A management consulting firm has released the findings of a recently conducted survey of senior executives from the R&D industry at its 'R&D Globalization Council' held earlier this month.

Zinnov surveyed research and development experts representing over 50 of the leading technology companies at the meeting.

The survey explored how the current global economic crisis is impacting efforts by these global technology companies to innovate new products. It appears that the constant stream of economic doom and gloom notwithstanding, these companies expect brighter days ahead in the not too distant future.

Some of the findings included:

·         Despite the current state of the economy, only 27% of the respondents plan a "slowdown in growth" of their Global R&D initiatives.

·         "Reduced travel" was cited as the number one response to the downturn (34%), with a freeze on hiring being the second-leading answer at 29%.

·         11% noted that they are continuing to grow R&D efforts abroad.

The survey also found that among the most common obstacles facing the respondents, nearly 40% said that "lack of productivity" was the number one challenge that they were facing to take their efforts international. "Talent retention" was the second greatest issue (31%) with "cost escalation" being the third most-frequent response at 14%.

The vast majority of companies (73%) stated that, at present, they do not plan to expand their global R&D efforts beyond their current international location(s). And of the ones who said that they would expand, emerging locations like India and China were clear choices for them. .

Interestingly, almost 90% of respondents said they were "more optimistic" about "the prospects for positive change in the U.S. tech economy with the new administration."