Survey Research for Management Decision-making

Abstract

In the last decade, Britain’s annual inflation rate has risen to 18 per cent and fallen to under 3 per cent; the average world price of oil has fluctuated between $13 and $37 per barrel; technological change has revolutionised some industries and decimated others; interest rates have soared to unprecedented levels; the exchange rate of the pound against the US dollar has fluctuated between $1.04 and $2.45 and the annual growth rate of the gross national product (GNP) has ranged from −2.3 per cent to +3.5 per cent. Despite government efforts to discourage the trend, taxes have generally risen as a proportion of national income during the decade.