CFOs upbeat on economy despite obstacles.

• Author: Ladd, Scott
• Position: ECONOMY - Chief financial officers

The economy may continue to push forward only slowly and sluggishly, but a number of chief financial officers and other finance executives continue to view the business world as a glass half full. Still, they acknowledge great uncertainty as to how current economic challenges will play out because of the stagnant job market and European debt volatility.

Additionally, financial executives are more driven than before to plan--or re-plan--more aggressively to remain competitive, according to the latest quarterly survey of finance executives from Adaptive Planning and the Business Performance Innovation Network.

Why the optimism in the face of so many economic obstacles? The survey noted a sharp deterioration in economic conditions from the second to third quarters of 2011, but CFOs and financial leaders generally still tended to remain upbeat about the prospects for their industry in particular and the economy at large.

Only 29 percent of those surveyed believe a double-dip recession is likely over the next 12 months, and a majority view stock market volatility as having only a minor negative impact (60 percent) or no impact (30 percent) on their business operations. Executives say they don't envision sustained jobs growth in the overall U.S. economy until at least the second half of next year (32 percent) or even 2013 (54 percent), but more than a quarter expect to hire more staff within their own companies over the next six months.

"The fact that finance executives remain relatively upbeat suggests an underlying resilience in the broader business environment," said Greg Schneider, vice president of marketing for Adaptive Planning, a provider of corporate performance management...