Duke University/CFO
Business Outlook Survey
Winter 2007

No individual firms are identified and only aggregate data are made public. Please respond by Wednesday, February 28. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact us.

1. Are you more or less optimistic about your regional economy compared to last quarter?
More optimistic
Less optimistic
No change		 Rate your optimism about your regional economy on a scale from 0-100, with 0 being the least optimistic and 100 being the most optimistic.

2. Are you more or less optimistic about the financial prospects for your company compared to last quarter?
More optimistic
Less optimistic
No change		 Rate your optimism about the financial prospects for your own company on a scale from 0-100, with 0 being the least optimistic and 100 being the most optimistic.

3. What are the top three concerns your corporation faces? (rank #1, #2, #3)
   Cost of labor (wages, salaries, bonuses)
   Cost of fuel
   Cost of non-fuel commodities
   Health care costs
   Interest rates
   Regulation
   Political stability		    Skilled labor shortage
   Consumer demand
   Currency values
   Foreign competition
   Terrorism
   Other:    

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months? (e.g., +3%, -2%, etc.) [Leave blank if not applicable]
   % Prices of your products
   % Productivity (output per hour worked)
   % Technology spending
   % Capital spending
   % Marketing/advertising spending
   % Number of domestic employees
   % Number of foreign/off-shore
                      outsourced employees		    % Wages/Salaries
   % Health care costs
   % Earnings
   % Inventory
   % Cash on the balance sheet
   % Dividends

    M&A activity

5a. When do you think China's economy will encounter a recession (negative growth) or a significant slowdown (low single-digit growth)?
  Sooner than 1 year
  1-2 years
  3-5 years
  6-9 years
  Ten or more years

5b. What do you see as the Chinese economy's two main weaknesses/constraints? (Choose up to two)
  Overvalued capital markets
  Overvalued real estate/property market
  Excess production capacity
  Skilled worker shortage
  Underdeveloped legal system 		  Excessive regulation
  Threat of social unrest
  Possibility of a currency revaluation
  Other (please specify)    

6a. When do you think India's economy will encounter a recession or a significant slowdown?
  Sooner than 1 year
  1-2 years
  3-5 years
  6-9 years
  Ten or more years

6b. What do you see as the Indian economy's two main weaknesses/constraints? (Choose up to two)
  Inflation
  Overvalued capital markets
  Budget deficits
  Excessive regulation 		  Inadequate public infrastructure
  Skilled worker shortage
  Inflexible labor markets
  Other (please specify)    

7a. Compared to your level of optimism, is the CEO of your company more or less optimistic about the financial prospects of your own company?
  Our CEO is more optimistic than I am
  Our CEO is less optimistic than I am
  Our CEO's optimism is about the same as mine
  Don't know
 

7b. If different, why do you think your CEO's optimism differs from yours? (check main reasons)
  CEO has some information that I do not have
  CEO knows less about nuts and bolts of operations than I do
  CEO has more of a long-run/big picture view than I do
  CEOs are expected to project an optimistic view to employees and customers
  CEOs are, by nature, more optimistic about most things
  Other:    

8. CFOs are spending less time in one job before moving on than they did a few years ago. Why do you think length of time in the CFO job has fallen?
  Increased compliance work makes the job tedious
  Pressure from the CEO and board makes the job difficult
  CFOs are being given less time to deliver results
  CFOs are making more money and are retiring earlier or moving on to other things
  There are more opportunities to move to other companies
  Other:    

9. In your experience, do C-level executives avoid/change investments or projects that have payoff horizons that are longer than they expect to stay in their jobs?
  Yes, often
  Yes, sometimes
  Never

Please check one from each category that best describes your company:

     a. Industry
       Retail/Wholesale
       Mining/Construction
       Manufacturing
       Transportation/Energy
       Communications/Media		       Tech [Software/Biotech]
      Banking/Finance/Insurance
      Service/Consulting
      Healthcare/Pharmaceutical
      Other  
  b. Sales Revenue  (U.S. Dollars)  c. Number of Employees
       Less than $25 million
       $25-$99 million
       $100-$499 million
       $500-$999 million
       $1-$4.9 billion
       $5-$9.9 billion
       More than $10 billion		       Fewer than 100
      100-499
      500-999
      1,000-2,499
      2,500-4,999
      5,000-9,999
      More than 10,000
  d. Headquarters   e. Ownership
       
  

  (Other specified) 
   		      Public
      Private
      Government
      Nonprofit
  f. Foreign Sales   g. Your job title (e.g., CFO, Asst. Treasurer, etc)
       0%
       1-24%
       25-50%
       More than 50%

      


� Duke University, 2007