Duke University/CFO
Global Business Outlook Survey
First Quarter 2011

No individual firms are identified and only aggregate data are made public. Please respond by March 2. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact us.

1. Are you more or less optimistic about the U.S. economy compared to last quarter?
More optimistic
Less optimistic
No change		 Rate your optimism about the U.S. 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 external concerns facing your corporation? (rank #1, #2, #3)
   Consumer demand
   Cost of fuel
   Cost of non-fuel commodities
   Credit markets/interest rates
   Currency risk
    Environmental regulation
    Federal budget deficit
   Federal government agenda/policies		    Financial regulation
   Foreign competition
   Global financial instability
   National employment outlook
    Price pressure from competitors
   State or local government budget deficits
   Other:    

4. What are the top three internal, company-specific concerns for your corporation? (rank #1, #2, #3)
   Ability to forecast results
   Ability to maintain margins
   Attracting and retaining qualified employees
   Balance sheet weakness
   Cost of health care
    Counterparty risk
   Data security		    Maintaining morale/productivity
    Managing IT systems
   Pension obligations
   Protection of intellectual property
   Supply chain risk
    Working capital management
   Other:    

5. 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.]
   Capital spending
   Cash on the balance sheet
   Dividends
   Earnings
   Health care costs
   Marketing/advertising spending
   Number of domestic full-time employees
   Number of domestic temporary employees		    Number of offshore outsourced employees
   Prices of your products
   Productivity (output per hour worked)
   Technology spending
   Research and development spending
   Revenue
   Share repurchases
   Wages/Salaries

6. During 2011, does your company plan to:  (Please make a selection in each column)
  Acquire another company or companies?
  Acquire part of another company or companies?
  Both
  Neither		   Sell your company?
  Sell part of your company?
  Neither

7. Compared to Fall 2009 (Q4 2009), does your company find borrowing now:
  Much more difficult
  A little more difficult
  About the same
  A little easier
  Much easier
  Not applicable

8. What job functions/titles are most needed at your company right now? (Choose up to three)
  Administrative/clerical staff
  Customer service staff
  Engineers/product development staff
  Finance staff
  Human resources staff
  Information technology staff
  Line workers		   Manual laborers
  Marketing staff
  Mid-level managers
  Sales staff
  Senior managers
  Skilled labor/professional staff
  Other    

9. How satisfied are you in your job compared to two years ago?
  Less satisfied
  About the same
  More satisfied
  I have not been in my job for two years

10. We are trying to get a sense of what it would take for employment to return to “normal” levels. How much revenue growth would be required for your company to expand your workforce to pre-recession (late 2007) levels?
    % increase in revenue would be required for workforce at our firm to return to pre-recession level
  We are already at pre-recession workforce level
  We do not expect to return to pre-recession workforce levels

11. Which are the most crucial accounting issues your company faces in 2011? (Choose all that apply)
  Revenue recognition
  Lease accounting
  Fair value measurement
  Accounting for post-retirement benefits, including pensions
  Convergence to IFRS		   Accounting for income taxes
  Accounting for legal/environmental liability contingencies
  Accounting for executive compensation
  Other    

12. The movement toward convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. GAAP is slated to intensify in the first half of 2011. How would you describe your company's readiness to comply with global accounting standards?
  Haven't begun to address convergence
  Preparing, but far from ready
  Almost ready
  Completely ready
  We already file under IFRS
  N/A

 13. On February 18, 2011 the annual yield on 10-yr treasury bonds was 3.6%. Please complete the following:

a. Over the next 10 years, I expect the average annual S&P 500 return will be:

Worst Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual average
return will be less than:

             %		 Best Guess:
I expect the
return to be:

%		 Best Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual average
return will be greater than:

          %

b. During the next year, I expect the S&P 500 return will be:

Worst Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual return will
be less than:

             %		 Best Guess:
I expect the
return to be:

%		 Best Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual return will
be greater than:

          %

14. In 2010, the volatility of S&P 500 returns was 12.6%. What do you think the volatility of S&P 500 returns will be:
  %  in 2011
  %  in 2012

15a. You are presented with a hypothetical investment that will double your money each year (all reinvested). You start with $1. How many years would you need to accumulate $1 million? No calculators please.
    years to accumulate $1 million

   Lower bound:  I think there is a 1-in-10 chance that I would need or fewer years to accumulate $1 million
  Upper bound:  I think there is a 1-in-10 chance that I would need or more years to accumulate $1 million 

16a. Has the hurdle rate your company uses to evaluate investment projects changed since 2007 (before the recent recession)?
Our overall hurdle rate is:
  % 2007 hurdle rate (e.g., 10%, 15%)
  % Current hurdle rate 		  We do not use a hurdle rate to evaluate investment projects
  N/A

16b. Does your company pursue all projects that are expected to earn a return higher than the hurdle rate? (e.g., if your company's overall hurdle rate is 15%, among projects with similar risk to your company's overall risk, would you pursue all projects that are expected to earn 16%)?
  Yes
  No - Why not?  

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  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. Where are you personally located?   e. Ownership
       Northeast U.S.
       Mountain U.S.
       Midwest U.S.
       South Central U.S.
       South Atlantic U.S.
       Pacific U.S.		  Canada
 Central/Latin America
 Europe
 Asia
 Other 
      Public, NYSE
      Public, NASDAQ/AMEX
      Private
      Government
      Nonprofit
  f. Foreign Sales   g. What is your company's credit rating?
       0%
       1-24%
       25-50%
       More than 50%

   
  Check here if you do not have a rating, and please estimate what your rating would be.

  h. What do you estimate is your firm's overall weighted
      average cost of capital for 2011? (e.g., 11.2%)		   i. Your job title (e.g., CFO, Asst. Treasurer, etc.)
      %      



© Duke University, 2011