The Indian economy has overtaken developed markets in capitalising on the benefits of risk management.

According to a new study from BT Global Services, Threatening Skies: Risk in the Global Economy, 90 per cent of Indian enterprises see risk management as a means of increasing competitive advantage in comparison to just 44 per cent of developed economies, and 85 per cent also think that risk encourages innovation and creativity compared to 43 per cent in developed economies.

India is also significantly more likely to be investing heavily in risk management strategies and systems than their counterparts in the US and Europe (54 per cent of developing economies to 36 per cent of developed).

India has acted on this by being more likely to have a board-level corporate security officer (CSO) or corporate risk officer (CRO), more likely to view this as a valued investment and twice as likely to have a risk management strategy for global risks. The results suggest that developing countries, contrary to accepted wisdom, are increasingly looking to become the prime movers in establishing international collaboration initiatives.

BT commissioned Datamonitor to undertake the study of 2,000 senior executives in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Brazil, China, India and South Africa. The vast majority of businesses in India (96 per cent) see international collaboration, either intra- or inter-company, as being vital to the success of their business in the future. However, a large proportion of executives in India (85 per cent) also believe that organisations from developed markets remain suspicious of the assurances they offer about their risk management policies, particularly when it comes to ICT, which clearly bodes ill for successful collaboration.

''Developed markets have been wary of risks associated with aggressive economic growth," said Sudhir Narang, managing director, BT India. "Our evidence suggests that developing countries, fully committed to international collaboration, now boast risk management strategies that surpass even 'western' standards and can be trusted to support innovation and creativity.''

The impact of major global events and issues is taken into consideration by the risk management strategies of 85 per cent of businesses in India, compared to just 35 per cent in the US and Europe. The onset of a global economic slowdown sparked by a US recession is rated the highest global risk for the next twelve months by India, followed by the rise in oil and commodity prices, and the continued depreciation of the US dollar against other major world currencies. Businesses in mature markets are less nervous of future risks overall, although 36 per cent still believe they will be impacted or highly impacted by a global economic downturn.

Narang said, ''Businesses in developed markets appear quite bullish about the potential impact of global risks such as epidemics, terrorism or water security, but, ironically, they may be less prepared for major global events than their counterparts in emerging markets. It is vital that international organisations ensure their risk management plans cover all eventualities – no matter how unlikely the risk seems. And this should be seen, as it largely is in emerging markets, as an opportunity to stimulate growth and liberate innovation, rather than a chore or an unnecessary expense.''

Other findings include:

• 89.8 per cent of businesses in India have a chief security officer, corporate risk officer, or equivalent, in comparison to just 23 per cent of businesses in developed markets.
• The CSO or CRO sits on the board in 93.5 per cent of businesses in India, compared to just 59 per cent of businesses in developed markets.
• 78 per cent of respondents from India believe that working across borders or between countries presents a greater security threat to their data and therefore their business than when conducting at home. Only 41 per cent of respondents from the US and Europe think the same.
• The majority (79 per cent) of businesses in India admit that the threat of international cyber-espionage, hacking or web fraud is more likely to come from a source located in a developing economy.
• 75 per cent of businesses in India believe that the threat from within (staff) is as great as that from outside the business.
• Businesses in India are more likely than their counterparts in the US and Europe to believe that the next generation of people entering the workforce, who have grown up using sophisticated ICT and online services, have an attitude to security that could pose a threat to the corporate network (88 per cent compared to 39 per cent).