Vantage Research Group

02/10/2023

TRANSFORMING THE FINANCE FUNCTION MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
High interest rates and the possibility of a recession have preoccupied U.S. finance executives for months. So Vantage Research polled more than 200 of them in the software industry and interviewed three leaders on how they are re-appraising the finance function to meet new challenges. They say the fundamentals most in need of improvement are aligning new technology with finance goals and recovering quickly from financial adversity. In the next two years they say they will invest heavily to train people in broad financial skills and fill talent gaps with people who have the know-how to manage financial technology software.
Find out how finance executives are planning for the future by downloading our report "Strengthening The Resilience of the Finance Function: Lessons from Executives," sponsored by Tipalti, a leader in global payments and AP automation.

It’s no secret that economic uncertainty preoccupies companies worldwide. Businesses are asking: Will the economy avoid a slowdown? Have interest rates peaked? Will inflation continue to abate?

21/06/2022

THE DECENCY FOUNDATION AND VANTAGE RESEARCH GROUP LAUNCH PROJECT TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY FARMS

The Decency Foundation (TDF) and Vantage Research announce a joint project to advance TDF’s Nu Metric assessment of environmental and social performance, initially tested on dairy farms.
The project will explore farm-level operational dynamics across a range of categories measuring ecology, employee well-being, sustainable operations and supply chains, product quality, and community benefits. The aim is to measure and provide a roadmap for improving the environmental impact, social return, and sustainability of small farms.
The project will also expand the applicability of the Nu Metric to small/medium enterprises across all industries and explore how a commitment to relational goals can impact the social sustainability of operations.
Newell Thompson, TDF’s Executive Director, says: “We are very pleased to collaborate with Vantage Research to design a sustainability assessment tool at the operational level. The Nu Metric will be a useful measurement to assess small farms’ Social Return on Investment. It will help frame important issues within agriculture such as nutrition, health, climate change, supply chains, community dynamics, and so much more.”
Lucy Hurst, Research Director of Vantage Research, notes that small businesses such as farms need to be assessed differently from large ones. “Small farms are vital if we are to make food systems more sustainable and decent. Other studies have taken a top-down approach, whereas we will look at the day-to-day realities of farm operations.”
The indicator framework for the study will include unique types of measurement, bringing new insights to our understanding of the way small farms operate. This essential research will highlight areas of farming where support and collaboration are needed if the sub-sector is to survive.
The results of the research will be released later this year and will help improve decision-making in a range of activities related to small farms, including funding, consortium building, and knowledge and technology transfers.

About TDF
Focusing on the vitally important agricultural sector, TDF’s mission is to catalyze socially responsible ways of operating and to provide small business farmers with a sustainability roadmap and financial assistance via targeted capital improvement loans. Creating analytical tools transferable to other small/medium enterprises, TDF offers critical leadership in the broader effort to bring a values-based approach to business that stresses environmental and social performance.

About Vantage Research
Vantage Research’s mission is to help clients maximize the value of thought leadership by developing effective and influential programs and leveraging its world-class experience and expertise. Vantage Research combines meticulous research and expert analysis to produce strategic B2B, B2G and B2C reports and content pieces, including benchmarks, rankings, and other types of content exploring issues defining today’s global business environment.

For more information about the project, contact:
Lucy Hurst
[email protected]

Newell Thompson
[email protected]

17/02/2022

VANTAGE RESEARCH ANNOUNCES MEDIA PARTNERSHIP WITH NEWSWEEK
https://www.vantageresearchgroup.com/latest-news
VR's directors, Nigel Holloway and Lucy Hurst, are delighted to tell our friends, colleagues and clients that we now have an unparalleled platform for our top-quality thought leadership. Newsweek has more than 100 million unique visitors to its website and is keen to host our sponsored research. This will enable our clients to reach a huge global audience so they can associate their brands with leading-edge thought leadership on the topics executives care about most.
www.vantageresearchgroup.com
For more details, contact:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Vantage Research is always on the lookout for talented salespeople, editors and writers. Our culture is collegial; it’s meant to be fun and remunerative.

11/11/2021

RISKY CONNECTIONS
This op-ed points out the risky reliance on China's industrial lead in the production of materials for EV batteries. As it happens, Western Europe is now finding out the hard way that Belarus is threatening to restrict gas supplies if it doesn't open its borders to migrants from the Middle East. The West will need to invest a lot more in the manufacture of battery materials if it is not to become vulnerable to Chinese pressure.

Its battery supply chain runs through China, and that’s not changing any time soon.

26/10/2021

CHICKEN AND EGG
For analysts of indices, what factors are chickens and which ones are eggs?

Heartland Forward releases new report on entrepreneurship across the country with first-of-its-kind calculator The metrics underlying America’s Entrepreneurial States: Supporting Entrepreneurs to Help Drive the Economy show that when it comes to creating and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems, ...

07/10/2021

THE INDECENT USE OF INDICES
Indices or composite indicators are widely used by organizations such as the World Bank and the OECD, as well as corporate marketing and communications teams. At a macro level, these indices provide global, comparative country assessments for areas of the economy and society that are difficult to measure.
A furor over China’s influence in the World Bank led last month to a decision to discontinue the bank’s Doing Business report and the Ease of Doing Business indicator, which assess the attractiveness of 190 countries, based on their business conditions. Vantage Research has performed a lot of research in the field of global business and economic indices and agrees with the World Bank’s decision. The credibility of the international lending organization was at stake.
But this does not mean that other composite indicators should be tarred with the same brush. If they are rigorously researched and are free from the influence of any and all stakeholders, they will continue to play an important role in informing decision making. Composite indicators are here to stay because business and government leaders need them and the rest of society can benefit if the set of indicators spurs debate that leads to improvements in policy.
That said, indices are of no value if they are not designed to help organizations and countries to improve. There has to be a point to an index; they cannot simply be a way to stroke or ruffle the feathers of a government or a company. Dispassionate research is meant to lead to improvements in the lives of people everywhere and the value of an index should be assessed based on this standard.
The most pressing issues have generally not been measured yet and urgently need to be, or they have not been measured in a useful way. The biggest problems of our time, such as climate change, food security, poverty alleviation, global health, need better measurements if they are to be solved. Composite indicators can help achieve this.

04/10/2021

ONSHORE TAX HAVENS
What do US states gain from hosting shell companies and trusts? How much revenue do they derive from them? The US drive to curb corporate tax arbitrage in the OECD rings hollow when US states can behave like offshore tax havens.

A global journalistic collaboration used 3 terabytes of spreadsheets, contracts and other documents from law firms and wealth managers to expose offshore ploys that hide shocking riches of the global elite.