Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey

No individual firms are identified and only aggregate data are made public. Please respond by December 8. 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.

   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
   Global political instability
   IFRS convergence
   National employment outlook
   Price pressure from competitors
   State or local government budget deficits
   Other:

   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)
   Research and development spending
   Revenue
   Share repurchases
   Technology spending
   Wages/Salaries

6. Relative to Fall 2010, does your company find borrowing now:

  Much more difficult
  A little bit more difficult
  About the same
  A little easier
  Much easier
  Not applicable

8. In an adverse scenario in which multiple European banks were to become insolvent, how would this impact your business?

	A Significant Effect	A Minor Effect	No Effect

9. What do you think is the probability that the U.S. will enter a recession in the next 6 months? (e.g., 40 means a 40% chance of entering recession)

10. If a recession were to begin in the next 6 months, do you have a plan in place for actions your firm would take in response?

Yes
No

If a recession were to occur…

What percentage of your workforce would you let go through layoff or voluntary separation?	%
What percentage would you cut of your total dollars spent on capital expenditures?	%
	Yes	No
Would you cut discretionary spending such as research and development?
Would you dip into cash stores to avoid having to make layoffs/cut expenses?

11. In the past two years, has your finance/accounting organization: (Please make a selection in each column)

  Increased accounting staff
  Decreased accounting staff
  Maintained a constant number of accountants

  Increased the percentage of staff with MBAs
  Decreased the percentage of staff with MBAs
  Maintained a constant number of MBAs

12. Given an opportunity to add finance/accounting head count, which area would you most likely try to bulk up?

  Financial planning and analysis
  Accounting/financial reporting
  Tax
  Treasury
  Internal audit
  Other

13. Which of these statements do you agree with? (Check all that apply)

  Many of our accountants could, with training, be redeployed to more strategic roles
  Many of our accountants could, with little or no training, be redeployed to more strategic roles
  Few or none of our accountants could be so redeployed
  Accounting is a strategic as well as technical endeavor
  Accounting is not currently a strategic endeavor, but it should be
  Accounting is not a strategic endeavor

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:

%

For manufacturing firms only:

% of capacity utilized in the second half of 2011
% of capacity utilization planned for the first half of 2012

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/CFOGlobal Business Outlook Survey Fourth Quarter 2011

Duke University/CFO
Global Business Outlook Survey
Fourth Quarter 2011