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The Increased Business Risks Posed by Social Media as COVID-19 Forces Remote Working

AGN Global Business Voice:
In this edition of the AGN Global Business Voice, we take a look at how SMEs deal with their social media activities – through the lens of our panel of 46 business advisers/firms across the world.

Last year it was estimated that 3.4 billion people were social media users - that’s 9% up on 2018 and a staggering 45% of the world’s population. In March this year, i.e. peak pandemic, Facebook announced a 50% increase in messaging on its platform in the countries most affected by COVID-19. Between February and March, Instagram recorded 4.4m new users. For
some time, people have become concerned about whether the benefits of the social media phenomenon outweigh the social problems it creates. But, whatever you feel about social media, if you run a business, the statistics tell you it shouldn’t be ignored.

There is increasing scepticism about the commercial uses of social media with some suggesting that the ‘must-have’ digital targeting platforms are less of a laudable gift to SME business than was once thought. There is even the suggestion that Facebook has created a whole generation of ‘bad customers’ – lazy, disloyal, expensive, elusive...and fickle.

AGN Global Business Voice: The Increased Business Risks Posed by Social Media as Covid-19 Forces Remote Working

As COVID-19 drives businesses to embrace remote working, the use of social media is expanding. However, many SMEs across the world are unaware of the associated business risks. In this edition of the AGN Global Business Voice, we take a look at how SMEs deal with their social media activities – through the lens of our panel of 46 business advisers/firms across the world.

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AGN Covid Business Recovery Index: Global Business Voice - Special Report

AGN International member firms are comprised of thousands of advisory professionals that actively work with small and medium sized businesses around the world. Their ‘confidence’ about the future is founded on interactions with these businesses making them a credible proxy for business confidence more broadly. With this in mind, we have developed the Covid Business Recovery Index – a monthly barometer or snapshot of business confidence from every region around the world.

In the June edition, survey results indicate that our members' future business expectations are slowly improving. Find out how business confidence in your country has changed in the last 30 days?

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AGN Global-e-Connected: 19-Hour Virtual Journey around the Globe

On 10 June, the flagship event of AGN Global-e-Connected took place. AGN Members were invited to dip in and out of a continuous 19-hour programme. The event kicked-off in Auckland and circled the globe, before ending in Los Angeles. The programme consisted of regional COVID-19 updates, keynote and internal speakers, committee sessions, discussion groups, the launch of the NextGen 'Road to Value' programme, Mandarin and Spanish language content, a three-part case study and fun social activities and games. The first event of its kind proved to be a huge success.

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Press Release: German Firm Joins AGN Membership

AGN International – one of the world’s leading associations of independent certified public accounting and consulting firms, announces that Reichert & Reichert has joined its AGN EMEA membership. The German firm employs a dedicated team of 40 employees, including experienced tax specialists, management consultants and lawyers that specialise in commercial and corporate law, tax law, labor law and inheritance law. Find out more by reading the press release.

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Press Release #3: AGN GBV: Remote Working – Is the genie out of the bottle? 

In the third edition of a series of special reports, our survey highlights that almost all firms will retain some aspects of this new reality. Malcolm Ward, Global CEO comments, “For many being forced to introduce remote working has accelerated changes often already underway, and also created positive developments in areas like communication, technology and security – it’s also put a question mark over the use of traditional working practices in particular the future role of the office”.

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Press Release #2: AGN ‘Global Business Voice’ special report on COVID-19

In this second edition of these special reports, composed from a global survey of AGN member firms, we show the facts and figures to support the questions, when will this economic nightmare be over and when we will get back to pre-COVID-19 levels of economic activity? Interestingly, our global member firms fall into two very distinct camps.

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