Disruption both an opportunity and a potential threat say Asian businesses

SINGAPORE  – Disruption could be an opportunity for businesses, say 78% of Asian businesses, according to a new survey by Thomson Reuters.  At the same time, at 51%, Asia recorded the highest proportion of respondents who said technology disrupters could be a direct threat to their business model, with 42% of European and 47 % American businesses saying likewise.

Thomson Reuters asked 452 survey participants in Europe, Asia and the Americas for their opinion on which disrupting forces would have the greatest impact on their businesses in the next 25 years.  

Survey respondents (51%) cited automation as the disruptor that would have most impact on their business, followed by regulation/policy (43%), people issues (38%), and other technology not yet available (38%).

Almost 30% of Asian business leaders said their businesses had a strong grasp on the potential opportunities created by technology or automation, while only 18% of European businesses said likewise. 

Only 6% of European respondents said that they anticipated Government or regulatory bodies will become more automated in the next 25 years; while almost three times that number of Asian respondents thought they would (17%).

Over 70% on average in Asia, Europe and the Americas said social unrest could be a cause for conflict; Asia’s result though was the highest, at 79%.

Asian and American respondents both said immigration could be a likely cause, at 43% and 46%, while over half of Europeans, 54%, said likewise, potentially reflecting recent challenges in Europe. 

But there were differences when it came to natural resources being a cause for conflict. 

Over half (53%) of Asians, but only 41% of Europeans and 43% of American respondents said water could be a cause for conflict. Most starkly, 46% of Asian respondents said that food could be a likely cause, while only 30% of European and Americans said likewise.

This survey was aimed at accounting professionals that are members of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA).   www.thomsonreuters.com (ATI).