Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy, 2012

Released: 2014-08-25

Canadian enterprises focus on business strategies

Canadian enterprises use various performance indicators to monitor their long-term strategic objectives. In 2012, sales and income growth was the most common performance indicator, with 76.7% of enterprises using it, followed by gross margin and operating margin growth (60.2%).

In 2012, medium-sized (79.8%) and small (76.2%) enterprises used sales and income growth as their principal indicator to measure their long-term strategic objectives. In contrast, large enterprises were more apt to apply two principal performance measures: gross margin and operating margin growth (78.0%) and sales and income growth (77.4%).

With respect to their strategic focus, Canadian enterprises directed their efforts on maintaining or optimizing their existing business activities rather than on introducing new or significantly improved products or practices (management, operations and marketing) in 2012.

Canadian enterprises estimated that 58.1% of their total sales of their highest selling good or service came from their local market in 2012. Small enterprises (60.7%) had the highest propensity of relying on local markets in terms of percentage of sales of their highest selling product, followed by medium-sized (51.4%) and large (31.8%) enterprises.

In 2012, 90.2% of enterprises in surveyed services industries concentrated sales of their highest selling good or service in Canadian markets—locally, provincially or in other provinces.

Three-quarters of the total sales of Canadian manufacturers' highest selling good or service came from within Canada. In contrast, half of the total sales of the highest selling product of large manufacturing enterprises came from markets outside of Canada.

Tables CANSIM table358-0304 to 358-0311: Business strategies and monitoring.

Tables CANSIM table358-0312 to 358-0318: Production performance management practices.

Tables CANSIM table358-0319 to 358-0323: Human resource management practices.

Tables CANSIM table358-0324 to 358-0335: Highest selling good or service and main market.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number survey number5171.

Contact information

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To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Louise Earl (613-951-2880) or Marc Nadeau (613-951-3692), Investment, Science and Technology Division.