Gartner‐Forbes C‐level Executives StudyPart IX
Preparing for Growth in the Current EconomyA Day in the Life of the C‐level Executive
May 2009
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Table of Contents• Methodology and Background
• Key Findings
• Part One:
Attitudes – Preparing for Growth in the Current Economy
• Part Two: The Role of Information Technology in Business Strategies
• Part Three:
Trends in Media Consumption
• Part Four: Demographics
• Part Five: Appendix
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Methodology• Gartner and Forbes conducted its ninth annual C‐level Executives Study in April2009 among C‐Level and Senior Management Executives in small‐, medium‐ andlarge‐sized companies.
• Participants were recruited from among the Forbes Advisory Panel, as well as third‐party partner Global Market Insite’s nationally representative online panel.
• The survey was fielded online by Forbes between April 21, 2009 and May 6,2009.
• Forbes received 658 complete responses; the results are projectable to the U.S.universe of C‐level and Senior Management Executives.
• 477 C‐Level Executives (80 C‐Level 1000+ ) (C‐Level Executives defined as:, CEO, CFO, CIO, CTO, COO, other C‐level, Board Member, President)
• 181 Senior Management (Excludes C‐Level)(Sr. Mgt defined as: VP/EVP/SVP, Director, Manager)
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Forbes Insights is the custom research practice of Forbes Media,
publisher of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com, whose combined media properties reach nearly 50 million business decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. Taking advantage of a proprietary database of senior‐level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights’
research covers a wide range of vital business issues, including talent management, corporate social responsibility, financial benchmarking, risk and regulation, and doing business in emerging markets.
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology‐related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high‐tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to
technology investors, we are the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, we work with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the
context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A.,
and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries.
Background
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Key Findings – Preparing for Growth in the Current Economy• Enterprise‐size companies are more confident in their prospects for growth in the shortterm; 78% claim confidence in their prospects for revenue growth though the end of 2010,compared with 67% of small companies and 71% of medium‐sized companies
– C‐level executives at Enterprise‐size companies were the most confident of all, at 84%, compared with 70% of C‐level executives in general and 71% of senior management
• Confidence in prospects for revenue growth increased markedly through 2012 – 96% of the Enterprise C‐suite felt confident in growth prospects, compared with 88% for
general C‐level and 87% for Senior Management
• Large companies ‐‐ most particularly, the Enterprise‐size C‐suite ‐‐ are most likely to beproactively preparing strategies to be ready for the economic upturn; at 54% and 65%,respectively, compared with 45% of total respondents
• Enterprise‐size organizations are to be taking a wider range of actions to reduce costs inthe current recession than are SMBs ‐‐ ranging from reducing travel expenses andreducing IT staff to outsourcing more. Small companies are more likely to be taking stepsto introduce new ad campaigns and investing in digital communications.
– Enterprise companies also report investing in a wider range of activities to grow their businesses in 2009 than do SMBs, who are focusing largely on advertising.
– C‐level executives at enterprises also displayed the same practice
of investing diversely for growth in 2009 when compared with C‐level executives in general and Senior Management
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Key Findings ‐ continued
• Enterprise‐size companies are also far more confident intheir sales pipelines, with 3 in 10 believing theirs are veryfull compared with 15% of total respondents
– This confidence is shared by the Enterprise C‐suite, which is far more confident than C‐level executives in general and Senior Management
• Half of all respondents believe their organizations havebeen somewhat or highly impacted by the economicdownturn, a belief that transcended company size and jobtitle
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ATTITUDES: PREPARING FOR GROWTH IN THE CURRENT ECONOMY
Section One
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Enterprise‐size companies are more confident in their prospects for growth in the short‐ and long‐term
Level of confidence in organization’s prospects for revenue growth By Company Size
Through the end of 2010 Through the end of 2012
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The Enterprise C‐suite has the most confidence in prospects for revenue growth in the short‐
and long‐
termLevel of confidence in organization’s prospects for revenue growth
By Job Title
Through the end of 2010
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Enterprise organizations are much more likely to be proactively preparing for the economic upturn, less focused on the current downturn
Agreement with current organizational activity and focusby Company Size
6 or 7 on a scale of 1‐7
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Enterprise C‐level executives most proactive in preparing for the economic upturn
Agreement with current organizational activity and focusby Job Title
6 or 7 on a scale of 1‐7
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Enterprise organizations employing more tactics to reduce costs than SMBs
Tactics for reducing costs in the current recessionBy Company Size
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Enterprise C‐level executives pursuing more tactics to reduce costs, including staff reductions; C‐level in general investing more heavily in digital communications efforts
Tactics for reducing costs in the current recessionBy Job Title
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Enterprise organizations making more investments for growth in 2009; technology, new products and hiring major areas of focus while small businesses focus on advertising
Current 2009 Investments for Business GrowthBy Company Size
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Enterprise C‐suite investing for growth much more widely in 2009 than other executives; new products, technology, R&D, acquisitions and hiring are top areas
Current 2009 Investments for Business GrowthBy Company Size
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Enterprise organizations believe their pipelines are far fuller than SMBs
Current Sales PipelineBy Company Size
Full‐Very Full
Moderate
Empty
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Enterprise C‐suite most confident in sales pipeline of all executives; more confident than Enterprise‐level respondents in general
Current Sales PipelineBy Job Title
Full‐Very Full
Moderate
Empty
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Despite their size, Enterprise‐level respondents are unlikely to see themselves as the industry market leader
Perception of Competitive PositioningBy Company Size
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Enterprise C‐suite less likely to see their organization as the industry leader than are total Enterprise respondents
Perception of Competitive PositioningBy Job Title
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Small and Enterprise businesses see their competitive positioning as similarly impacted by the recession
Effect of Economic Downturn on Competitive PositioningBy Company Size
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Across job title, all see their competitive positioning similarly affected by the economy
Effect of Economic Downturn on Competitive PositioningBy Job Title
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Enterprise businesses rate customer care, brand reputation, key talent, CSR and technological innovation above SMBs for sustaining long‐term growth in a recession; SMBs point to customer care and nimblenessImportance of various attributes to an organization’s competitive advantage in sustaining its growth through the
economic downturn and over the long term
By Company SizeScale of 1 to 7
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Enterprise C‐suite executives likelier to point to a range of attributes as key to sustaining long‐term growth in a recession, including key talent, technological innovation, digital outreach, access to capital and CSRImportance of various attributes to an organization’s competitive advantage in sustaining its growth through the
economic downturn and over the long term
By Job TitleScale of 1 to 7
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Technology plays a stronger role in business strategy, plans for growth and plans for success among large companies
The Role of Technology in Business StrategyBy Company SizeScale of 1 to 7
The Role of Technology in Business StrategyBy Job Title
Scale of 1 to 7
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THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS STRATEGIES
Section Two
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TRENDS IN MEDIA CONSUMPTION
Section Three
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Enterprise respondents use more portable devices to access media during their commute; small‐business respondents more likely to check the Internet before heading to work
Daily Work Routine: Activities at the Start of the Workday and CommuteBy Company Size
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With the exception of print media, the enterprise C‐suite interacts more with a wider range of media than do other respondents –particularly portable devices
Daily Work Routine: Activities at the Start of the Workday and CommuteBy Job Title
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Across all company sizes, the Internet is by far the single most important source of information on business
Most Important Source of Information on BusinessBy Company Size
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Across all job titles, the Internet is by far the most importantsource of information on business –
though enterprise c‐suite are
more likely to turn to industry trade publications than any other group
Most Important Source of Information on BusinessBy Job Title
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Search engines, travel, banking and bill pay are the top online activities; Enterprise respondents engage in the widest range of online activities
Internet ActivitiesBy Company Size
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C‐suite and senior management highly engaged and active online
Internet ActivitiesBy Job Title
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Small‐
and Enterprise‐sized organizations show similar behavior online, though small businesses are more likely to go online forintroductory product/service information
At‐Work RoutineBy Company Size
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General and competitor research are major online activities for all respondents, along with financial news and investing; C‐suite turns to the web for partnership opportunities
At‐Work RoutineBy Job Title
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Enterprise executives –
particularly in the C‐suite –consume far more media each week across all platforms
Hours spent with media type per week, for work and non‐work related activitiesBy Company Size
Hours spent with media type per week, for work and non‐work related activitiesBy Job Title
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All groups agree: the Internet provides the most informative advertising of all media channels
Media channel providing the most informative advertising for products for
business or personal life
By Company Size
Media channel providing the most informative advertising for products for
business or personal life
By Job Title
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SMBs rated Forbes the most‐visited among business sites
Websites Visited Most Often for Business ReasonsBy Company Size
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Forbes most‐often‐visited site for business reasons among C‐level executives
Websites Visited Most Often for Business ReasonsBy Job Title
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Small Businesses Trust Forbes MostTrustworthiness of Online Sources for Business and Financial Information
By Company SizeScale of 1‐5
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Forbes and WSJ by far the most trustworthy among C‐level executives and Senior Management
Trustworthiness of Online Sources for Business and Financial InformationBy Company Size
Scale of 1‐5
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DEMOGRAPHICS
Section Four
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Respondents by Industry
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Respondents by Company Size
One‐quarter of respondents are employed at companies with 1,000 or more employees;
50% of Senior Managers work at companies of this size
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Respondents by Region
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APPENDIX
Section Five
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QuestionnaireQ1. Which of the following best describes your current employment status? Please select one response only.Q2. Which of the following best describes your job category? Please select one response only.Q3. How has the economic downturn affected your organization’s business? Please select one response only.Q4. How would you assess your level of confidence in your organization’s prospects for revenue growth through the end of
2010? Please select one response only. Q5. How would you assess your level of confidence in your organization’s prospects for revenue growth through the end of 2012?
Please select one response only.Q6. In terms of your organization’s current business strategy, to what extent is your organization focused on cost reduction and/or
revenue growth? Please select one response only.Q7. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? Please select one response only per row. Q8. What are the top 3 areas (in term of money amount spent) that you expect your organization to
cut back on through the endof 2010 as a result of the economic downturn?
Q9. What are the top 3 areas (in term of money amount spent) that you expect your organization to spend on through the end of2010 as a result of the economic downturn?
Q10. What are your organization’s tactics for reducing costs in the current recession? Please select all that apply. Q11. Is your organization currently making or planning to make any of the following investments in 2009 in order to grow its
business? Please select all that apply.Q12. How would you characterize your organization’s current sales pipeline? Please select one response only.Q13. How would you categorize your organization’s current market position within your industry? Please select one response only.Q14. How has the economic downturn affected your organization’s competitive positioning? Please select one response only.Q15. To what extent is the following happening? Please select one response only per row.Q16. To what extent is each of the following important to your organization’s competitive advantage in sustaining its growth
through the economic downturn and over the long term? Please select one response only per row.Q17. How would you categorize your organization’s use of IT? Please select one response only.
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Questionnaire, continuedQ18. Compared to fiscal year 2008, do you anticipate your organization’s need for business intelligence (BI) will decrease, stay the same
or increase in fiscal year 2009? By business intelligence, we are referring to acquiring and managing pertinent market and customerinformation.
Q19. What role do you have in the technology decisions within your organization worldwide? Please select one response only.Q20. Compared to fiscal year 2008, to what extent do you expect your organization’s IT purchasing to decrease, stay about the same or
increase in fiscal year 2009? Please select one response only.Q21. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements as they relate to technology? Please select one
response only per row.Q22. What does your organization plan to do more of with regard to technology as a result of the economic downturn? Select all that apply.Q23. Which of the following technologies do you see as the best investment for business growth for your organization? Please select
one response only.Q24. Thinking about your daily work routine, please indicate which of the following relate to the start of your work day and traveling to
work. (Please select all that apply.)Q25. What would you consider to be your single MOST important source of information on business? Please select one response only.Q26. Thinking about your use of the Internet/Web in general, please indicate which of the following describe you. Please select all that
apply.Q27. Thinking about your at‐work routine, please indicate which of the following describe you. Please select all that apply.Q28. Thinking about your media usage habits both at work and at home, how many hours per week do you spend on each of the following
media, for both work and non‐work related activities? Please select one response only for each media.Q29. Which media channel do you find provides the most informative advertising regarding products for your business or personal life?
Please select one response only.Q30. When you are online for business reasons, which Web sites do you visit most often? Please select all that apply.Q31. Please rate how trustworthy you believe the following online sources to be when it comes to business and financial information:
Please select one response only per row.Q32. Which of the following most accurately represents your organization’s primary industry classification? If your organization
participates in more than one industry, please select the one industry in which you are most involved. Please select one response only. Q33. Which of the following geographic regions is your primary workplace located? Please select one response only.Q34. Which of the following ranges most closely represents the total number of employees in your organization worldwide? Your best
estimate is fine. Please select one response only.Q35. Which of the following categories represents your organization’s enterprise‐wide annual revenue (across your worldwide
organization, including all of its branches, divisions, and subsidiaries) for fiscal year 2008? Please select one response only.Q36. Compared to fiscal year 2008, to what extent do you forecast that you organization’s enterprise‐wide annual revenue will decrease,
stay about the same or increase in fiscal year 2009? Please select one response only.
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