Business constraints

The latest findings of the Grant Thornton International Business Report 2009 (IBR) highlight the fact that shortage of orders was the biggest constraint on the expansion of privately held businesses in Hong Kong and mainland China. More than half (55%) of the mainland businesses surveyed ranked it as the greatest barrier, while 47% of Hong Kong businesses put it at the top of its list of business constraints.

Women in business

The report also reveals that women occupied senior management positions in 80% of Hong Kong’s privately held businesses, maintaining the city’s fifth ranking among the 36 economies surveyed. On the other hand, 81% of business in mainland China had females in senior roles.

Within the Cross Strait Tri-Region, Taiwan had made the greatest progress in raising the proportion of businesses with women in senior management. This jumped from 80% in 2007 to 91% in 2009, while its ranking climbed from seventh to second place.  

M&As and IPOs

The survey showed that attitudes about acquisitions and public listings among privately held businesses in mainland China changed more than in any other economy, which echoes the current turbulent economic environment. Among the 36 economies surveyed, mainland China registered the second biggest decline in interest about acquisitions, with 26% fewer businesses intending to make takeover bids than last year.

Mainland China also showed the world’s biggest nosedive in the number of businesses expecting to launch a public listing within the next three years. Whereas a year ago, 60% of privately held businesses in mainland China were bullish about listing, this year’s figure was just 20%. The proportion of Hong Kong businesses contemplating such a move also decreased, from 22% to only 12%, the sixth-steepest fall in global terms.

Planning ahead

The report revealed that 44% of privately held businesses in mainland China had a formal business plan covering more than three years, the highest ranking in the world. In contrast, only 27% of Hong Kong businesses had such a long-term planning cycle, the same as the global average.