Insights

The international student market is growing and proactive higher education institutions will work with policymakers to shape the agenda.

Many emerging economies still face tough social challenges but beyond the negative headlines, there is great investment potential for businesses to tap into.

The best drivers think ahead, anticipating potential hazards coming down the road and reacting accordingly. They also recognise when the landscape is opening up and they can safely put their foot down. In a similar vein, those with responsibility for driving today’s companies – boards and shareholders alike – need to be focused not just on this week or month, but on the future too.

In the battle for guests, branding has traditionally been a powerful weapon. Customers, whether travelling for leisure or business, sought familiar names that offered a consistent experience. Innovative loyalty programmes encouraged them to return to the same hotel groups again and again.

India is transitioning from an international aid recipient to a donor, but what role do private sector partners play in helping the country forge a new way forward? Vikesh Mehta, Grant Thornton India, shares his views on the dynamic future of India’s economic and social development arena.

The profitability of a business is directly impacted by how its supply chain is structured. As a business moves through its own life cycle the supply chain will also evolve, for example, as procurement, manufacturing and distribution strategies change.

Introducing innovations such as artificial intelligence into your supply chain takes time and effort but it can help you leapfrog the competition. The scope and ingenuity of artificial intelligence (AI) was demonstrated earlier this year when a computer won against a human opponent at Go – a traditional Chinese board game in which the aim is to surround more territory than your opponent. This was a breakthrough – revealing how machines have developed new levels of human-like intuitive capability and processing, much faster than anticipated.

Cross-border activity increases as the economic recovery gains more traction in developed economies

The healthcare sector is still experimenting with using big data but, as Anne McGeorge the national managing partner of healthcare at Grant Thornton US shares, it already has plenty to teach us about the benefits and challenges of big data analytics.

When thinking about future growth locations, today’s scaling digital technology companies are more likely to think about attracting the best talent and gaining funding than considering tax.

Indirect taxation is becoming ever more complicated, varied between jurisdictions and prone to government tinkering. With some of the biggest tax reforms occurring within indirect tax, getting on top of the complexity and change is vital.

Guests are less loyal and more demanding than ever before. They use online travel agents (OTAs) and aggregators to find the best hotels and deals – which helps operators fill their rooms, but at a cost.

The current VAT system throughout the European Union was designed a quarter of a century ago and was a transitional system which was to be replaced eventually by a 'definitive' system. Much has changed in the world of commerce since then including an enlarged EU comprising 28 countries and the major impact of 'on-line' trading over the internet.

Mid-market businesses should feel empowered to ask for better service from their bank, says the Swedish lender that is challenging established global players. When the UK Chancellor, George Osborne, recently commissioned a study on how well Britain’s SMEs are served by the nation’s banks, it wasn’t a domestic lender that earned top marks – it was Sweden’s Handelsbanken.

Our latest International Business Report (IBR) research reveals that global business optimism has fallen to a three-year low in the first quarter of 2016. A potent combination of fragile financial markets, volatility in oil prices..

Risk and reputation is a hot topic – with the public, the press and in politics. Accordingly, it is important that businesses understand that risk management needs to be everyone’s responsibility. One significant area of risk is tax. Our article discusses the main sources of tax risk and how these can be effectively managed to ensure your businesses’ reputation is not damaged.