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Excerpts from article published in the ING
Private Banking "Outline" magazine in December 2009.
Receive this magazine free of charge and read the
results of this article in full.
In order to allay the fears voiced by family
companies, ING is working closely with the Family Firms Institute
(l'Institut de l’Entreprise Familiale / Het Instituut voor het
Familiebedrijf), which commissioned a substantial survey from Johan
Lambrecht and Vincent Molly, lecturers at the Entrepreneurship
Study Centre (Centre d’Etudes pour l’Entrepreunariat (HUB)).
Purpose: assess the impact of a crisis which,
for companies, seems far from over.
Family firms make up around 70% of the Belgian
corporate landscape; and 30% of these are to be sold in the next
decade. While they have attractive benefits, they also have very
specific problems.
Bases of Survey
More than 1,000 questionnaires were completed
by a panel of businesspeople from the three regions of Belgium, a
sample covering companies active in all sectors and employing
between 10 and 250 people; 70% of these are family firms.
Results: What are the effects of the crisis in 2009?
- In terms of revenue: 60% of companies in
Belgium saw revenues decrease against 2008. For one in four firms,
this drop was over 30%.
- In terms of net profit: 61% of companies
observed a decrease in profits. For more than a third of these, the
drop was in excess of 30%.
- In terms of employment: 40% of companies
reduced staff numbers; 44% of firms observed sluggish business,
with 17% seeing an increase in this.
- Other difficulties: increase in number of
bad payers; harsher competition and a drop in selling prices.
Positive effects
- Better communication with employees.
- Fewer difficulties in recruiting staff; and
- Lower staff turnover rate.
Measures taken by firms during the crisis
- Closer monitoring of customer payments;
- Lower and better-managed costs and
overheads;
- No new recruitment;
- Customers' financial situations monitored more
closely;
- Inventory management optimised;
- Planned investments postponed;
- Number of workers reduced (redundancies).
Continuation of article, other results given:
- How do firms see the economic situation in
2010?
- Which firms are most affected?
- How will companies respond to this crisis?
- How do family firms react?
- News on government measures.
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