Journey towards endemicity
Russia’s incursion into the Ukraine is dominating the news coverage as we go to press.
The conflict, especially if it is protracted, has the potential to drag the rest of Europe and the United States into a sustained economic and, possibly, a military conflict against Moscow. The impact is already being felt globally with oil prices rising to levels not seen for many years, significant volatility seen in global stock markets and growing concern about serious disruption to commodity supplies from the Ukraine (known for being the “breadbasket” of Europe) and to oil and gas supplies from Russia. Quite apart from the humanitarian cost of the conflagration, there are global geopolitical and economic ramifications for the entire world, and we’ll have to assess the fallout from that as it happens.
Globally, we’re already facing inflationary pressures because of rising energy costs, supply chain disruptions and continued pressure from Covid 19. Two years on from the start of the pandemic, over half the world is still under its grip whilst the other half is making headway, benefitting from mass vaccine roll outs. A mix of overfatigue, hedonic adaptation and pressures to reignite economies, is fueling the probability of the so-called social end to the pandemic with many nations and governments taking measured steps to bolster and kickstart the re-opening of their economies. As we broadly move to a state of endemicity, with a steady state of infection rates, the hard lessons learnt under the yoke of the pandemic have thrown out tough questions for business introspection.
For example, what changes are needed to achieve growth and expansion? How do companies amend and implement changes to their operating procedures, pricing, supply chain risk management, supplier and partner relationship supervision, product offering and, the ever elusive, client acquisition and engagement models? The answers are likely to be found by understanding what the dynamics driving these changes tell us about any organisation’s own endemicity journey preparedness? Many CEO concerns will be compounded by the reality that the road to endemicity is a journey of unknown duration and unclear destination, with all the unpredictability of new surges to restrict onward plans.
In this World Survey 2022 edition, I have had a chance to connect with several accountancy
C- Suite and Heads of practice to find out how their organisations have fared though the pandemic.
The good news is that the World Survey finds 52 global accounting networks and associations seeing a combined increase of 8% in fee income to just over $261bn in 2021.
Read the feature “Demand for consulting services drives accountancy industry” to find out about industry leaders’ strategies and initiatives in play. There is the main draw of the global and regional ranking tables; there is a review by GlobalData journalist Saywah Mahmood on Big Four growth and performance and a report on ESG policy development by industry players across jurisdictions.
In addition, this issue is all about added value to our readers and partners by way of the WS 2022 supplement, which offers Q&As and case studies by organisations showing the workings of their business strategies and operations.
There will be an opportunity for partners to contribute to a supplement every quarter to showcase programmes they are proud of or highlight company milestones, relationships, products or services though original and exclusive content. Supplements to appear in 2022/ 2023 will follow Technology, L&D, ESG and DEI themes
We look forward to our readers’ feedback on this issue, and future participation.
Zoya Malik, Group Accountancy Editor