Global survey shows quality people are the most important issue for business success

Citation

(2001), "Global survey shows quality people are the most important issue for business success", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 20 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmd.2001.02620aab.001

Global survey shows quality people are the most important issue for business success

Global survey shows quality people are the most important issue for business success

Finding and retaining quality people was overwhelmingly voted the single most important issue for the success of future businesses in a global survey carried out by CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) for Global Business Management Week.

Half of the senior executives from leading businesses around the world identified this as their key critical success factor, ahead of speed of change (17 per cent), intellectual capital (8 per cent) and the impact of IT (8 per cent).

The picture is not entirely reflected in the UK however, where respondents ranked it less important overall than their counterparts in continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the USA.

Despite the importance placed on finding and retaining key people, the survey shows that HR issues still come way down the list of priorities in business planning. Human resources was named as one of the three most important issues of the business plan by only 1 per cent of the respondents.

John Chester, Chief Executive of CIMA said:

We set up Global Business Management Week to alert businesses to the challenges facing them over the next decade. This survey has highlighted that, despite all the talk about the potential impact of issues such as e-business, the euro and the speed of change, companies have not lost sight of their most important asset – their people.

The survey was carried out by CIMA as part of their Global Business Management Week initiative.