A Few Bright Spots in Economic Picture

Optimism is a rare thing in today's economy. Companies around the world are shuttering plants or cutting production to combat the recession that began in the U.S. and has since spread to other countries and continents. But according to the results of McKinsey Quarterly's Economic Conditions Snapshot, December 2008, there are a few bright spots out there.
 
About 27% of companies responding to the survey are considering positive strategic moves, like introducing new products or expanding markets, in the coming months. About 13% are planning to do so without implementing any defensive measures, such as cutting capital spending.
 
And smaller and private companies appear to be doing better than their large and public counterparts. Executives of 62% of the small or private companies responding to the survey say they've been able to hold prices steady, and most of them expect to continue doing so for the first quarter of 2009. They're also less likely to reduce headcount in the short term -something large companies like 3M or Praxair have had to resort to recently.
 
It's not all good news for the smaller companies though. According to the survey, the one negative area for small, private companies is in obtaining financing. With the credit crunch, the smaller players may have a more difficult time until markets unfreeze. (Read Credit Crunch in the Channel for analysis on the impact of the credit freeze.)
 
Click here to read the full McKinsey survey results.