Managers divided on economic recovery in AMA poll

According to the American Manage-ment Association, a recent poll shows nearly half of executives surveyed (47 percent) say the U.S. economy has stabilized.

However, more than a third (38 percent) of respondents, say the economy continues to decline, while 14 percent say it is improving, an AMA release stated. The poll was an online survey of 130 AMA executive members.

As for 2001 performance, 59 percent of respondents said that their companies did not match targeted revenues set last year. Twenty-three percent did meet forecasted targets, and 19 percent ex-ceeded revenue goals in 2001.

More companies are optimistic today. The survey found that 46 percent of respondents project a higher rate of corporate performance in 2002 compared to last year. A third (34 percent) are trying to maintain the same projections as last year, while 20 percent anticipate lower performance.

The majority of executives are making changes to address the economic climate, including reviewing budget forecasts (85 percent), reviewing business plans (72 percent), reorganizing responsibilities and positions (62 percent), and scaling back travel expenditures (58 percent).

Many companies also are anticipating changes that directly affect staffing, including job elimination (33 percent), hiring freezes (28 percent), hiring cutbacks (27 percent) and pay freezes (24 percent). However, few companies will introduce pay cuts (5 percent) or have shortened work weeks or work hours per day (4 percent) in 2002.

As companies move forward in 2002, 42 percent have scaled back planned expansions of business units or activities, 30 percent trimmed investments in new technologies, and 25 percent have cut training and development expenditures.

According to the survey, 73 percent of the companies that responded had bonus plans in 2001. Of those that did offer bonuses, 30 percent said they were better than in 2000, 25 percent said they were the same as in 2000, and 29 percent said they were lower than in 2000. Eleven percent said the program was modified to include fewer employees. Of the 27 percent of companies that had no bonus program in 2001, 63 percent said they never had one; 37 percent said it was canceled.

AMA's online survey was conducted during the first quarter of 2002 and re-ceived 130 usable responses.