The main obstacle to business growth is no longer just the market, but also companies’ ability to make decisions. According to the latest Coface survey of 1,250 business leaders in 13 countries, 68% of them cite slow decision-making as a major obstacle. In a highly uncertain environment, businesses are no longer simply seeking to avoid risk: they must learn to make decisions more quickly. A transformation is underway, gradually turning risk into a driver of decision-making and growth.
Key takeaways
- 68% of companies identify slow decision-making as a major barrier to growth
- 62% of decision-makers believe that commercial ambition and risk discipline are still fundamentally at odds
- 44% believe that risk and finance teams will become strategic growth partners within the next 3 to 5 years
- 77% expect external partners to provide predictive insights to enable more proactive decision-making
Decision paralysis: a new major risk
Long viewed as an external factor, risk is now largely an internal one. In many organizations, decision-making is slowed down by persistent tensions between sales teams and risk functions, as well as by difficulty in making use of available data. Nearly six in ten organizations (59%) believe that feedback from risk teams is perceived as overly cautious or out of touch with the market, which fuels mistrust and hampers decision-making.
This dynamic creates a genuine vicious circle: in the absence of consolidated data — 52% of companies report fragmented data across markets — decisions rely more on judgement, which reinforces caution and further slows down decision-making.
Saying “no” or building a “yes”: a paradigm shift
This paralysis is partly due to a still defensive approach to risk. One in two executives (50%) believes that saying “no” is safer than building a “yes”, even when opportunities could be explored within a structured framework.
Yet expectations are changing rapidly. Whilst only 24% of decision-makers currently view risk teams as true growth partners, 44% anticipate that they will play this role within the next three to five years. The shift is clear: the best-performing companies will be those capable of moving beyond a control-focused mindset to enable “secure yes”, by integrating risk from the very start of the decision-making process.
A minority of companies are leading the way
Only a minority of organizations (12.6% of companies surveyed) currently adopt a fully growth-oriented approach. These companies, identified as Open Advantage Leaders in the study, stand out for their concrete practices: As a result, they are able to transform uncertainties into actionable decisions more quickly and seize opportunities that other organizations let slip by.
- 70% involve risk teams from the earliest stages of decision-making, compared with an average of 58%
- more of them view risk as a competitive advantage (29% versus 19%)
- they foster a culture of debate and challenge (38% versus 23%)
Data and AI: decisive accelerators
In this context, data is becoming a key driver of performance. Yet, only 20% of companies report having consistent data across their different markets, which limits their ability to compare and anticipate.
Faced with these limitations, expectations are evolving rapidly: The aim is to reduce uncertainty and speed up decision-making, without sacrificing control.
- 59% of executives want risk teams to make greater use of predictive insights to simulate scenarios
- 54% want to accelerate the use of AI-driven risk analysis solutions
From “protection” to “projection”: the key role of external partners
Companies today expect far more from their partners than only risk coverage:
- 77% want to benefit from predictive analytics to anticipate market developments,
- 71% expect their partners to give them the confidence needed to seize more opportunities.
More broadly, 65% of decision-makers believe that external partners must enable bolder business decisions by combining protection, data and the ability to anticipate. In this new context, risk management professionals are called upon to become true decision-making partners, capable of transforming uncertainty into more easily actionable decisions.
New Zealand, A control-led function today, with gradual movement toward commercial relevance
New Zealand presents a highly structured and disciplined risk environment, where organisations demonstrate strong governance foundations but a cautious, control-led approach to growth.
Risk and finance functions are firmly positioned as protectors of the business. A clear majority (62%) describe them as “trusted guardians who protect the business from downside”, significantly above the global average of 38%. This reflects a market where risk is deeply embedded in organisational thinking – but primarily as a stabilising force rather than a growth driver.
At the same time, risk is not consistently embedded early enough to shape commercial decisions. Only 16% of organisations involve risk at the idea stage (vs 24% globally), and overall early involvement is lower than average (48% vs 58%). This creates a distinct dynamic: risk is influential, but often operates within predefined boundaries rather than shaping opportunity from the outset.
Organisations in New Zealand also exhibit a strong preference for structured, controlled growth. While 46% believe risk should enable growth within clearly defined limits, and 26% support pushing for opportunity when risks are manageable, this is counterbalanced by a high degree of caution in practice.
This is reinforced by decision-making behaviour. Internal barriers such as slow decision-making (28%) and internal risk aversion (24%) are the most commonly cited constraints, indicating that the limiting factor is not ambition, but the ability to act on it.
Looking ahead, the evolution of risk is expected to be measured rather than transformative. Only 36% expect risk and finance to become active drivers of growth (vs 45% globally), while 34% believe they will remain focused on protection. This suggests a market that is evolving – but on its own terms, with a continued emphasis on control and resilience.
Overall, Organisations in New Zealand combine strong governance and clarity with a cautious, process-driven approach to decision-making. The opportunity lies in shifting from controlled participation to proactive enablement – embedding risk earlier, increasing its influence, and accelerating decision-making.
Xavier Durand, CEO of Coface, states:
The real challenge for companies is no longer to avoid risk, but to know how to turn uncertainty into informed decisions. And that requires data.
The ability to capture, analyze and project information is becoming central to saying ‘yes’ earlier, faster and more securely.
The most successful companies are not those that take fewer risks, but those that have the best intelligence to make decisions.
Download the full study as well as New Zealand focus section.
