News Release: Business Executives Warn of Spike in Energy and Say One in Three Companies Still Unprepared for Natural Disasters
Nearly 30 percent of business executives report that the recent crises in Japan and the turmoil in the Middle East have caused them to somewhat or greatly reduce their business overall, according to a new worldwide survey of business executives.
The survey, conducted online by Merrill DataSite, the leading provider of virtual data room (VDR) solution for business communication and information management, also revealed that over one in three (33.9 percent) executives said their companies are either somewhat or extremely unprepared to respond to natural and manmade disasters. The vast majority of executives (70.6 percent) said that the energy-rich Middle East will be the region that causes the most dislocation in the world’s economy for the remainder of 2011. Over half (50.9 percent) of respondents acknowledge that the energy sector will benefit from the developments in these regions.
“While executives are generally optimistic about the state of the global economy, there is still unease about opportunities going forward due to the current political and economic climate. We also note that there is substantial room to improve preparedness for future disruption,” commented Richard A. Martin Jr., Senior Director of Merrill DataSite.
Almost half (45.6 percent) of the same respondents believe that the manufacturing industry will be most negatively impacted by the events in Japan and the Middle East with more than a quarter (28.1 percent) citing the financial and professional services industries as those most negatively effected by recent global events.
“It is evident that the nuclear crisis in Japan and the political upheaval in the Middle East will have a strong impact on certain industries, it seems they are having a marginal effect on the global economy as a whole,” Martin concluded. “These statistics show that most businesses are strong enough to respond to such disruption and not shut down when one or more crises occur in different geographies around the world.”
Responses were drawn from survey questions posed during the global webinar “Global Conflict – Global Crisis: The Impact of Political and Economic Unrest on International Business.” An average of 54 people, from varying countries and industries, responded to each of the six polling questions.
