This 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 and 291 entrepreneurs from several countries, including nine European countries, participated in the survey in July and August 2015.

Highlights of this report

 

RSM expert survey:
 

With regard to sentiment and growth expectations of RSM experts, three groups of countries could be identified:

  • 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.

The 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. They 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.