We asked the general population a two-part series of questions to understand the gap between what is important to them and how well business and government are delivering against that. Both institutions show performance gaps, but the gulf is wider for government, which appears to be falling short on policy and execution. Business, on the other hand, is doing a slightly better job at closing the gap on operational factors like bringing innovative products to the market, and ranking on global best-of lists.  The areas in which it has largely fallen short are more societal in nature.

Both business and government are cited, by a wide margin, for not adequately listening to their primary stakeholders—for business, there is a 31 percentage point gap in this critical behavior; for government it is even greater at 50 percentage points.

For more data and analysis of trust in government, business, media and NGOs, read the following:

• Government Trust Breakdown
• Business Has Hurdles To Clear
• Diversification of Media Continues
• NGOs Most Trusted Institution Globally
• Financial Sector Least Trusted