Executives suffering from 'meeting-itis'

Despite the widespread use of e-mail in North American companies, nearly half (45 percent) of executives claim they attend too many meetings each week, according to the Cross Executive Communications Survey conducted by the Pen Computing Group of A.T. Cross Company.

According to the survey of 400 executives, which assessed the impact of technology on communications, one-fifth (20 percent) of the respondents said they attend 11 or more meetings a week.

A large majority (82 percent) share their meeting notes with others in the company. Most distribute their meeting notes via e-mail (77 percent), paper interoffice correspondence (45 percent), fax (18 percent), and ironically, through additional meetings (31 percent).

Regarding e-mail usage, while one-third (34 percent) of the respondents disagree that e-mail has reduced the need for meetings, the vast majority (91 percent) say that e-mail has, in fact, reduced the need for paper correspondence. More than three-quarters (76 percent) say e-mail has reduced the need to speak by telephone. Virtually all (91 percent) say e-mail has improved productivity overall. However, nearly 30 percent said they would find e-mail more productive if they could type better, and 80 percent say they wish they could e-mail sketches or hand drawings.

While information sharing (notes, sketches, diagrams, charts) from meetings is pervasive within the organization, 60 percent of the respondents claim they take “spotty” notes, 6 percent said they take notes to make it look like they're listening and only 20 percent say they “jot down everything.” Nearly half the Cross Survey respondents (47 percent) admit they have trouble reading their handwriting.

The survey reveals that few respondents record their meeting information digitally. Only 4 percent use digital devices such as laptop or handheld computers or PDAs exclusively to take notes. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) use a combination of paper and digital devices, while the vast majority (72 percent) still use paper notepads to take notes.

The Cross Executive Communications Survey includes executives from a broad spectrum of North American businesses. Questionnaires were distributed by mail during April 1998. The survey is based on 400 responses received from a total mailing to 2,500 names randomly selected by computer - a 16 percent response rate. The survey was conducted by A. Lavin Communications, a communications research firm retained by the Cross Pen Computing Group.

Unions strike out with American public

Could labor unions actually be a detriment to the ability of U.S. businesses to compete in the global marketplace? Half of adult Americans think so, according to a survey by Wirthlin Worldwide, Grand Rapids, Mich. Fifty-two percent of respondents agree that “Unions today are too disruptive to business and industry and make it harder for U.S. companies to do business.” Given that the survey was conducted three weeks into the recent strike against General Motors, which idled some 200,000 GM workers and their suppliers, this may not be surprising. More older Americans (62 percent of those age 55 and older) believe unions are disruptive, while fewer (49 percent) of those under 55 agree. Whites are more prone to this view (56 percent) than are ethnic minorities (39 percent).

Half of those surveyed (48 percent) feel the union’s role in protecting workers is less important today than in the past - and 26 percent of the respondents who are union members or have a member in their household agree. People with college educations and higher than average incomes are the least likely to defend the importance of unions. Nor do most respondents believe union workers are better workers. Only 27 percent agree that “union workers are better trained and do a better job than non-union workers,” while 4 in 10 strongly disagree. (Employers, on the other hand, generally feel that union-trained workers are better-trained, better-quality workers, according to previous Wirthlin research.)

One area where unions may have scored a great victory is convincing the American public that U.S. companies should not expand in other countries at the cost of American jobs. A remarkable 63 percent of respondents say that a U.S. company should not be able to replace American workers with foreign workers, even when that is the only way the company can stay competitive and profitable. Three in 10 believe a U.S. company should never be allowed to build new plants and hire workers outside the U.S. - regardless of how desperate the company is to be globally competitive.

Family composition stabilized in the '90s

Traditional families - married couples with children - have begun to stabilize as a percentage of all families in the 1990s and the growth of single-parent families - those maintained by a mother or father, with no spouse present - has slowed, according to a report from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

“The perceived decline of the American family is vanishing and the ‘90s represents a stabilization period,” says Ken Bryson, co-author of the report. “For example, the percentage of married couples with children fell from 50 percent to 37 percent of all families between 1970 and 1990. It only dropped one percentage point (to 36 percent) since then.”

“Growth in the proportion of single-parent families had slowed in the meantime,” says Lynne Casper, the Report’s other author. “The percentage of single-parent families doubled between 1970 and 1990, from 6 percent to 12 percent of all families,” she says. “Since 1990, it has only increased two percentage points (to 13 percent).”

A “family group” includes all family living arrangements: families, related subfamilies, and unrelated subfamilies. A household is a person or group of persons who live in a housing unit. A family is a group of two or more people (one of whom is the householder, the person in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented) living together and related by birth, marriage or adoption.

Most of the information in this report comes from the March 1997 Current Population Survey. Some estimates may be based on data obtained from earlier surveys conducted by the Census Bureau. As with all surveys, data are subject to sampling and other sources of error.

In 1990:

  1. Married couples with own children under 18 made up 26 percent of all households.
  2. There were 2.63 people per household.
  3. 51 percent of all families had no own children under 18.
  4. 24 percent of families with own children under 18 were maintained by one parent.
  5. 14 percent of one-parent family groups were father-child family groups.
  6. 33 percent of mother-child family groups had a never-married mother.

In 1997:

  1. Married couples with own children under 18 make up 25 percent of all households.
  2. There are 2.64 people per household.*
  3. 51 percent of all families have no own children under 18.*
  4. 28 percent of families with own children under 18 were maintained by one parent.
  5. 17 percent of one-parent family groups are father-child family groups.
  6. 41 percent of mother-child family groups have a never-married mother.

(*These values for 1997 are not statistically different from the values for 1990.)

Gen X optimists will propel Internet into the mainstream

Gen X adoption of PCs, new media, and electronic commerce will play a crucial role in moving the Internet into the mainstream, according to a new report from Forrester Research, Inc., Cambridge, Mass. Drawing on survey data from 120,000 North American consumers, Forrester has identified the technology optimism inherent in each new generation as the driving force behind this trend.

Each generation has its technology optimists - the people who adopt and proselytize high tech products. Forrester looked at three generations of optimists - Gen Xers, Boomers, and seniors - and concluded that Gen Xers will embrace and evangelize the Internet as a mainstream technology in much the same way as Boomers have with television and seniors with radio. “Optimism is what drives technology purchases and Internet commerce; therefore, locating technology optimists is essential for vendors and online marketers to succeed,” says Meghann MacKenzie, Forrester analyst and author of the report. “Computer, software, and online vendors need to tap into optimists’ ages and motivations - entertainment, family, and career - in order to predict a life cycle for consumers’ technology needs.”

The technology optimism of Gen Xers will support several related trends, each of which will contribute to the mainstream emergence of the Internet. First, Gen Xers will close the gap in PC ownership, catching up to wealthier Boomers thanks to the emergence of sub-$1,000 PCs. Second, Gen Xers will log on to the Internet in greater numbers than Boomers or Seniors. Forrester’s survey data indicates that 82 percent of PC-enabled young optimists already use the Web on a regular basis, compared with 65 percent of Boomers with PCs. Finally, Gen Xers are far more likely to make online transactions and to use the Web for pre-purchase research. “Over the next few years, Gen Xers, Boomers, and seniors will evolve differently, using the Internet in distinct, specialized ways,” says MacKenzie. “The Internet will increasingly become a lifestyle choice for Gen Xers, distinguishing them from Boomers, who will turn to the Internet for time-saving applications that cater to career and family needs. The few seniors online will use the Internet primarily for communications and community. To win online customers, marketers need to key into these distinctions."

The report, “Generational Optimism,” is part of a series of quantitative studies from Forrester’s Consumers & Technographics research service. The study uses Forrester’s Technographics segmentation scheme, which classifies consumers by the motivations, attitudes and income they bring to their adoption and use of technology. Data for the report was drawn from a survey of 120,000 North American consumers and was conducted with the NPD Group in the fall of 1997.

Consumers stick with banks for financial services

Although the myriad mergers in the financial industry appear to be blurring the lines between full-service banks, credit unions, savings and loans, and brokerage houses, the findings of a national study recently conducted by the research subsidiary of Aragon Consulting Group in St. Louis shows that those lines are still pretty clear in the minds of consumers.

“Our study reveals that consumers continue to turn predominantly to banks, credit unions and savings and loans for traditional banking services, such as checking, savings and home mortgages; however, when it comes to investing in mutual funds and annuities, they’re more likely to call on a broker than their banker,” says Gary Miller, chairman of Aragon Consulting Group, a management consulting firm.

“For instance, we found that 62.4 percent of checking accounts are maintained at full-service banks, 20 percent at credit unions, 12.7 percent at savings and loans, and 4.9 percent at brokerage firms,” says Miller." And 46.1 percent of basic savings accounts are kept at full-service banks, 32.6 percent at credit unions, 15.4 percent at savings and loans, and 5.9 percent at investment companies.”

The Aragon study reveals that the service most predominantly used by patrons of full-service banks is checking (90.4 percent of bank patrons), and the second-most popular service at banks is savings (68.2 percent). These are also the most popular service offerings of credit unions and savings and loans, although in reverse order.

Approximately 87 percent of credit union customers participating in the Aragon study say they have a savings account at their credit union, and 52.5 percent mention having a checking account there.  Similarly, 61.9 percent of savings and loan customers interviewed by Aragon’s research subsidiary say they maintain a savings account at a savings and loan, and half say they have a checking account there.

Among full-service bank customers, the most infrequently mentioned services are mutual funds (8.5 percent) and annuities (6.3 percent). The same is true among credit union and savings and loans customers, although the percentages vary slightly.

“As we saw in our study, people, who invest for retirement today beyond a basic savings account, pension, 401(k) plan, and the like - are more inclined to turn to a brokerage firm for mutual funds, annuities, etc. than a bank,” says Miller. “From among the financial institutions studied, the investment houses have 60.3 percent of the mutual fund accounts, while full-service banks have 22.8 percent - and that number shrinks to as little as 7.4 percent at savings and loans.”

The study shows that 60.7 percent of brokerage customers invest in mutual funds through a broker, and 42.2 percent say they have a money market account with their broker. A basic savings account was subjugated to being the fourth-most mentioned service for which consumers use a brokerage house. The two least-mentioned services were ATM cards (7.4 percent) and home mortgages (5.2 percent).

For full-service banks, credit unions and savings and loans, the third-most frequently mentioned service is the ATM card, although this service directionally becomes less popular with older segments of the population. The same is true with debit cards, although used by a considerably smaller portion of the population.

A national random sample of 400 was drawn to complete the study, which produced results within a ±5 percent margin of error.

Large-screen televisions show moderate gain

More than 17 percent of American households now have large-screen televisions, according to Decision Analyst Inc., an Arlington, Texas, research firm.

In its nationwide survey of 6,490 households, Decision Analyst found large-screen televisions - defined as 30 inches or greater - in 17.3 percent of U.S. homes. In a similar survey conducted last year, 13.3 percent of households had the large screen televisions.

“With the economy as strong as it is, it is a bit surprising there isn’t more growth in sales of large-screen televisions,” says Jerry W. Thomas, president/CEO of Decision Analyst Inc. “But you have to remember television is facing increasing pressure from computer games and online services, shrink.”

The survey found that households headed by someone 18 to 34 are most likely to have large-screen televisions (21.4 percent), while households 55 and older are least likely to have them (13.2 percent).

By income, households with earnings of $50,000 or more annually are most likely to have the larger screen televisions (24.1 percent). Correspondingly, those with a high level of education - at least some college training - are most likely to have large-screen televisions. By census region, large-screen televisions are most popular in the West (19.8 percent of households), and least popular in the Midwest (15.9 percent).

'Made in USA' is still tops for American consumers

Eight out of 10 American consumers say when it comes to quality products, no one does it like the U.S ., according to a study by CDB Research & Consulting, New York. “When compared with products made in other countries, U.S. consumers feel that U.S. products are of the same or better quality than products made anywhere else,” says Dr. Larry Chiagouris, managing director of CDB Research & Consulting, Inc.

The survey found 76 percent of adults surveyed reported U.S. products are the same as or better than goods produced in Western Europe, 75 percent said U.S. product quality beats goods made in Asia, and 81 percent thought more of U.S. products than those exported from either Eastern Europe or Latin America.

"The globalization of the American economy and the advent of NAFTA has rekindled the sometimes nationalistic, often emotional debate over the quality of American-made goods versus those made abroad. It seemed, for a number of years, that American consumers were more interested in foreign-made goods than those made in the U.S. because of perceived differences in quality as well as price,” Chiagouris says. “Today, however, we’ve found that ‘Made in U.S.A.’ means ‘Made Better’ to American consumers."

In terms of foreign-made goods, the survey found that Americans have a better perception of products made in Western Europe than those manufactured in Eastern Europe or Asia. Products in Latin America have the worst reputation among U.S. consumers, when compared with U.S.-made products.

Men are more favorable than women toward products made in Western Europe and Asia, the survey found, while women have a better opinion of products made in Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Older Americans are the most likely to feel that products made in Europe and Asia fall short compared with U.S.-made products, according to the research. According to CDB’s survey, the most affluent Americans are the least negative about products made in countries outside the United States.