Poll: Downturn won't drive more globalization

[FarCenter]

EE Times (11/26/2008 12:15 PM EST) http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212200719&cid=NL_eet

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The economic downturn won't spark a new round of globalization in R&D, according to an informal survey of 30 high tech R&D managers.
Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of the executives who participated in a poll of the R&D Globalization Council organized by consulting firm Zinnov said they do not plan to expand their global R&D efforts beyond their current international locations. Only 11 percent said they are continuing to grow R&D efforts abroad.

About a quarter of the R&D managers (27 percent) said they don't plan to slowdown the current rate of growth in their global R&D initiatives. For the few companies that are expanding global R&D, China and India are their preferred locations.

Zinnov (Santa Clara, Calif.) described the participants in the survey as executives who "oversee research and development work at a global level for some of the leading technology companies." The survey came from a council meeting held in early November, attended by as many as 50 R&D managers.

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Asked how they are responding to the current economic downturn, 34 percent said they are reducing travel. The second most popular response (29 percent) was a hiring freeze.

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