Business success undervalued in the UK

Citation

(2000), "Business success undervalued in the UK", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 21 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2000.02221eab.006

Business success undervalued in the UK

Business success undervalued in the UKKeywords Entrepreneurialism, Attitudes, Recognition, United Kingdom

Managers have expressed concern about how little success in business is valued in the UK. A total of 55 per cent say public attitudes towards business actively discourage entrepreneurship and more than four out of ten say they think the UK has an anti-business culture.

The findings come from a quick reaction survey recently carried out by the Institute of Management. On the positive side, almost a quarter of managers think the Government has improved the overall business environment and almost four out of ten (39 per cent) think it has succeeded in doing so through its management of the economy.

However, the findings also show that managers believe the Government has done little to help business improve performance and 70 per cent say it has no clear strategy for increasing the UK's competitiveness.

Looking at business performance more closely, the top three factors which managers say are holding back their companies are business regulation, value of the pound, and skills gaps among managers and employees.

Managers also say performance is impaired by what they see as the short-termism of the investment community. Other specific barriers to entrepreneurship, which managers highlight, are access to financing (95 per cent), lack of management skills among entrepreneurs (87 per cent) and access to business advice (78 per cent).

Executives are sceptical about the Government's own record, so far, on key policy areas affecting the performance of UK business. A total of 65 per cent of executives say the Government's overall policy thrust has failed to improve the business environment, 61 per cent think the raft of regulatory measures has significantly increased the burden on business and 55 per cent believe the Government's management of the economy has failed to provide a more stable business environment.

Mary Chapman, director-general of the Institute of Management, said: "This survey shows there are clearly still issues for Government to address in ensuring that its policies and actions do not create an environment that hinders business as it strives to thrive".

For more information contact: Public Affairs Department, Institute of Management, 2 Savoy Court, London WC2R 0EZ. Tel: +44 (0)20 7497 0580.