Executive Summary

Inside INdiana Business, Ice Miller LLP and Butler University collaborated to conduct and present the findings of the 2008 Indiana CEO Survey. This report captures the opinions of over 200 Indiana business executives from all areas of the state. In some cases, their opinions are very consistent with the 2007 findings. In other areas, opinions have changed. Through our on-going efforts we will continue to monitor these consistencies and trends over the years to come.

Study highlights include the following:

Section 1: CEO Challenges and Issues

  VIEW RESULTS
  • Corporate reputation still tops the list as the most significant issue for CEOs.
  • Consistent execution of business strategy and sustained steady top-line growth have become more important in 2008.
  • A question to measure the level of concern about state and local taxes was added in 2008 due to the high profile nature of this issue; however, the issue did not rate particularly high as a concern in 2008.
  • Succession planning and adding jobs remain the top two items that executives are planning to pursue for 2008.
  • "Having enough time" received a rating of nearly six on a seven point scale as being a challenge for Indiana executives; "human resources" was rated significantly more challenging than in 2007.

Section 2: Indiana’s Economic Climate 

 VIEW RESULTS
  • Indiana remains "the same" economically as neighboring states.
  • The educational system, once again, is viewed as a disadvantage for Indiana compared to surrounding states.
  • As in 2007, executives express broad support for adding health care and mass transit as state initiatives.
  • The state's initiatives are well supported, especially in the areas of life sciences, information technology, distribution/logistics, and advanced manufacturing.

Section 3: State’s Role in Economic Development 

 VIEW RESULTS
  • Indiana executives are not overly enthusiastic about the availability of public or private funding sources. In fact, public funding sources outside the state receive the highest ranking for being "sufficient."
  • Those responding feel the state is only "somewhat effective" in terms of attracting new business and less so in retaining it.
  • Executives who are more receptive to relocating their businesses are also those that are the least impressed by Indiana's ability to attract and retain business in the state.
  • Quality of life concerns remain a critical issue for economic development success. Those aspects topping the list include improving the educational system, affordable housing, improving the health care system, reducing the crime rate, and improving the state's public transportation.
  • Despite the heightened awareness concerning fuel costs, developing alternative energy sources dropped significantly from its position as a concern in 2007.

Section 4: Human Resources and Diversity 

 VIEW RESULTS
  • As compared to 2007, the availability compared to demand has diminished for engineers and manufacturing workers. This could potentially signal a tight labor market for these two professions.
  • Acquiring talented managers remains the top concern for the executives responding to the survey.
  • Compared with 2007 respondents, 2008 respondents are significantly more concerned with issues of job satisfaction, workforce loyalty, turnover, and immigration.
  • Agreement to the statement that diversity is lacking at the highest levels has diminished since 2007. It is unclear if this indicates real progress or is a result of more visibility for the diversity that does exist.

Section 5: Education 

 VIEW RESULTS
  • All ratings in this area are consistent with those given by the respondents in 2007. There is once again high regard for the colleges and universities, grave concerns for public K-12 programs, and "luke warm" evaluation of trade/technical schools and private K-12 programs.
  • Due to the view in 2007 that educational issues were "critical" to Indiana’s future, several questions were added in 2008. One asked what the executives could offer to improve the system. The most common responses received were mentoring programs and internships.
  • Over half of the executives indicated they are currently involved in their local school and this involvement is more than just simply being a parent of a child who attends that school.
  • There appears to be a willingness on the part of executives to be involved, but an organized approach may be lacking.

Section 6: Information Technology 

 VIEW RESULTS
  • Over 60% of respondents indicated their company has a formal policy concerning Internet use.
  • About two-thirds have no way to monitor the time employees spend on the Internet.
  • Only 16% have a formal policy concerning blogging.
  • Executives, consistent with the 2007 results, continue to be less than confident about their ability to evaluate the competency and productivity of information technology staff.
  • More than 30% of respondents indicate a strong likelihood of outsourcing production and maintenance of the company Web site, installation/setup of computer workstations, HR/payroll systems management, server maintenance, security systems, and computer programming.

 

What We Learned


The full report will show that, in many cases, the views are consistent from 2007 to 2008. This strengthens the validity of the data and shows that the issues identified are real and that Indiana executives take them seriously.

There are some views that have changed. Some are surprising and some are expected. Other changes are likely trends that will continue to evolve over time.

Future Plans


Indiana’s top executives make decisions every day that ultimately affect all Hoosiers. They decide to grow or expand or to stay in Indiana or relocate their operations elsewhere, or whether they will lobby to support the state’s initiatives or not.

Understanding their perspectives on a wide range of issues can help us all prioritize and focus on what is critical to the future of the state. For example, what specific issues challenge our top executives? Do they plan to add jobs or relocate their operations? How do they evaluate the state’s business climate? Do they support Indiana’s economic initiatives? What issues are becoming more important?

Inside INdiana Business, Ice Miller LLP and Butler University joined together in a unique partnership in 2007 to collect and disseminate information gathered from Indiana CEOs and other executive officers. The results reported here are from the 2008 administration of the survey.

The objective of this project is to identify key issues from the perspective of Indiana business leaders and to track these issues over time. The survey is conducted annually. Topics addressed include:

- General CEO business and economic challenges;
- Indiana’s economic climate;
- The role of government in economic development;
- Human resources and diversity issues;
- Indiana’s educational system; and
- Planning, managing and accessing information technology.

This report summarizes results of the second annual survey of this group.

Methodology of the 2008 Online Indiana Executive Survey


The 2008 survey was intentionally designed to replicate the 2007 survey. The 2007 survey was carefully designed based on extensive qualitative and secondary research. Since one main goal of the project is to track changes over time, most of the questions in 2008 were not changed from 2007. However, in a few cases we added questions on emerging issues, such as taxes, and on issues raised during discussions of the 2007 results, such as what businesses can do to help improve Indiana’s educational system.

The revised questionnaire was administered online between March 5 and April 26, 2008. A total of 227 usable responses were received, which represents a slight increase over the 210 responses received in 2007.