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Businesses in the world’s three biggest economies, the United States, China and Japan, are increasingly feeling the heat when it comes to recruiting skilled staff. Given that these countries together represent over a third of global output, a deficit of skilled staff could have a significant knock-on effect on economic growth not just in these economies but beyond.

New research shows that rising optimism in Quebec is feeding into brighter business growth prospects but that bureaucracy is constraining those very same growth plans. The results from Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR), a survey of 2,500 senior executives in 34 economies, reveals that despite the roadblocks, businesses in Quebec are focused on incentivising productivity improvement and enhancing sales force effectiveness in a bid to boost growth over the next 12 months.

We believe that dynamic organisations need to apply both reason and instinct to decision making. Deciding which markets your business should operate in is no different.

Investment Sentiment and Outlook

Two in five mid-market businesses around the world either currently outsource a back-office process, or plans to in the near future.

Dynamic businesses at the forefront of M&A activity highlights an increasing importance for M&A in driving growth. There is a clear acknowledgment from the 12,500 businesses surveyed that acquisitions will be needed to supplement existing operations.

24%: that is the proportion of women holding the most senior roles in businesses across the globe.

Developers, property companies, investors and homeowners suffered disproportionately during the financial crisis. But now, finally, expectations for profitability, jobs and orders are all on the rise.

DBiV

The role of leaders in creating successful businesses and driving growth is crucial. How these leaders run their teams and make decisions can be the difference between success and failure. But do the leadership characteristics displayed by leaders vary from region to region?

Drawing on data and insight from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The global economy in 2014 answers these questions and more.

Investment Sentiment and Outlook Quarter 4, 2013

Presidential elections in some of the world’s largest economies, the sovereign debt crisis and the US fiscal cliff have all contributed to a global sense of economic uncertainty. How are major and developing markets faring in the face of these developments and what does the year ahead have in store?

These are the results of the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013, an annual research project designed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which ranks the development of the business growth environments of 60 of the world's largest economies over the past 12 months.

Doing Business in Vietnam 2013

Doing Business in Vietnam 2012