RSM European Business Resilience Survey September 2014
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European Union Optimism for 2015 Highlights • EU: GDP growth rate will accelerate in 2015 • Strategy: Internationally-active companies are more aggressive than companies which are active in the domestic market only • Mentality: Proactiveness of business leaders is mid-scale • Business Culture: - Slightly positive correlation with GDP per capita -E uro crisis countries (except Ireland) show business culture below average -P olitical conditions and the institutional culture of companies are interdependent • Pronounced differentiation on country specific level. Every country has its own macroeconomic story
About this report
Key indicators for the European Union:
This report is part of the RSM European Business Resilience Survey. The aim of the survey is to take a look behind the scenes of economic development. Therefore, European experts from the RSM network were asked to evaluate companies’ strategy choice, the mentality of business leaders, the business culture of the country and key macroeconomic data.
• GDP growth rate 2013, real: 0.1%
In total, 356 auditors and other members of the RSM network from 14 European countries participated in the survey from 23 June - 11 July 2014. If not otherwise stated, the interpretations presented in this report reflect the majority of opinion of 333 RSM experts from the 13 EU member countries.
• Current account balance in % of GDP, 2013: 1.2%
• GDP per capita 2013 (purch. power): 25,700€ • Employment rate, 2013 (age 20-64): 68,3% • Unemployment rate, July 2014: 10.2% • Inflation rate (HCPI), August 2014: 0.5% (m/m-12)
• General government gross debt in % of GDP, 2013: 87.1% Source: Eurostat, data partly provisional.
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Foreword Europe has been, and continues to go through, tough times. The sovereign debt crisis affected some countries tremendously while others were less affected. The structural changes needed to deal with the Euro across varied economies continues to present a major challenge. But why is it that countries perform so differently? And why do some companies struggle and others thrive? These are among the questions the RSM European Business Resilience Survey™ seeks to address. Strategic resilience has been defined as ‘how are the majority of companies, and thus an economy, prepared to absorb exogenous shocks?’ Companies develop strategy within the context of goals, market developments and challenges. Part of the function of strategy is to look at possible scenarios and evaluate them. These may include their company specific orientation, intensity as well as the pace of change management and market orientation. When structures can adapt successfully, this is reflected, among other things, by business-related sentiment indicators. Positive expectations of companies and consumers are in turn a prerequisite for economic growth. Against this background the RSM European Business Resilience Survey™ illuminates decisions concerning business strategies not as a result of, but as a cause of macroeconomic developments. The client base of RSM is varied, and includes small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Many SMEs are family owned and managed, and they are the economic engine within European countries. Dealing with those enterprises for decades, RSM partners and employees have a deep
1
Source: Eurostat
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understanding of their strategies, culture, and leadership mentality. The assessment of these themes combined with external and macroeconomic factors cultivates a high quality of insight about how and why the economy of European countries and, thus, of Europe as a whole, will develop. This first part of a multi-stage academic report gives a broad understanding of interdependent political conditions and the institutional culture of companies. The RSM European Business Resilience Survey has started to compare the country-specific mentality of the business leaders, the strategy of the companies and the business culture of the countries.These topics define the strategic resilience of a country. On the other hand, they are interdependent with macroeconomic development and subsequent surveys will explore this hypothesis in depth later when time series data about the topics mentioned becomes available. We hope, through this survey, to shine a light on where resilience is greatest and weakest, to provide both business leaders and politicians an insight into the areas that require focus in order to foster European competitiveness. Knowledge and insight are the tools of creative thought. In launching this survey, we are seeking to add to the potential creativity of economic thinking.
Robert Coles Gregor Schmidt European Leader Project Leader ‘RSM European Business Resilience Survey’
Economic and Political Situation in Europe The economy of the European Union did not grow in 2013. Putting this in a positive light, it may signify the end of recession. The positive interpretation of the zero growth scenario might be that the recession years came to an end. The European Commission2 expects 1.6% growth in GDP this year. The main driver of growth is expected to be private consumption, which is projected to contribute 0.7 percentage points to the growth rate3. Investment in Eurozone economies should also revive. The majority (54%) of RSM experts believe that this GDP growth forecast is appropriate. However, more than onethird (36%) predict that growth in the EU in 2014 will be lower than 1.6%. Only 10% expect higher growth (See Fig 1). This slightly pessimistic view is balanced by a more optimistic outlook for 2015. 45% of RSM experts expect a GDP growth rate that will be higher in 2015 than 2014. Nearly the same share of participants believe growth will remain stable, while only 9% predict lower growth than 2014.
In 2014, the real GDP growth rate in the European Union will be...
54%
As we have seen in the individual country results, the RSM experts are evaluating the growth estimations for their home countries quite carefully. When questioned about the European Commission’s country-specific spring forecasts for GDP rates in 2015, 55% of the experts expect a slightly (37%) or significantly (18%) lower growth rate in their home countries. Conversely, 40% of experts see improving sentiment indicators in the participating countries until 2015. The European trend of expanding services is reflected by the 62% share of all survey participants who expect an improvement in services’ sentiment indicators until the end of 2015. Related to the European Commission’s country-specific spring forecasts for the 2015 GDP growth rates, 55% of the experts expect a slightly (37%) or significantly (18%) lower growth rate in their home countries. On the other hand, 41% of experts see improving sentiment indicators in the participating countries until 2015. The European trend of expanding services is reflected by the 60% share
Figure 1: More pessimistic than optimistic assessments by the RSM experts regarding the 1.6% growth estimation of European Commission for the European Union.
36%
10% ...higher than 1.6%
...around 1.6%
...lower than 1.6%
In 2015, the real GDP growth rate in the European Union will...
45%
Figure 2: More optimistic outlook for 2015.
46%
9% ...be higher than ...remain stable in 2014 compared to 2014
2
...be lower than in 2014
Estimation of the European Commission, Spring Forecast 2014, p. 1 The contributions to the expected GDP growth rate of 1.6% in percentage points are: Private consumption (0.7), public consumption (0.2), investments (0.5), net exports (0.2); Source: European Commission, European Economic Forecast Spring 2014, p. 15
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of all survey participants who expect an improvement of services’ sentiment indicators until the end of 2015. Country-specific details can be found in the country reports. When analysing these correlations, it is evident on a country-specific level that the estimated development of net investments is correlated4 with the estimated development of the economic sentiment indicator (ESI). 46% of the RSM experts expect that net investments will rise in 2015 in their home countries. This is in line with the 40% of experts predicting rising sentiment indicators mentioned above. Although growth expectations are moderate, the unemployment rate in the European Union is not expected to decrease. The majority of the RSM experts expect this rate to remain constant around 10.1% until the end of 2015 (Fig. 3). As the country-specific predictions regarding job vacancies are slightly optimistic, there could be several potential reasons for the divergence between the estimated countryspecific job vacancies development and the estimated EU unemployment rate in 2015: - an increased mismatch between the skills offered and demanded
When asked on a country-specific basis as to whether it would be easy to fill vacancies, 71% of RSM respondents answered that it would not be, whereas 29% believed it would be an easy process to find new employees. This finding supports the first argument mentioned above. A study published by the RSM European Central Bank also supports this view. The authors found that higher job vacancies did not lead to lower unemployment rates. This can be explained by ‘large sectoral declines in the construction sector’ which ‘are unlikely to be reversed’5. With data from only the first wave of the European Business Resilience Survey, any trends cannot yet be tracked. However, country-specific differences are apparent. When asked about the availability of qualified employees, the evaluation of the RSM experts varies. In the case of Germany, 21% of the participants evaluate the availability as good or very good, while in Portugal 58% evaluate the availability positively compared to a European average of 36%. To summarise, according to the RSM experts, slight economic growth will not be able to significantly reduce the Eurozone‘s unemployment rates in 2015.
- a home bias in the assessments of job openings - third-country effects. Countries such as Italy, which are members of the European Union but did not participate in the survey, could distort the results At the end of 2015, the unemployment rate in the European Union will be...
...higher than 10.1%
34%
51%
...around 10.1%
...lower than 10.1%
4 5
Figure 3: O ne-third of the RSM experts expect a higher unemployment rate in 2015.
16%
The correlation coefficient (Kendall) amounts to 0.49 and is significant on 1% level. Bonthuis, Boele; Valerie Jarvis; Juuso Vanhala (2013), What’s going on behind the Euro area Beveridge curve(s)?; European Central Bank, Working Paper Series, No. 1586, p. 22; Technically, the Beveridge curves have shifted outwards. They also show that the Beveridge curve for the euro area and the employers’ perception of labour shortages produce a similar pattern (p. 23).
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Europe’s Business Leaders Differences in the mentality of business leaders can be seen when comparing countries. For example, German and Austrian business leaders tend to be more risk averse, while Polish business leaders welcome risk more than others. On a Europe-wide level, differences across the continent level out; the proactivity of European business leaders, for example, is middling. The items measuring the
risk attitude (see Fig. 4) are skewed slightly. For example, 42% of RSM experts believe that business leaders in their home countries prefer incremental, cautious behaviour, whereas only half of that share (21%) support bold, wideranging acts to achieve the firm’s objectives6.
In general, organisational leaders believe that owing to the nature of the environment...
[1] ... it is best to explore it gradually via cautious, incremental behaviour
4%
[2]
38%
[3]
37%
[4]
[5] ... bold, wide-ranging acts are necessary to achieve the firm’s objectives
6
Figure 4: According to the RSM experts, European business leaders prefer a more cautious behaviour than bold, wide-ranging acts.
20%
1%
his item is adopted from entrepreneurial orientation literature, see for example: G.G. Lumpkin and G.T Dess (2001), Linking two dimensions of T entrepreneurial orientation to firm performance: The moderating role of environment and industry life cycle, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 16, p. 429–451
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Business Culture Business Culture
Top group
Slightly above the average
Slightly below the average
Crisis and recovery countries
Countries
Degree of integration
GDP per capita — adjusted by purchasing power7 2013
Ireland
Euro
32.500
Euro
32.600
Norway
EFTA
49.200
Sweden
EU
32.700
Austria
Euro
33.200
Belgium
Euro
30.500
Germany
Euro
32.000
Poland
EU
17.500
Hungary
EU
17.200
Portugal
Euro
19.400
Bulgaria
EU
12.000
France
Euro
27.800
Greece
Euro
Spain
Euro
24.500
The Netherlands
19.500 (2012)
Table 1: Business culture, degree of integration and GDP per capita.
The above table and the diagram on the following page show groups of countries according to their business culture. In this first issue of the RSM European Business Resilience Survey, the factors that make up ‘business culture’ are determined by the following five umbrella dimensions: ‘society’; ‘employment’; ‘organisational culture’; ‘political conditions’; and ‘financing’. These dimensions are made up of 17 separate components that all contribute to the grading of ‘business culture’.
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These results need to be interpreted cautiously. The assessment of some countries is based on the opinions of 10-20 experts only. Also, cultural differences may influence the answering behaviour, although we presume a common mind-set of the European RSM experts. In the next waves of the RSM European Business Resilience Survey the results have to be checked for robustness.
ource: Eurostat; The GDP per capita figures are adjusted for differences in national price levels. Otherwise, Norway would show a much higher and S Bulgaria a much lower GDP per capita.
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Top group Slightly above the average Slightly below the average Crisis and recovery countries
Source: RSM European Business Resilience Survey
Figure 5: Business culture in Europe. Checking these results, we have compared the ranking of business culture with the rankings of the Global Competitiveness Index8 and the Doing Business Index9, considering the 14 participating countries only. The correlation coefficients amount to 0.69 and 0.83 for the Global Competitiveness Index and the Doing Business Index respectively (Table 2). There is a strong correlation:
those countries that rank highly in these two international studies are also ranked high in the RSM European Business Resilience Survey. This provides us with reassurance in regard to the reliability of the survey we conducted among RSM experts when evaluating business culture.
Rank Correlation Spearman
Global Competitiveness Index
Doing Business Index
RSM European Business Resilience Survey: Business Culture
0.69
0.83
Table 2: Correlations with other studies Table 1 (on page 6) shows four groups of countries according to their business culture ranking. The third column outlines varying degrees of European integration. Nine of the 14 participant countries in the RSM European Business Resilience Survey are members of the European Monetary Union. There is at least one nation that uses the euro in each of the four business culture groups. Obviously, the European
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Monetary Union is heterogeneous not only in terms of growth rates and unemployment, but also in terms of the business culture of its members. The business culture is independent from the degree of European integration. Sweden holds the top position in the business culture ranking, followed by the Netherlands, Norway and Ireland. Swedish businesses are characterised by a modern
http://reports.weforum.org/the-global-competitiveness-report-2013-2014 http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/GIAWB/Doing%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB14-Full-Report.pdf
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organisational structure. 82% of Swedish experts rank the willingness in Swedish companies to delegate authority to employees as good or very good. Europe-wide, the corresponding number is considerably lower (25%). The Irish economy benefits from a business-friendly tax system, which 67% of Irish experts ranked as good or very good. Conversely, across Europe only 16% of the RSM experts praised their national tax systems. Ireland’s high GDP per capita, shown in the fourth column of Table 1, is also a result of Ireland’s tax policy; many global companies base their European headquarters in Dublin. The Dutch economy can be described as a ‘knowledgebased economy’. 68% of the Dutch experts assess the country’s educational system as good or very good. Although many of the countries who participated in the survey are ostensibly very similar, there are many noticeable differences when examined in greater detail. For example, Norway is an oil-driven economy, giving it the highest GDP per capita of the countries under consideration. Financing is also country specific: The majority of the Swedish experts evaluate the availability of bank loans for businesses as good or very good, but the majority of Dutch respondents ranked their banks’ willingness to loan to businesses as poor or very poor. One explanation for this may be that the Netherlands was affected by the Eurozone crisis more severely than Sweden. Comparing the four countries that make up the top group in Table 1 (Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) demonstrates the individuality of these countries economic characteristics.
European counterparts in terms of business culture and is politically divided. The business culture of France is rated low and the country report for France is headlined with ‘Institutional reforms are necessary’. At the end of August, the French government dissolved because of disagreement in François Hollande’s Socialist Party about economic policy. The fourth column of Table 1 demonstrates that a higher GDP per capita is roughly in line with a higher-ranked business culture10. Outliers to this trend are France and Spain. France was not hit by the euro crisis directly but is stuck in a low-growth scenario. Spanish troubles stemmed from the housing bubble bursting in 2008, and public as well as private institutions should improve their contributions to a business-friendly business culture. Over time, the RSM European Business Resilience Survey will be able to explore trends between the items. An item-specific analysis shows that some issues are visible on the European level although the degree differs when executing a country-specific analysis. On the European level, only 10% of experts believe European bureaucracy to have a good or very good effect on business. Similarly, only 16% think the Eurozone possesses a business-friendly tax system. Again, just 16% approve of the availability of bank loans and 12% approve of riskfinancing. 19% of respondents on a pan-European level rated the cost of energy as good or very good. Conversely, 47% of European RSM experts praise the educational system as good or very good and 43% report a good or very good customer service in their homes countries.
This is also true for France, the second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP in Europe. France lags behind its
high
Institutional culture of companies
Sweden Netherlands
Belgium Poland
Austria Norway
Portugal Greece
Hungary
Figure 6: The political conditions and the institutional culture of companies are interdependent.
Ireland
Germany
France Spain Bulgaria
low low 10
Political conditions
The rank correlation coefficient (Spearman) amounts to 0.74.
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high
Examining in further depth this cross-country approach, an illustrative relationship between the sub-dimensions ‘political conditions’ and ‘institutional culture of companies’ can be seen. Figure 6 suggests that to some extent11, the good condition of public institutions (tax system, effectiveness of the justice system, low
bureaucracy) is a mirror image of a modern institutional culture in companies. In a country with institutional shortcomings (e.g. a low credibility of the justice system or a business unfriendly tax system) the culture of mistrust also spreads to the relationship between employers and employees.
Strategy We define an aggressive strategy of a company as having a clear commitment to growth. According to RSM experts, there are more companies with an aggressive strategy than companies which have chosen a defensive strategy within businesses who have international reach (Fig. 7). This relationship could not be confirmed for companies
who focus only on their domestic market. Companies with a domestic focus tend to be less aggressive than internationally-active companies (Fig. 8). Companies stuck in a crisis make up a lower share than the companies with an aggressive and defensive strategy. This holds true for internationally-active (Fig. 7) and
100%
Averge assessment (median) Distribution: area between average lower values and average higher values
50%
Figure 7: C hoice of strategy with the internationally-active companies. 0%
aggresive
defensive
crisis
100%
Averge assessment (median) Distribution: area between average lower values and average higher values
50%
0%
11
domestic orientation
international orientation
Figure 8: Companies with a domestic orientation are less aggressive than internationally-active companies according to the European RSM experts.
The correlation coefficients amount to 0.44 on individual level and to 0.68 on aggregated (country) level. Both coefficients are significant (5% level). The finding on country level should be considered with care because of the low number of participants in some countries.
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domestically-orientated companies on average across Europe, but it is not true for all European countries under consideration, as demonstrated by Bulgaria. The country reports show some further country-specific differences regarding the choice of strategy. For example, Greek companies tend to follow a price leadership, whilst German internationally-active companies prefer a quality leadership. The lowest deviation between the countries shows the importance-of-marketing item for international, aggressive companies.
The differentiation between internationally-active and domestically-orientated companies is crucial. On the European level, companies with a domestic focus tend to focus towards less product diversification, product differentiation and exploitation of economies of scale, than aggressive, internationally-active companies. Internationally-orientated companies also tend to focus more on research and development than their counterparts acting in the domestic markets only, according to the RSM experts.
Advantages and Disadvantages of EU Membership The RSM Business Resilience Survey covers a qualitative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of membership of the European Union. This section relies on an analysis of free text answers from RSM respondents. Open borders and the common market are rated as the major advantages of being a member of the EU. Goods and services can be traded and transferred easily through unified legislation and trading conditions and cheaply too, given the absence of tariffs. The single currency is viewed as an important advantage. However, two aspects have to be taken into account: the euro minimises exchange risks, but it comes along with a common monetary policy and a fiscal drawback. Aside from the Eurozone crisis, other aspects such as high contributions to the EU Commission’s budget are recognised as a disadvantage in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. On the other hand, experts from Hungary, Ireland or Spain consider the financial support offered by the EU as an important advantage of membership in the European Union. According to the RSM experts, membership of the EU is advantageous for the labour market and society as a whole.
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The free movement of citizens improves the availability of qualified employees, greater intercultural understanding and the exchange of knowledge. On the other hand, the participants of the survey mention disadvantages such as the challenges of integration and risks through the convergence of salary levels and living standards. Generally, RSM experts see disadvantages in the way the EU is run: It is too bureaucratic, lacks democratic transparency and decisions are made too slowly. Furthermore, several experts perceive that national interests are not represented effectively and redtape is rife. In summary, these results demonstrate that the effect on the economy of closer social and political union within the EU cannot be underestimated. Common legislation may be particularly beneficial for small European countries, as explained by a Dutch expert: “We are too small not to be a part of it�. The qualitative analysis shows that there are important country-specific differences (e.g. the view on the Euro), although some general issues such as the negative impact of bureaucracy on business, are shared by all experts.
Strategic Resilience In our definition, resilience enables gradual changes to adapt to new situations, so that structural breaks can be avoided. The strategic resilience ex ante is influenced by companies’ strategy choice, the mentality of business leaders and the business culture of the country. On the European level, economic policy is still in crisis mode, something that was made clear on 4 September by the European Central Bank’s decision to reduce interest rates to 0.05%. The existing economic structures in Greece, Spain and other struggling European countries were hit strongly and structural changes were part of the adjustment programmes negotiated with the EU and the IMF. Therefore, time is needed to build up a strategic
resilience in the crisis countries. One exception is Ireland, which possesses a top-rated business culture. Other countries such as France, Hungary and Bulgaria were not hit by the euro crisis directly, but suffer because of domestic issues. In the northern countries, we presume a higher strategic resilience because of an appropriate mix of proactive but risk-aware business leaders, a higher share of aggressive, internationally-active companies, effective political institutions and a modern organisational culture in the companies. These findings are preliminary and we will publish the RSM European Business Resilience Index with a ranking of the participating countries after the third wave of this survey in due course.
Policy Conclusions Politically, we draw two conclusions. Firstly, political conditions and the institutional culture of companies are interdependent. Secondly, every country has its own macroeconomic story and its own business model. For example, internationally-active German companies prefer a quality leadership and Greek companies prefer a price
leadership, according to the RSM experts. Therefore, in many fields of economic policy, subsidiarity is superior to a centrally-organised policy approach, although the common market is recognised as the economically most important advantage of the European Union membership.
Interpretation Guidelines This survey is based on the judgements of 333 experts (finance and business professionals) from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. For this report, answers of the participants are weighted by gross value added of the participating countries. Norway also participated in the survey. The answers of the 23 Norwegian experts were considered in the comparison Table 2 and Figures 5 and 6, but they are
not part of the percentage shares mentioned in the report. The rankings should be interpreted with care as some countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) had between 10 and 20 experts participating and cultural differences may influence the answering behaviour, although we presume a common mind-set of the European RSM experts. The rankings will be checked for robustness with the next surveys.
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About RSM International RSM International is the seventh largest network of independent audit, tax and advisory firms, encompassing over 110 countries, 700 offices and 35,400 people internationally. The network’s total fee income is US$4.2 billion. RSM is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance. RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms. The objective of the Forum of Firms is to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial and auditing practices worldwide. RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. RSM International Limited does not itself provide any accounting and advisory services. Member firms are driven by a common vision of providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs of their client base. 2014 marks an exceptional year for RSM as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary. www.rsmi.com
About BiTS The report is authored by Prof. Dr. Michael Vogelsang, Prof. Dr. Niels Biethahn (both: BiTS), Dr. Amit Ghosh (INWT/BiTS), Hubertus Heuer, Philipp Walther (both: WeisseQ/BiTS). BiTS Private Business School in Iserlohn, Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, has been instilling the entrepreneurial spirit in future managers since 2000. Focusing on case studies, practical seminars and integrated internships, BiTS provides the skills its more than 1,500 students need for management and leadership positions. A mandatory semester abroad is part of most BiTS programmes. BiTS offers undergraduate and graduate programmes, with an emphasis on business and management studies, communication, media and journalism, sports and event management, business psychology and green business management. BiTS is state approved, and the Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) has granted institutional accreditation. The Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) has granted programme accreditations. BiTS ranks among the top business and media universities in Germany, according to the 2011 CHE University Rankings. The national survey of the Centre for Higher Education Development also has given the management and business programmes high ratings. BiTS hosts the award-winning BiTS Campus Symposium. www.bits-hochschule.de
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Project Team Michael Vogelsang is a professor for economics at BiTS university and coordinator for this project. Formerly he worked as the chief economist for the German Association of small and medium sized enterprises in Berlin and Brussels.
Niels Biethahn is professor for business administration at the BiTS university and the managing director of an automotive research institute in Dortmund. Formerly he worked as a general manager for a VW-Supplier as well as a consultant.
Amit Ghosh is lecturer for statistics at BiTS and managing director of the INWT Statistics GmbH. Formerly he founded and managed the Statistical Consulting Unit (fu:stat) at the Freie Universit채t Berlin.
Hubertus Heuer is a lecturer for qualitative and quantitative research methods at BiTS University, Iserlohn. He is also founder and managing partner at Weisse Q - a market research and consulting company with a focus on data driven decision making.
Philipp Walther is a lecturer for qualitative and quantitative research methods at BiTS University, Iserlohn. He is also managing partner at Weisse Q - a market research and consulting company with a focus on data driven decision making.
RSM International Executive Office 11 Old Jewry London EC2R 8DU United Kingdom T: +44 (0)20 7601 1080 E: riskadvisory@rsmi.com www.rsmi.com RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. The network is not itself a separate legal entity of any description in any jurisdiction. The network is administered by RSM International Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 4040598) whose registered office is at 11 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DU. The brand and trademark RSM and other intellectual property rights used by members of the network are owned by RSM International Association, an association governed by article 60 et seq of the Civil Code of Switzerland whose seat is in Zug. Š RSM International Association, 2014