Businesses in APAC highly positive about 2013

Nearly all business leaders in the APAC region have a higher level of optimism about 2013 than their global counterparts.

According to the annual Executive Outlook Survey by BTI Consultants, Access Executive Search, and KellyOCG, 92% of APAC business leaders have a positive outlook for the remainder of the year, with 33% expecting significant growth.

In the Americas and Europe, only 55% and 11% respectively share the upbeat outlook.

“There is a definite rebound in sentiment that will be extremely welcome in the business community, and more so in the APAC region, which is leading the globe in terms of expectations of business growth and profitability,” Pamela M. Berklich, senior vice president of direct hire practices at KellyOCG, said.

One third of the 200 global senior business leaders and executives also identified resistance to change as the biggest obstacle in the way of innovation, despite companies that do focus on innovation being more likely to see stronger revenue growth.

“Those firms where employee populations embrace the need for change have a real advantage as businesses position themselves for what appears to be a new growth cycle in the global economy,” Anthony Raja Devadoss, vice president for KellyOCG APAC, said.

A fifth of global leaders said the core business will remain their biggest focal point this year while 37% believe incremental growth will help propel the business forward.

Two thirds of leaders surveyed also said they see a need for the employees and organisation to strengthen their competitiveness, followed by product innovation (53%), goals and policy (51%), technology (48%), education (27%), and environment (26%).