Insights

Building a Sustainable Business – 360 Degrees explores six key pillars for sustainable growth, combining strategic insights, best practices, and real-world examples to help businesses build resilience and thrive in an uncertain economy

A system that only works ‘well enough’ today will be far out of its depth tomorrow, as the rest of the industry optimises for greater speed, efficiency, and customer service quality. Because digital transformation/enablement takes time, companies cannot afford to wait until they are noticeably falling behind in order to upgrade their systems and processes.

Thailand would still be unable to return to its pre-COVID economic trajectory. The problem boils down to simple demographics. Thailand, like a number of other countries, is currently undergoing a pair of developments whose implications are hugely underappreciated.

Is Thailand’s economic recovery now beginning in earnest? Our new analysis lays out the challenges that remain for business – and our recommendations for dealing with them effectively.

Thailand’s business leaders once again show modest, but increasing, levels of business confidence when compared with their counterparts across APAC and around the world, according to Grant Thornton’s global research for H2 2020. The study also reveals especially high levels of economic uncertainty, along with the widespread belief that the Thai government could play a greater role in the country’s economic recovery moving forward.

Grant Thornton’s global research reveals that the business confidence among company leaders in APAC stands at 62%, a remarkably high total for a region that has been badly affected by the slowdown in international travel. This total is 6 percentage points higher than in H2 2019, and a full 15 percentage points above H1 2020 levels. The high level of confidence is especially notable because the same group of respondents also predicted a worsening of several key business constraints over the coming 12-month period.

H2 2020 brought significant improvements in business confidence around the world, according to Grant Thornton’s global research. The change includes a 14% rise in global business confidence over the corresponding H1 2020 totals, alongside double-digit increases in several related categories. Survey respondents from across the business world likewise indicated their intention to increase investment across multiple areas over the next 12 months.

As a new and unpredictable decade dawns, the business world looks forward with its optimism largely intact, according to Grant Thornton’s latest International Business Report (IBR). Leaders in mid-market companies around the world delivered an average optimism score of 59% in H2 2019, a rise of 3% over the first half of the year. This modest improvement is an encouraging contrast to the two consecutive declines that preceded it, although there remains a long way to climb before reaching H1 2018’s high of 69% global optimism.

In a world shaped by COVID-19, agility differentiates the winners from everybody else. Here we describe the concrete steps that Grant Thornton has taken – and you too can take – to stay on a profitable pathway in this new climate.

New technology will be an essential component of COVID-19 recovery, but effective leaders must also empower their people.

The office of the future may have already arrived, thanks to COVID-19. But what should organisations expect when their employees get used to working from home?

As they strive to meet the extraordinary challenges of the day, business leaders must also consider how they will adapt to the post-COVID-19 landscape.

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will be far-reaching. However, by working together, we can learn from this crisis and build a better future.

Teams from Grant Thornton’s Singapore and Thailand firms recently planted 10,000 mangroves as part of their commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Despite the challenges facing the Thai economy, businesses in Thailand can succeed in 2020 by reducing overheads, conserving cash, improving efficiency of internal structures, and focusing on customer service.

Sustainability is vital to an organisation’s success. Team-building activities are an excellent way to generate ideas for improving sustainability.