According to Swedish respondents, there are two main factors driving their increase in complexity: the first, cited by 31 percent, was related to changes in regulation, market rules and controls. Only slightly less of a factor, at 28 percent, was the impact of increasing competition.
Very few Swedish businesspeople expect to see a 'very significant' increase in the level of complexity over the next two years, but more than half (56 percent) suggested it might be 'somewhat significant'. Only two percent thought it might decrease.
In identifying the top two factors that currently cause business complexity, Swedes again agreed with the majority of global respondents, with almost 40 percent citing non-tax regulations. But second to this, 38 percent of Swedish businesspeople indicated that they had also met complexity by operating in more countries, more than twice as many as the global average. On the other hand, Swedes were much less likely than their global peers to indicate that either tax policy or information management had been much of an issue, with only 10 percent identifying each of these factors versus approximately 25 percent globally.
Once again, Swedish businesspeople agreed with their global counterparts in identifying an increased burden of risk as a challenge directly resulting from complexity, as well as the need to acquire new skills. And while not a top issue, over 70 percent of Swedes did admit that they also had faced difficulties in making management decisions as a result of complexity, higher than the 58 percent global average.
The Swedes were, however, more optimistic than many other countries in seeing opportunities that could be created by complexity. Indeed, they were – by far – the most likely to suggest that they might be able to gain competitive advantage, with 93 percent identifying this as a potential outcome. And while the opportunities presented through creating new products and designing new strategies came a distant second (at 75 percent and 78 percent respectively), these were still above the global average.
Respondents from Sweden did not tend to believe that the root causes of complexity would change substantially over the next two years, which was consistent with most European nations surveyed. Of those that did, most (69 percent) believed that those causes would largely be related to non-tax regulation. Conversely, the factors least cited by the Swedish were government oversight and tax policies (both at 25 percent).
Turning to actions taken to deal with complexity, Swedish businesspeople seem to have focused on improving information management and reorganizing part, or all, of their businesses. And while almost three quarters of respondents cited both of these actions, more than half said they had also conducted M&As, and a similar number pointed to investments in new countries or geographies.
Looking ahead, more than half of Swedish businesspeople surveyed felt that their companies may take different actions in the future to manage complexity. In this regard, almost nine out of 10 respondents identified improving their information management as a top priority, the highest proportion of all countries surveyed, and well above the global average of 73 percent. A distant second, at 61 percent of respondents, was further business reorganization.
So while Swedish businesspeople tended to agree with their global counterparts overall, they are acutely aware of the impact that non-tax regulation and expansion into other markets may have on their overall level of complexity. And if these findings are any indication, we can expect the Swedes to be investing heavily in their information management systems in the near future.
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