The Swiss were also keen to identify government oversight as one of their current causes of complexity, though it should be noted that three separate, yet inter-related, factors were cited almost equally often: government oversight (70 percent), regulation (72 percent) and tax policy (68 percent).
It should come as no surprise that more than 85 percent of Swiss respondents agreed with statements that call for less complex regulation and increased cooperation between governments to create a more straightforward regulatory environment.
As a result of increased complexity overall, the majority of Swiss respondents (84 percent) felt that they were currently facing an increased burden of risk, and around two thirds admit facing challenges through increased costs (64 percent), difficulty competing (68 percent) or the need for new skills (66 percent).
Looking ahead, Swiss respondents seem to be less inclined to presuppose any serious increase in complexity over the next two years, and a considerable number – 42 percent – do not expect any change to occur in the level of complexity at all.
The Swiss were slightly less optimistic about the opportunities that may result from increased complexity, however, and while 70 percent agreed that opportunities would arise, this is below the global average at 74 percent. Of those that did see opportunities, the majority (86 percent) identified competitive advantages as a potential gain, with seven in 10 expecting to see opportunities arise through the creation of new products or the development of new and better strategies.
Less than a third of Swiss respondents felt that the root causes of complexity would change over the next two years, versus almost half of their global counterparts who believe that it will. But when asked what the future causes of complexity may be, almost 70 percent of Swiss respondents again cited increased government oversight as their primary concern – the only nation to do so. Slightly less of a focus was regulation at 63 percent.
With the exception of Singapore, Swiss respondents are also the most likely to cite investment in new countries or geographies as an action that has – in the past – helped to improve their management of complexity. However, more respondents cited improved information management (74 percent) and business reorganization (68 percent), than foreign expansion (62 percent).
Looking ahead, exactly half of Swiss respondents expected their companies to take a different set of actions to address complexity in the future, though this number is low by comparison with the 59 percent global average. Eight in ten foresaw improvements in their information management, and 64 percent felt that further reorganization might be in order. Foreign expansion, by comparison, was selected by less than half the respondents as a potential strategy for addressing complexity in the future.
The survey results suggest that businesspeople in Switzerland seem to be more comfortable with the pace of complexity than many of their global counterparts, and – on the whole – feel that their current strategies and actions for managing complexity are on the right track. Most, it seems, will be focusing their attention on IT and information management solutions over the next two years – with the expectation of solving some of the complexities that are facing them, particularly from continued regulatory changes and government oversight.
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