According to a new report commissioned by HSBC Commercial Banking Europe, Europe is in need of a market overhaul and must learn from states that have pulled through the financial crisis due to ‘fresh, ingenious and imaginative’ business models. The report has revealed that countries such as Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Turkey had shown signs of recovery way ahead of the rest of Europe.
Future Proofing Europe: New Models for Business Success, researched and written by The Future Laboratory for the leading international bank, identified the latter countries as the five ‘Super States’. HSBC has reiterated the significance of this research and Group General Manager Alan Kleir stated: ‘What is clear is that businesses must take valuable lessons from the experiences of the last two years… we commissioned this research report to investigate which countries have the best stories to tell and lessons to share.’
The report reveals these countries had weathered the recession well and are positive about the future – 33% of French companies said the recession had driven profit margins up compared to 25% of German businesses and 18% of Polish companies. And while those in Turkey and the Czech Republic have felt the recession harder (60% and 44% respectively had experienced deterioration in profit margins), Turkey leads the way in future confidence with 79% of businesses surveyed believing they will become stronger in the next five years, followed by the Czech Republic (69%) and Poland (67%).
The five Super States are emerging markets that have tackled the impacts of the recession well; therefore they have prepared and adapted themselves well against future recessions. In essence, these states have ‘future proofed’ their economy, and - according to the report - an ethos that the rest of Europe should take on board.
The Super States have all overcome the obstacles of the downturn in different ways but have put similar strategies in place for success. These revolve around four key areas – acting ‘glocal’, embracing both local and global markets simultaneously; adopting new business models, including leaner and fitter operations and proactive strategies for dealing with downturns, a revived emphasis on relationships, with closer links forged between the political, academic and professional worlds and investment in technology and prioritising innovation, to foster success.
Tom Savigar, author of the Future Proofing Europe: New Models for Business Success report said: ‘The role of these five European Super States will be to make sure that other countries within mature and emerging Europe remember the lessons learnt and future proof their own corporate cultures, and financial models over the coming decade.’
