Business Climate Survey (association, chamber, economic development)

The classic business climate survey: current situation, expectations, order books, investment, employment and risks – as a time series per sector and company size, with the balance as a computed metric.

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Business Climate Survey (association, chamber, economic development) – questionnaire preview

The business climate survey is the product that gets an association or chamber into the press. And it is almost always manual work: returns in Excel, a balance of "good" minus "poor" by formula, a time series in a file only one person understands. This template adopts the proven question set of the ifo and DIHK surveys: situation, expectations, orders, investment, employment, capacity, plus the risk list. In DataLion each wave is appended to the same dataset, the balance is a computed metric, and the time series per sector comes from the wave field on its own. The report for the press conference is then a PowerPoint export in your layout.

When should you use this template?

This template is a great fit for:

  • Quarterly or twice a year as the association's business climate report
  • Via link in the member newsletter, with a URL parameter per section or region
  • As a flash survey on an acute topic (energy prices, supply chains) using the same skeleton
  • As the data basis for press releases and policy papers

Every question in this template

  1. 1

    In which sector is your company mainly active? *

    Single choice
    • Manufacturing
    • Construction
    • Trade
    • Crafts
    • Services
    • Hospitality and tourism
  2. 2

    How many employees does your company have? *

    Single choice
    • Up to 9
    • 10 to 49
    • 50 to 249
    • 250 or more
  3. 3

    How do you assess your company's current business situation? *

    Single choice
    • Good
    • Satisfactory
    • Poor
  4. 4

    How has your business situation changed compared with last year?

    Single choice
    • Better
    • Unchanged
    • Worse
  5. 5

    How will your business situation develop over the next twelve months? *

    Single choice
    • More favourable
    • Unchanged
    • Less favourable
  6. 6

    How do you assess your current order backlog?

    Single choice
    • Above normal
    • Normal
    • Below normal
  7. 7

    What is your current capacity utilisation?

    Single choice
    • Below 70%
    • 70 to 85%
    • 85 to 95%
    • Above 95%
  8. 8

    How will your domestic investment develop over the next twelve months?

    Single choice
    • Higher
    • Unchanged
    • Lower
    • No investment planned
  9. 9

    How will your headcount develop over the next twelve months?

    Single choice
    • Increase
    • Stay the same
    • Decrease
  10. 10

    What do you see as the biggest risks to your company's economic development?

    Multiple answers possible.

    Multiple choice
    • Domestic demand
    • Foreign demand
    • Skills shortage
    • Labour costs
    • Energy and raw material prices
    • Economic policy conditions
  11. 11

    What is your company most concerned about at the moment?

    Long text

From questionnaire to dashboard

The questionnaire produces the interactive business climate report:

  • Climate, situation and expectations as a time series: The balances across all waves as lines, filterable by sector. The chart that goes into the press release.
  • Sectors compared: Situation, expectations, orders and investment per sector as a heatmap: where the mood turns, it shows immediately.
  • Risk ranking: The multiple-choice question on the biggest business risks as bars, compared across waves: which risk is rising, which is falling.

Go deeper

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Frequently asked questions

How do we compute the balance and the climate index?
The balance is the share of "good" minus the share of "poor" for a question; the climate index is the mean of the situation and expectation balances. You set both up once in DataLion as computed metrics. After that the value is available in every wave, every sector and every export without formula maintenance in Excel.
How do we keep the time series comparable over years?
By keeping the questionnaire as a template and collecting every wave with the same variables. DataLion holds the waves in one dataset with a wave field; the time series per sector is then a chart, not a project. If you have to change a question, add it as a new variable and let the old one expire, so the history stays intact.
Can members see their own sector in comparison?
Yes, via access profiles or a shared dashboard link. A profile per section shows only that sector pre-filtered next to the overall value; head office sees everything. That is also a member benefit: the interactive business climate report is a reason to stay a member.

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