Bangkok Post

What do Asia's executives really think about the crisis?

Asia's executives believe they waited too long to respond to the global downturn. And they are betting on international growth and innovation to overcome the financial crisis.

By Till Vestring and Sharad Apte

Published on September 19, 2009
min read


Asia's executives believe they waited too long to respond to the global downturn. And they are betting on international growth and innovation to overcome the financial crisis. These are just two of the findings from Bain & Company's survey of executive views on business trends and management tools. Nearly 300 executives in Asia participated in this year's survey, providing new insights into how they think their firms are dealing with the turbulent economy and what the future holds. Bain has been conducting the survey since 1993. Based on more than 1,400 global survey responses and completed in January, our findings reveal both common themes and distinct differences across regions and industries. Asian executives are more optimistic than many of their counterparts around the world. Within the region, Indian executives are the most confident about an economic rebound this year, while Chinese managers are less hopeful. When asked if international growth will be vital to their companies' performance over the next five years, 82% of the Asian executives said yes, and the figure shoots up to 88% for Chinese respondents. Worldwide, only 66% of the executives placed such importance on international growth. The response by Asian managers reflects emerging countries' dependence on global markets to sustain their fast-paced expansion. Yet many economists now believe that the old model of growth in Asia, driven by the seemingly insatiable appetite of American and European consumers, will have to change. Are Asian companies well positioned for such a fundamental change? Innovation is another way that Asian executives want to grow their businesses. In fact, Asian executives expressed the strongest commitment to innovation. When asked if innovation is more important than cost-cutting for long-term success, 84% agreed compared with 76% of the executives globally. More Asian executives also believe they could drastically boost innovation by collaborating with other companies. Yet Asia's success model over recent decades has been to produce more cheaply and not to develop and market new and better products. Are Asian companies ready to shift to innovation-led growth? Even as economic turbulence sweeps across Asia, confidence remains relatively high. Three-quarters of the executives expect to use the downturn to improve their firms' competitive position, about the same as the global number. Indian managers are the most optimistic: eight out of 10 expect to move up competitively. But it's clearly impossible for more than half of companies to improve their competitive position. Which companies in Asia are truly up for the drastic restructuring and bold bets required to move up competitively in a downturn? Bain's survey also addresses the use of management tools. We asked about the 25 most popular tools and found that as Asia-Pacific executives shift their objectives and priorities amid economic worries, they also are changing the tools they use to manage their businesses. We found stark differences in tool use within the region. Customer relationship management—used to track information and develop customer insights—was the most common tool throughout the region, followed by benchmarking, a cost-cutting related tool. Asia is the only region in the world where benchmarking is not the number one tool, underscoring the fact that in general, Asian executives are more optimistic and less concerned about reducing costs. The exception is China, where benchmarking is the most popular tool. Ironically, while more than half of the Asian managers surveyed felt unclear decision-making authority is hurting their performance, they made little use of management tools that could improve their decision-making. Decision rights tools, a systematic approach to making and executing key operating decisions, is the least popular tool for Asian executives, who also give the tool the lowest satisfaction score. Till Vestring is the managing partner for Bain & Company Southeast Asia. Sharad Apte, partner, is the leader of the firm's Southeast Asia energy and natural resources practice.

Asia's executives believe they waited too long to respond to the global downturn. And they are betting on international growth and innovation to overcome the financial crisis. These are just two of the findings from Bain & Company's survey of executive views on business trends and management tools. Nearly 300 executives in Asia participated in this year's survey, providing new insights into how they think their firms are dealing with the turbulent economy and what the future holds.

Bain has been conducting the survey since 1993. Based on more than 1,400 global survey responses and completed in January, our findings reveal both common themes and distinct differences across regions and industries. Asian executives are more optimistic than many of their counterparts around the world. Within the region, Indian executives are the most confident about an economic rebound this year, while Chinese managers are less hopeful.

When asked if international growth will be vital to their companies' performance over the next five years, 82% of the Asian executives said yes, and the figure shoots up to 88% for Chinese respondents. Worldwide, only 66% of the executives placed such importance on international growth. The response by Asian managers reflects emerging countries' dependence on global markets to sustain their fast-paced expansion. Yet many economists now believe that the old model of growth in Asia, driven by the seemingly insatiable appetite of American and European consumers, will have to change. Are Asian companies well positioned for such a fundamental change?

Innovation is another way that Asian executives want to grow their businesses. In fact, Asian executives expressed the strongest commitment to innovation. When asked if innovation is more important than cost-cutting for long-term success, 84% agreed compared with 76% of the executives globally.

More Asian executives also believe they could drastically boost innovation by collaborating with other companies. Yet Asia's success model over recent decades has been to produce more cheaply and not to develop and market new and better products. Are Asian companies ready to shift to innovation-led growth?

Even as economic turbulence sweeps across Asia, confidence remains relatively high. Three-quarters of the executives expect to use the downturn to improve their firms' competitive position, about the same as the global number. Indian managers are the most optimistic: eight out of 10 expect to move up competitively. But it's clearly impossible for more than half of companies to improve their competitive position. Which companies in Asia are truly up for the drastic restructuring and bold bets required to move up competitively in a downturn?

Bain's survey also addresses the use of management tools. We asked about the 25 most popular tools and found that as Asia-Pacific executives shift their objectives and priorities amid economic worries, they also are changing the tools they use to manage their businesses. We found stark differences in tool use within the region.

Customer relationship management—used to track information and develop customer insights—was the most common tool throughout the region, followed by benchmarking, a cost-cutting related tool.

Asia is the only region in the world where benchmarking is not the number one tool, underscoring the fact that in general, Asian executives are more optimistic and less concerned about reducing costs. The exception is China, where benchmarking is the most popular tool.

Ironically, while more than half of the Asian managers surveyed felt unclear decision-making authority is hurting their performance, they made little use of management tools that could improve their decision-making. Decision rights tools, a systematic approach to making and executing key operating decisions, is the least popular tool for Asian executives, who also give the tool the lowest satisfaction score.

Till Vestring is the managing partner for Bain & Company Southeast Asia. Sharad Apte, partner, is the leader of the firm's Southeast Asia energy and natural resources practice.