Thailand’s Corporate Confidence Ranked for First time on global research, Worldcom Confidence Index

BANGKOK, Thailand 22 October 2020 – Global corporate confidence continues its slow but gradual improvement according to the Worldcom Confident Index (WCI), global research that utilises a breakthrough approach powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to track sentiments and engagement of C-Suite executives at over 54,000 leading businesses around the world.  While previous editions of the WCI included research into the confidence of CEOs and CMOs of major Thai enterprises, this edition is the first in which Thailand specific results have been calculated and ranked.

The latest August survey showed that Thailand executives’ confidence level is significantly low, ranking # 26 out of #31, leaving only five countries with lower confidence.

Tom Van Blarcom, Managing Director of TQPR Thailand, the Worldcom Public Relations Group’s partner in the country said, “While confidence in the country remains low the slight uptick in global confidence is encouraging.  The data (see below) shows four consecutive months of global improvement since April when COVID-19  severely impacted global business confidence.  It does show that world business leaders are focusing on how they can continue to work and get things done during the pandemic.”

The WCI AI tool collects and analyses personal (but public) social media and blog posts of senior executives at leading targeted businesses.  Once this data was collected, AI is able to interpret and calculate engagement and confidence of the target group on various topics.  This provides incredibly valuable insights because it means that WCI not only shows what leaders are talking about, but also their confidence or concern in addressing each topic.

The key topic which attracted the most global attention from executives was ‘upskilling and reskilling’ this was followed by the topic of ‘retaining talent’, ‘impact and role of media’ plus ‘reducing plastic and other sustainability issues’.

Similarly, Thailand also sees ‘upskilling and reskilling’ as the primary topic that garner most executive attention followed by the topic of ‘impact and role of media’, ‘reducing plastics and other sustainability issues’, and ‘retaining talent’.   From this data, employees with the right skills are seen as the most important to the recovery.  Leaders also see the media and how they influence success as important, while sustainability issues remained high on leader engagement. Organisations will need to communicate how they are addressing sustainability issues if they want to protect and enhance their reputation.

Todd Lynch, Managing Director of The Worldcom Public Relations Group, said, “It’s clear that if organisations want to retain their best talent, they will need to communicate clearly how they will ensure their employees have the skills needed to succeed in a changed world. It’s also clear that leaders need to have a clear strategy for addressing the reputational issues relating to employees, the media, sustainability and customers if they want to emerge stronger from the pandemic.”

The Worldcom Confidence Index (WCI) latest report also includes results for 11 industry sectors. Thailand is one of the four countries with the highest confidence in the financial sector out of all sectors per country.

The regional confidence and concern levels highlighted the different reactions to the pandemic around the world. Leaders in Asia were more confident than their peers in two sectors (Communications services, Consumer discretionary).  Leaders in North America were more confident than their peers in six sectors (Energy, Healthcare, Information technology, Materials, Real Estate, Utilities). Leaders in Africa were more confident than their peers in three sectors (Consumer staples, Financials, Industrials). Leaders in Europe were more confident than their peers in only one sector (Energy) – with the same score as North America.  Leaders in LATAM – the region with the lowest confidence levels – were more concerned than their peers in five sectors (Consumer staples, Healthcare, Industrials, Information Technology, Real Estate).

Additional insights and charts can be seen here.

View the global insights of the August 2020 WCI in a summary video and the sector insights here.

 

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Methodology

The study was able to operate at this scale, and in nine different languages, because the data was captured using a breakthrough approach powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The chosen research firm, Advanced Symbolics Inc (ASI), has developed a patented method of building representative samples and then capturing information with their AI tool.

 

About The Worldcom Public Relations Group

The Worldcom Public Relations Group (Worldcom) is the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations firms, with 143 offices employing some 2,000 staff in 115 cities across six continents. In total, Worldcom partners reported a combined revenue of U.S. $300+ million last year from 3,034 clients. Established in 1988, the group was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent firms could inspire direct action from stakeholders in a way that delivers immediate results and lasting outcomes– wherever in the world a client needs support.

Worldcom’s partners deliver unique connectivity to their marketplace. This provides clients direct access to the audiences they most want to take action and to specialists that can deliver on challenging problems. As a result, strategies and campaigns see immediate reactions that turn into sustained audience actions. Partners serve national, international, and multinational clients while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through Worldcom, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture, and customs of the geographic areas in which they operate. Learn more about Worldcom at www.worldcomgroup.com or by calling 1-800-955-9675.

 

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For media enquiry, please contact: Maetavarin Maneekulpan, TQPR (Thailand), +66 (0) 2260 5820 or mae@tqpr.com

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