For the first time since the global survey began in 2003, the pessimism
is now increasing and Sweden is one of the most pessimistic countries. What 74
percent of the Swedish companies fear the most is a falling demand. No other
country has as much concern for this as Sweden. In other countries people worry
over the lack of credit, higher energy prices, increased labor costs, reduced
foreign investment, etc.
The emerging economies remain positive.
The difference in belief for the future between emerging economies and
traditional economies is striking. Indian companies are still very optimistic
about the future. Sweden currently has a negative balance measure of -40 *,
which means considerable pessimism.
The graph below shows the development of some of the
major economies since 2003. (China was included in the investigation in 2006
for the first time.) Values below 0 indicate pessimism and values above 0 indicate
optimism.
- Swedish companies tend to be extremely optimistic, but in our
investigation, we see a bleak picture of the coming year, says Peter Bodin, CEO
of Grant Thornton. But we should remember that many growth companies created
their success during a recession. Our survey covers only private-owned
enterprises, no listed companies. The advantage of the private-led businesses
in these times is that they are more flexible and can quickly make changes. We
give our customers the advice to have an action plan in emergency cases and act
quickly to meet the short-term liquidity situation. At the same time, they need
to be cold and develop a strategic long-term plan to manage the new business
mode that is now emerging. What is needed now is an incentive to get the demand
from consumers, concludes Peter Bodin.
* The balance measure -40 was calculated by taking the proportion of
optimistic companies and reduce the proportion of pessimistic. The companies that
indicate neither is excluded. For Sweden, the results look like this: Very
optimistic 1%, a little optimistic 14%, a little pessimistic 48%, very
pessimistic 7%About the Grant Thornton report:The investigation took place October-November 2008 with 7200 business leaders
to privately-owned companies in 36 countries. In Sweden has 400 medium-sized
companies with between 50-500 employees been interviewed. The survey was conducted
by Experian Business Strategies Limited.
The investigation began originally in 1992, then with a European focus, but
since 2003 it is a global focus