Most Canadian companies lack guts and this is holding the economy back, according to a new Deloitte study.
“Courageous” businesses—those who do the “right thing” for the greater good—fare better than those who are timid about the future, the study found. They have faster revenue growth and create more jobs. However, almost 90% of those surveyed lack the courage they need.
“Courageous businesses are the high-flyers propelling the Canadian economy forward,” said Deloitte managing partner and chief executive Frank Vettese. “But if we truly want to succeed as a nation, we need more business leaders to be bold and test the limits of what they think is possible.
“This is how we build long-term prosperity.”
What does a courageous business look like? According to Deloitte, it pursues disruption and challenges the status quo, takes calculated risks in developing new ideas and investments, studies the long-term effects of decisions, is driven by a “strong moral compass” and draws from diverse points of view.
“We’ve studied a range of issues affecting the Canadian economy and the undercurrent flowing throughout our research, whether it be on productivity or exports or preparedness for technology-driven disruption, is that Canadian businesses are deeply risk averse,” Vettese said. “Until now, we were challenged to identify how companies could become bolder.”
Deloitte’s report, The Future Belongs to the Bold, can be found here.
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