News Release

Global Tech Confidence slips as China booms, report finds

Sales growth outlook good worldwide, sensational for China in quarter

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- The Global Technology Confidence Index (GTCI) report was recently released by the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, showing a notable worldwide decrease in both business confidence and the technology confidence index itself. The great bright spots for global optimism remained both in North America and, indicative of its tremendous continued industrial growth, the People's Republic of China (PRC).

"Business confidence worldwide fell back sharply by almost a full point to the lowest level for a year," said Derek Smith, Director of the Global Technology Confidence Indicators, parent organization of the GTCI. "Confidence turned down most in Japan and Europe, to a lesser extent in North America, where the index remained higher than in any other region. Elsewhere sentiment strengthened, so the picture is not uniform throughout the world."

Business Confidence Index

Oct. '03 Jan. '04 Apr. '04 Jul. '04
GTCI : Business Confidence Index (World) 107.0 106.8 107.0 106.4
GTCI : Business Confidence Index (N. America) 111.2 112.7 113.2 109.8

"The technology confidence index slipped back a bit from the April value, getting below 100 again," said Smith. "This index has not moved much since May '03, having dipped a little initially, plateauing in the first quarter, now falling away slightly along with the business confidence index."

Technology Confidence Index

Oct. '03 Jan. '04 Apr. '04 Jul. '04
GTCI : Technology Confidence Index 99.2 100.5 100.5 99.8

Other Findings

Smith's latest released report detailed an array of other significant findings:

Business Outlook

  • In a reversal of last time's changes, Japan and Europe adjusted downwards sharply while China eased upwards a bit.

    Human Capital

  • Outlook for technologists remains as encouraging as last time, with half our respondents still anticipating increasing the number of technologists that they will employ over the coming year.

    Technology Alignment

  • Confidence in the senior management's common grasp of technology goals and their relationship to business objectives rises to dizzying heights.
  • With over a half judging their levels as above average, assessment of technology investment spends stays steady.

    Technology Innovation

  • Optimism over technology innovation bounces back after stumbling last time, although not to the remarkably high level recorded in the winter.
  • Most respondents are confident that their technological innovation is focused properly on market differentiation.
  • Confidence that intellectual property is being adequately leveraged is high and has been steady for the last fifteen months

    Strategic Project & Process Management

  • Confidence that strategic projects have clear business objectives remains at the high level of six months ago, although there is a reduction in the proportion who are very confident, suggesting the first sign of a possible change in mood.
  • In a result which borders on the complacent, those judging their technology performance in product innovation better than average outnumber those self-assessed as below average by 15:1
  • A worrying development is that fewer companies than nine months ago have formal or partial plans in place for dealing with terrorist incidents.

    Technology Management

  • This was a strong result which showed a definite up tick from last time. Those judging their technology management as above par for their sector increased by ten percentage points.

    The full GTCI Report 2004, Volume 3, is made available for free to all GTCI Senior International Executive Members. Report samples and additional information on GTCI can be accessed at www.Stevens.edu/gtci. To obtain a copy of this latest GTCI REPORT or previous GTCI REPORTS please contact the GTCI office at Stevens. All inquiries about the survey, report, and GTCI partnering opportunities may be addressed to Eric Koomen at 201-216-8546 or ekoomen@stevens.edu.

    GTCI is a program of the Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, located in Hoboken N.J., across the Hudson River overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The Howe School also provides executive educational opportunities within Stevens Technogenesis® environment: Stevens Institute of Technology has excelled in bridging academic studies and research with real world implementation for more than 130 years.

    ###

    Established in 1870, Stevens offers baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science, management and technology management, as well as a baccalaureate in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has enrollments of approximately 1,780 undergraduates and 2,700 graduate students, and a current enrollment of 2,250 online-learning students worldwide. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.Stevens.edu.

    For the latest news about Stevens, please visit www.StevensNewsService.com.

    • Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.