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Concern about business in India high even before Satyam's plunge
By siliconindia
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Monday, 16 February 2009, 22:28 IST
Bangalore: As much as 49 percent of Indian opinion leaders interviewed expressed growing concerns about business in India even before the Satyam news broke, according to the 10th Edelman Trust Barometer survey. These concerns about business are not unique to India but 59 percent in APAC region, 56 percent in China, 67 percent in the UK and 77 percent in the U.S. are also concerned about this.
The survey, undertaken between November 5 and December 14, 2008, indicates that the number of those in India who trust business to do what is right has fallen by nine percent, from 74 percent in the previous year to 65 percent. In the U.S., it has fallen by 20 percent, from 58 percent to 38 percent. Globally, business has lost trust with 62 percent saying they trust corporations less today than they did a year ago.
CEO credibility has also fallen globally, but the fall in India is marginal-from 66 percent to 60 percent, against a six-year low of 23 percent in the U.S. and a fall from 44 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2009 in China.
A majority of opinion leaders concede that government should impose stricter regulations and greater control over business across all industries.
"A major concern is that business appears to have lost credibility to lead unilaterally. Clearly, today it must partner with others to solve issues like global warming, the financial crisis, healthcare and energy - 65 percent in India believe that business must partner with governments and third parties like NGOs, with only 33 percent believing it must do what it can alone and two percent believe it has no role to play," said Alan VanderMolen, President, Edelman Asia-Pacific.
Despite the worldwide economic and financial crisis, in ten of thirteen business sectors in India, trust is stronger than last year as against China, where only 4 of the 13 sectors show stronger trust than 2008. Top industry sectors in India include technology-93 percent; automotive-80 percent, healthcare-80 percent, and its related industry pharma-81 percent.
Interestingly, companies headquartered in UK and Germany remain the most trusted in India; companies in China and Poland are least trusted; and trust in U.S. companies has suffered the biggest decline.