All Insights

Sallie Stiens, director, global public policy, asks what the mayors of megacities can learn from the CEOs of growing businesses, and vice-versa.

Grant Thornton article discussing the impact of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on non-US companies.

The second quarter of 2014 brought a raft of very cheery economic news. The pace of growth in China kicked back up to 7.5% following a mini-stimulus from the government which included speeding up infrastructure project approvals, tax relief and credit easing. The United States roared back after a particularly bitter winter to post 4.0% growth (at the annual rate). Spain was buoyed by news that growth had accelerated to 0.6% (from the previous quarter) and the unemployment rate has started to fall.

Sustainability is a buzzword of the moment. Whether as business leaders or consumers, we cannot escape from being told to consider the long-term implications of our actions or spending decisions.

The dangers of social media are clear, but the risk to a charity of not getting involved is far greater. A story that emerged during the research for our new report, ‘Growing communities: How charity leaders govern social media globally to thrive online’, illustrates this perfectly.

One of the greatest challenges with using social media strategically is measuring its success. Boards need to understand how social media is helping meet their strategic objectives and need to set goals and define success early in the planning stage. Measurement is crucial to understanding whether these goals have been achieved.

As the global economy slowly recovers its verve, so business leaders in the hospitality and tourism sector are looking at new ways to grow their operations. So says our International Business Report (IBR), which interviews around 150 senior executives in the sector globally every quarter.

Business growth indicators in the hospitality and tourism sector took a bit of a nosedive globally in Q1 according to our International Business Report (IBR). Expectations for increasing revenues, profits and investment all fell over the past three months.

The real estate and construction sector continues to make steady progress as it recovers from a financial crisis in which investors, developers and homeowners were disproportionately hit.

As the global economy slowly recovers its verve, so business leaders in the hospitality and tourism sector are looking at new ways to grow their operations. So says our International Business Report (IBR), which interviews around 150 senior executives in the sector globally every quarter.

We launched our annual M&A report – ‘Dynamic businesses at the forefront of M&A optimism’ – in Hong Kong last week. The report has provoked a good deal of debate and I just wanted to share two highlights from the data.

We asked the 3,500 business leaders who responded to our latest Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) a new question in Q4-2013: Do you expect rising energy costs to constrain the growth of business over the next 12 months?

Fraud is endemic in the construction industry. So much so that in many parts of the world it is seen merely as a ‘cost of doing business’. But this does not have to be the case. In a report released this week, ‘Time for a new direction – Fighting fraud in Construction’, we recommend a number of concrete steps companies can take to avoid becoming victims of fraud.

Thinking outside the Big Blue box. Scott Barnes responds to UK Competition Commission proposals.

The issue of transfer pricing has hit the headlines in the UK and the US over recent weeks due to the relatively low level of corporation tax multinationals such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Starbucks.

Dynamic organisations need to apply both reason and instinct when making business decisions is the cornerstone of our 2012 advertising campaign.