Canadian Businesses Failing To Meet the Information Sharing Needs of Employees, Finds Ipsos-Reid Poll
Effective Collaboration Seen As Critical Success Factor; But Only 31 Per Cent Of Business Leaders Rate Their Own Company's Teamwork As "Very Efficient"
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Mississauga, Ontario — October 21, 2003 — Canadian companies are challenged to meet their employees' needs when it comes to creating a strong teamwork environment, say Canadian business leaders. A survey released today indicates that while effective teamwork among employees is deemed as critical for the success of the organization, many feel that their organizations are not providing efficient team-oriented working environments.
In the study released by Ipsos-Reid and Microsoft Canada, 86 per cent of Canadian executives view effective teamwork as "very critical" to the success of their organizations; however, only 31 per cent of those surveyed rated their own company's teamwork as "very efficient."
"Business expectations have evolved faster than organizations have been able to keep pace," said David Saffran, Senior Vice President, Ipsos-Reid. "There appears to be a big gap between what a CEO expects and what an information worker is able to fulfill based on the toolset their employer provides."
In addition, only 34 per cent of company leaders "strongly agreed" that their organization has the tools, software and technology in place to make teamwork as efficient as possible. Teams often need to pull information from diverse sources and make that information available in a controlled manner. Information that is locked away in one part of a company might be of great benefit to another area and Canadian executives recognize they must unlock this information. One in three (34%) said their employees do not have access to the internal information they need to make good, timely business decisions.
"To remain competitive, Canadian companies know they need tools that will help turn groups into more effective teams. Specifically, our customers have told us that they want to streamline business processes and equip information workers with better tools that support collaboration," said Scott Jackson, Product Manager, Microsoft Office System, Microsoft Canada. "We developed the Microsoft Office System in response to this need. The Microsoft Office System is the easiest way to help more people transform information into business impact."
Other key findings from the study include:
| • | Three out of four Canadian business leaders agree that their businesses are in need of tools that will allow them to securely share information with employees, customers, and partners to achieve greater efficiency (74 per cent) and help turn groups of people into more effective teams (72 per cent). |
| • | 65 per cent of Canadian executives wish collaborating on documents and files was easier. |
| • | 72 per cent of Canadian business leaders agree that they need tools that will help turn groups into more effective teams. One-in-three feel that their organization does not have the tools and resources in place for their employees to properly analyze and prioritize all of the info they receive. 70 per cent of Canadian executives agree that deploying software that standardizes workflow and business processes throughout their organization would make them more competitive. |
| • | 76 per cent company leaders say there is out-of-date information residing on their systems, and 31 per cent of those with out of date information say it is costing their organization lost sales or revenue. |
Survey Methodology
These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Microsoft between September 8th and September 19th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 500 business decision makers of mid-sized Canadian firms (100 to 500 employees). With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within ± 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of business decision makers of mid-sized Canadian firms been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population.
About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has 10 regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Visit Microsoft Canada's web site at www.microsoft.ca
About Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos-Reid is Canada's leading marketing research and public affairs company, both in size and reputation. It operates in seven cities and employs more than 300 researchers and support staff in Canada. Ipsos-Reid has the biggest network of telephone call centres, as well as the largest prerecruited household and online panels in Canada. Its Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country. Ipsos-Reid is a member of the Ipsos Group, the second largest survey-based marketing research company in the world. Visit www.ipsos-reid.com
