| 1. |
Global Information Security Survey |
Date published: November 2011
Source: Ernst & Young
Description: This survey has run annually for the past 14 years in order to help clients focus on the most critical risks, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and improve their information security. Approximately 1,700 CIOs, CISOs, CFOs, CEOs and other information security executives in 52 countries, across all industry sectors, responded to this year's survey.
Key findings:
- 72% of respondents see an increasing level of risk due to increased external threats.
- 49% of respondents stated that their information security function is meeting the needs of the organization.
- 80% of respondents are either planning, evaluating or actually using tablet computers.
- 57% of respondents have made policy adjustments to mitigate the risks related to mobile computing.
- 61% of respondents are currently using, evaluating or planning to use cloud computing-based services within the next year.
- Almost 90% of respondents believe that external certification would increase their trust in cloud computing.
- Nearly 40% of respondents rated social media-related risks issues as challenging.
- 53% of respondents have implemented limited or no access to social media sites as a control to mitigate risks related to social media.
- 66% of respondents have not implemented data loss prevention tools.
- 74% of respondents have defined a policy for the classification and handling of sensitive data as a control
for data leakage risk.
- For the second consecutive year, respondents have indicated that business continuity is their top funding priority.
- 56% of respondents indicated that their current information security strategy needs to be modified or needs further investigation.
- 31% of respondents indicated that their organization has recently purchased information security solutions that are perceived as having failed or under-delivered.
- 84% of respondents indicated that they have an IT risk management program in place or are considering one within the coming 12 months.
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| 2. |
Good Grades for Small Businesses Despite Challenges |
Date published: October 2011
Source: TD Canada Trust
Description: The 2011 TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey examined the attitudes and behaviours of 402 small business owners in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Small businesses were defined as those companies having 5 to 50 employees.
Key findings:
- Despite the long hours, cash flow worries and HR challenges, Canada's small business owners are optimistic. Fifty percent of business owners think 2012 will be a good year for their business and a further 13% believe that 2012 might be their best year yet.
- The survey findings are supported by owners' grading of their own company's performance over the current or most recent fiscal year. Two-in-ten small business owners gave their company's performance an A+ (5%) or A (16%), 44% graded their business a B, 22% gave their businesses a C, and 11% gave their company a D.
- Business owners who gave their companies' performance A or A+ grades say they succeeded because they made smart business decisions that allowed them to exceed projections (95%), hired great talent and retained the right people (87%), forecasted well (86%) and innovated with the right products and services at the right time (84%).
- Operating a small business does have its challenges. Small business owners identified attracting staff (76% versus 66% in 2010) and retaining staff (72% versus 64% in 2010) as two of the top barriers to success facing small business owners today. Owners who say they work more than 60 hours a week are more likely to cite retaining staff as one of their most significant barriers to success (77%).
- Although human resource issues were identified as greater challenges in 2011 than 2010, cash flow management continues to top the list as the most significant barrier to small business success.
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| 3. |
Investors Want Greater Board Responsibility
and Accountability According to Hedge Fund
Survey |
Date published: November 2011
Source: Ernst & Young
Description: The objective of the study was to record the views and opinions of hedge funds and hedge fund investors globally, measure the views of each on the same topics and examine the two groups together. Hedge funds and hedge fund investors were asked to comment on succession planning, governance, administration, fees and expenses, capital raising, due diligence and the future landscape.
Key findings:
- Governance. Only 45% of investors said that their funds' boards of directors are very effective at carrying out their duties to funds, while almost 70% of managers feel the board is very effective.
- Fund expenses. Seventy-six percent of investors want shadow accounting, but only 35% are willing to pay for it.
- Administration. Three-quarters of investors said it is important that a hedge fund completely outsource valuation to an administrator, but 71% of managers perceive risks in this.
- Succession. Two-thirds of investors feel that having a well-articulated succession plan is important to their investment decisions, while only 38% of managers agree.
- Capital raising. There appears to be a lack of clarity between investors and managers about the loss of mandates. Almost 40% of managers say they do not really know why they lost a mandate. Investors point to concerns about risk management policies, inconsistency of information presented and lack of independent board or administration.
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| 4. |
Canadian Pension Plan Members Confident Their Plans Will Provide for Retirement Despite Well Reported Challenges
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Date published: October 2011
Source: RBC Dexia Investor Services and Grant Thornton
Description: In an effort to discover potential disconnects between plan sponsor
realities and those of the plan members, RBC Dexia Investor Services
and Grant Thornton LLP sponsored a national survey to gauge the views
of Canadians that participate in, or are currently benefitting from, a
defined benefit pension plan.
Key findings:
- Despite financial uncertainties
globally and interest rate lows
domestically, 83% of Canadians with
access to a defined benefit (DB) plan trust that their
pension savings will be there
when they retire.
- 85% are confident that their employer’s pension
plan is competitive to other Canadian DB plans.
- 58% say the pension and retirement package was
an important factor in their decision to join their
current organization.
- Annual pension statements and the human
resources department top the list of information
sources – far fewer members say they turn to the
Internet for information on the plan.
- 31% don’t know what percentage of their current
annual income they will need to achieve their
expected standard of living in retirement.
- 38% don’t know what percentage of their salary
they contribute to their DB pension plan.
- 74% say their DB plan is their primary vehicle for
retirement savings.
- Private sector participants (82% versus public
sector 84%) are equally confident their DB plans
will be there for them when they retire and that
they’ll get the expected benefits.
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| 5. |
Top 10 Technology Trends for 2012 |
Date published: December 2011
Source: Deloitte
Description: This 3rd annual report predicts the top 10 technologies that are expected to play a crucial role in how businesses are anticipated to operate globally in 2012 and beyond. The trends are identified in two categories: 1) (Re)emerging Enablers: the five technologies that many CIOs have spent time, thought and resources on in the past, but deserve another look this year.
2) Disruptive Deployments: five additional technologies that showcase new business models and transformative ways to operate.
Key findings:
(Re)emerging Enablers:
- Geo-spatial Visualization: Geo-spatial takes advantage of an explosion of geographical, location-aware data. Sources feeding this growth include new data from mobile devices, geo-tagging of existing enterprise structured data and tapping into new streams of unstructured data.
- Digital Identities: As individuals take a more active role in managing their digital identities, organizations are attempting to create single digital identities that retain the appropriate context across the range of credentials that an individual carries.
- Data Goes to Work: Organizations are finding ways to turn the explosion in size, volume and complexity of data into insight and value. This is occurring across structured and unstructured content from internal and external sources.
- Measured Innovation: CIOs can help facilitate the discovery of the next wave of true disruption. Measured innovation provides a way to identify, evaluate and launch potential innovations with a focus on aligning opportunities to areas that can fuel disruption and create measurable, attributable value.
- Outside-in Architecture: Flexibility in operating and business models is increasingly important. As a result, need to share is colliding with need to know and shifting solutions into an outside-in approach to delivering business.
Disruptive Deployments:
- Social Business: The emergence of boomers as digital natives and the rise of social media have paved the way for social business in the enterprise. This is leading organizations to apply social technologies on social networks to reshape how business gets done.
- Hyper-hybrid Cloud: Cloud-based offerings will continue to evolve, and many organizations face a reality with a mix of on-premise solutions and multiple cloud offerings.
- Enterprise Mobility Unleashed: Mobility is helping many organizations rethink their business models. Organizations should ensure solutions are secure, reliable, maintainable and integrated to critical back-office systems and data.
- Gamification: Gaming simulations and game mechanics are becoming embedded in day-to-day business processes, driving adoption, performance and engagement.
- User Empowerment: User engagement remains a key doctrine for enterprise IT. IT is becoming increasingly democratized, with empowered end-users able to directly source solutions from the cloud or app stores – on a mobile device and increasingly on the desktop.
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| 6. |
Canadian Businesses Remain Optimistic in the Face of Global Economic Uncertainty |
Date published: December 2011
Source: Grant Thornton
Description: Canadian findings from the 2011 International Business Report are highlighted.
Key findings:
- In Canada, expectations for employment stayed the same, expectations for revenue fell 1%, and profit expectations rose by 10%.
- A shortage of demand is now the prime constraint on growth facing businesses around the world, noted by 32% of businesses in the last quarter.
- In Canada, businesses were more likely to cite a lack of skilled workers (35%) and regulations/red tape (26%) as the main constraints to growth.
- While business around the world cited concerns about the cost of finance (23%), only 14% of Canadian businesses were concerned about this.
- The real estate and construction sector helped Canada keep its head above water during the last economic downturn and continues to remain strong.
- The Canadian manufacturing sector is cautiously optimistic and there is consensus amongst these businesses that the industry is in expansion mode.
- Canada's mining sector also seems to be bucking the global trend with three-quarters of respondents reporting an optimistic economic outlook.
- More than 77% of transportation sector respondents expressed optimism about the year ahead, with 70% saying they expect revenues to increase in the coming year.
- Canadian employees will be happy to hear that 87% of Canadian businesses are expecting to offer a salary increase this year (compared to 76% last year, and above the global average of 64%).
- Of those Canadian businesses offering a raise, 89% say it will increase above or in line with inflation.
- Over the next 12 months, 51% of Canadian businesses think revenue will rise, 48% say profitability should go up, and 34% predict selling prices will go up.
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| 7. |
Cybercrime:
Protecting Against
the Growing Threat |
Date published: December 2011
Source: PwC
Description: 3,877 respondents from
organizations in 78
countries responded to this sixth survey highlighting the growing threat of cybercrime. Against a backdrop of data
losses and theft, computer viruses and hacking, the
survey looks at the significance and impact of this
new type of economic crime and how it affects
businesses worldwide. This year’s global report is divided into two sections:
1) Cybercrime – its impact on organizations, their
awareness of the crime and what they are doing
to combat the risks; and 2) Fraud, the fraudster and the defrauded – the types
of economic crime committed, how they are
detected, who is committing them and what the
repercussions are.
Key findings:
- 34% of respondents experienced economic crime in the last 12 months (13% increase from 2009).
- Almost 1 in 10 who reported fraud suffered losses of more than US$5 million.
- Cybercrime now ranks as one of the top four economic crimes.
- Reputational damage resulting from cybercrime is the biggest fear for 40% of respondents.
- 40% of respondents don’t have the capability to detect and prevent cybercrime.
- 56% of respondents said the most serious fraud was an ‘inside job’.
- Senior Executives made up almost half of the respondents who didn’t know if their organization had suffered a fraud.
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| 8. |
U.S. IFRS Outlook Survey
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Date published: December 2011
Source: PwC
Description: Corporate financial reporting in the U.S. is in a period of change and uncertainty. In the midst of this change, PwC wanted to gather companies' views of what approaches to incorporating IFRS would best serve the interests of investors, preparers and other users of financial statements. To accomplish this, finance executives and other stakeholders were surveyed. This paper summarizes the survey findings.
Key themes:
- Respondents had differing perspectives on the timetable for any SEC announcement as well as whether aspects of IFRS incorporation should be mandatory or voluntary.
- Many companies have taken a “wait and see” attitude. Though a majority of executives still see the transition from U.S. GAAP to IFRS as inevitable, most haven’t yet committed resources to the process.
- Support for the U.S. transition to IFRS remains strong, but has declined over the past year. This is attributed to uncertainty about the timing and specifics of the SEC’s plans.
- The endorsement approach to transition, as outlined by the SEC staff in their May 2011 staff paper, is widely seen as a viable – though not necessarily the most preferred – means for the U.S. to transition to IFRS.
- There is still considerable debate and uncertainty in the cost-benefit analysis of moving to IFRS. Each company is different, so there is no easy way to generalize about the impacts of IFRS on U.S. companies.
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