SECOND RATE
Has the United States lost its competitive edge?
More than half the CEOs we asked agree with critics who say that the answer to this question is yes. "I don't drive an American car; I don't listen to an American stereo; I don't watch an American TV; and I don't use an American microwave," says Stuart E. Salot of CTL Environmental Services (#341), in Harbor City, Calif. "We've lost our ability to compete."
The 54% of respondents who see a decline in the nation's economic standing attribute it to poor education, insufficient trade protection, and ineffectual government policy.
However, the 46% who dispute the notion that ours is a second-rate nation find countervailing strengths in people mainly like themselves: entrepreneurs starting companies and pioneering industries. Quality and innovation continue to distinguish U.S. companies, they argue. "Bash away, but when all the beans are counted, we're still number one," says Manny Menendez of Deneba Systems (#84), in Miami.
DEATH OF THE SALESMAN
Do most businesses underrate the importance of selling and focus too much on marketing?
More than half the CEOs surveyed lament the lowly station of sales in U.S. business. Too many companies neglect humble selling and focus instead on marketing, the respondents tell us.
"It's as if management doesn't want to get their hands dirty and get too close to the actual sale," notes Ed Schairbaum, who makes sure nothing is more important than sales at TNG (#331), in Bedford, Tex., where, as he puts it, "you either sell or you help sell, or you are out."
Despite their fervor for face-to-face selling, only 15% of the CEOs who responded spend more than half their time making sales calls. Thirty-nine percent report spending less than one-tenth of their days selling. Still others claim that taking the time to make sales calls helps them stay in touch with their markets and their customers. "I learn so much from walking into someone's office just in the first five minutes, I can't afford not to," says Robert A. Fries, president of Data.Com RESULTS (#302), in Rocky Hill, Conn.
NIGHT SWEATS
What's the one problem that has caused you to lose the most sleep?
"Cash flow. Hands down. without a doubt," says Ed Schairbaum of TNG (#331), in Bedford, Tex. Meeting payroll wins a landslide victory in the "toss-and-turn" category, competitive though it is, with managing people coming in a close second. The insomniac's hit parade follows:
Cash flow, 31%; personnel, 27%; financing, 8%; containing growth, 4%; government regulation, 3%.
Of course, there are additional worries about continued growth, vendors, partners, sales, the recession, and failure. "It's never-ending," Schairbaum notes. A few even tell us it's the sheer thrill of running a business that keeps them up at 3 a.m. "Excitement!" cries Chad Olson of Pro Image (#160), in Bountiful, Utah. "Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and go back to work because I'm just so excited."
TOP DOLLARS
Are big-company executives overpaid?
Although 38% of Inc. 500 CEOs say big-company executives are indeed overpaid, nearly half argue that the titans with the trophy take-homes get what they deserve. "They're not overpaid," asserts Gordon Dickens of Dickens Data Systems (#90), in Norcross, Ga., "if their companies are stupid enough to pay them that much and they're smart enough to get it."
While many had qualms about jumbo pay for executives -- "I'd be ashamed to cash the checks some of those guys take home," says Robert Kelliher, CEO of MRI Manufacturing and Research (#242), in Tucson, Ariz. -- four out of five object to compensation caps. Let the boards, the shareholders, and the CEOs' performance determine pay, they say. Opinions are mixed when it comes to egalitarian formulas that set a CEO's salary as a fixed multiple of workers' wages. Thirty-seven percent favor a ratio; 43% oppose it. "Sounds too communistic," says Bruce James of Barclays Law Publishers (#234), in South San Francisco.
DOING THE RIGHT THING
Are you getting tired of being told your business has to be more socially conscious?
Seventy-two percent of inc. 500 CEOs assert that businesses have a strong obligation to be socially conscious. It is not enough for businesses simply to pay their taxes and create jobs and wealth. Companies should "give something back," we're told.
While some are inspired by the social activism of companies such as Ben & Jerry's or the Body Shop -- Peter Saloom, founder of Saloom Furniture (#272), in Gardner, Mass., feels a "certain kinship with those hippie ice-cream guys" -- others find it divisive. "It can just get in the way of business," says Marbeth Shay, president of East Coast Computer Systems (#366), in Tinton Falls, N.J. "I wonder, do I have the right to impose my biases and my politics on our organization or our employees?"
A few are openly critical. Thomas Barnard of Signature Graphics (#320), in Porter, Ind., resents the moralism the two guys from Vermont serve up with their marketing. "I'm sick of Ben & Jerry's," he says.
