of the 250 CEOs polled expect positive growth over the next 12 months. About four out of ten (43 percent) anticipate single-digit growth, and more than one-third (35 percent) are projecting double-digit growth.

Overall, these results indicate the rate of expected growth for Trendsetter companies has risen 18 percent.

Hiring projections for the next 12 months are on the upswing, too.

More than half (54 percent) of the CEOs responding said they intend to add to their workforce over the next  year –that’s up from 48 percent the prior quarter. Just 3 percent believe they’ll reduce headcount, with an overall 2.0 percent increase projected for private companies’ composite workforce.

PwC looked specifically at export revenue and found that internationally active Trendsetter companies forecast a 9.6 percent revenue growth rate over the next year. (more…)

Any recovery currently underway in the US auto industry could be completely undermined by China’s illegal trading practices, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers.

In a press release issued last week, the AAM says that more than 400,000 jobs in the US auto supply chain have been lost since 2000 and another 1.6 million US jobs are at risk unless China’s illegal trading practices are curtailed. These forecasts are derived from data in three separate reports: (more…)