Strategic Finance articles from August 2003

Strategic Finance archives from August 2003

The power of effective procurement and strategic suppliers: what CFOs need to know.(chief financial officers )
August 1, 2003... Senior financial officers are paying more attention to procurement costs--and with good reason. Because of challenging economic times, the intense focus on fiscal responsibility, and supplier contracts averaging $2 million and higher for a...

What ERP can offer ABC.(Technology)(activity-based costing)(Enterprise resource planning )
August 1, 2003... One of the greatest stumbling blocks in implementing an activity-based costing (ABC) system is finding the right activity cost driver to use in attributing the cost of an activity to products or other cost objects. The nonfinancial measures...

Well said: how to give an effective presentation.(Careers)
August 1, 2003... The good news is that the big financial report you just completed made a positive impression with the chief financial officer. The questionable news--at least to you--is that your analysis was so impressive, she's asked you to present your...

Work/life balance: avoid relationship potholes.(Best Practices)
August 1, 2003... BETSY'S HUSBAND DOESN'T PICK HER UP AT THE airport anymore... because he loves her. Early in her career, Betsy would travel about once every other month. On her return, she'd look forward to being met at the gate by her husband, Gary. Mind...

Provocative pension accounting: standard setters worldwide should model changes in pension accounting on a novel new approach the U.K.'s accounting standards board has taken.(Opinion)
August 1, 2003... As U.S. defined-benefit pension plans have lost money, many corporate plan sponsors have reported gains. They've done so completely in accord with current U.S. accounting standards. But a bold new U.K. standard starkly departs from--and greatly...

CMA review course.(Perspectives: message from the chair)(Certified Management Accountant)
August 1, 2003... Many members have been asking about IMA's intentions to establish a CMA (Certified Management Accountant) review course. Although you may be hearing about this for the first time, establishing such a course has been a key part of IMA's...

Taking performance management to the next level: how to measure the state of your business and achieve optimal what-if scenarios.
August 1, 2003... When you're driving, you only glance into the rear-view mirror because, if you stare too long, you just might crash. Many businesses today are spending way too much time looking in the rear-view mirror at the road they've traveled by focusing...

Whistleblowers: a rare breed.(Ethics)
August 1, 2003... The "Persons of the Year" honored in 2002 by Time magazine (Dec. 30, 2002) are called whistleblowers. That issue of Time provides comprehensive coverage about those whistleblowers and the organizations they blew the whistle on: Sherron Watkins,...

Enabling execution: trade in that old, functional mind-set for a more contemporary, business process view of thinking and acting.(Management)
August 1, 2003... Our 2003 priorities are to protect margins, decrease costs, increase cash flow, and improve bottom-line results. That line paraphrases the thrust of one major corporate CEO's company-wide communication in early 2003. I suspect it was echoed...

Mission driven strategy.(Strategic Management)
August 1, 2003... How can nonprofit organizations achieve superior performance? This column discusses Mission Driven Strategy, a set of guidelines for designing, developing, and evaluating strategy aimed at maximum, mission-based value creation. What is Mission...

George Batavick named to FASB.(News)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GEORGE J. BATAVICK, CPA, FORMER COMPTROLLER OF TEXACO, INC., HAS been appointed a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. His term began August 1 and will end June 30, 2008. He succeeds John M. "Neel" Foster, a former vice president...

COSO wants your input.(News)(Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)
August 1, 2003... The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has just released an exposure draft on Enterprise Risk Management that develops a framework providing integrated principles, common terminology, and implementation...

IFAC proposes ethics changes.(News)(International Federation of Accountants)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is recommending significant changes to its "Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants" that will expand the Code from a "model code" on which to base national requirements to a "standard,"...

Financial management website.(streetwise)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... If you want to check out an informative, entertaining website that will help you study for the CMA/ CFM exams, visit http:// web.utk.edu/~jwachowi /wacho_world.html. It's also a great source for all financial professionals who want to find...

Is ethics education of future business leaders adequate?(Ethics)
August 1, 2003... EVER SINCE THE ONSET OF THE ACCOUNTING AND business scandals that began two years ago, critics have asserted that a good portion of the blame for the cause of the scandals should be assigned to business educators. Corporate leaders "should have...

Some in Congress seek to foreclose FASB action on stock options.(Government)(Financial Accounting Standards Board )
August 1, 2003... SOME INFLUENTIAL MEMBERS of Congress are trying to prevent the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) from requiring that companies account for stock options the same way they do other expenses. Currently, the FASB allows companies to...

Building client loyalty.(Books)(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... * IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH LONG-TERM RELATIONships with clients and build lifelong client loyalty, you need to understand the attributes, attitudes, and strategies that enable professional service providers to consistently add value and build...

High-tech vacation.(tools of the trade)(QuietComfort[R] 2)(Acoustic NoiseCancelling[R])(Sidekick)
August 1, 2003... Pilots have had noise-cancelling headsets for years, and now Bose Corporation offers an improved second version of its QuietComfort[R] 2 Acoustic NoiseCancelling[R] headphones for those sitting back in the cabin. Designed to block ambient...

Vacationing at home and away.(tools of the trade)(audio transfer software and AudioWorld's dictionary software for PDAs)
August 1, 2003... If you plan on taking a few weeks and are staying close to home, there's new software that will help you transfer your record collection and tapes to CD--a far more entertaining project than cleaning the garage. Audio Cleaning Lab 2004 from...

Sneaking bits in and out of the house.(Tech Forum)
August 1, 2003... * THE ELECTRIC CURRENT THAT ENTERS YOUR HOUSE to power practically everything arrives silently, just barely spinning the wheel in the glass-covered meter on its way in. Television and radio transmissions pass through all the rooms like windy...

Bonding with buyers.(Trends in Financial Management)
August 1, 2003... FOR MANY COMPANIES THAT want cash, it's the best of times. Corporate bonds are popular with investors, and, thanks to a weak economy and easing of monetary policy, interest rates are very low. The Federal Reserve Board reduced the federal...

Rekindling IMA's spirit: Kim R. Wallin, CMA, CFM, CPA.(Change Agent)(Institute of Management Accountants)(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... Kim Wallin is a true change agent. Installed as IMA Chair for 2003-04 at the Annual Conference in Nashville, she's bursting with energy and ideas and wants members to know that it isn't "business as usual" at the Institute of Management...

XBRL for general ledger, the journal taxonomy.(eXtensible Business Reporting Language)
August 1, 2003... ON TWO OCCASIONS AT THIS YEAR'S IMA Annual Conference in Nashville, audiences were treated to Eric E. Cohen speaking about how XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) can be used in connection with a general ledger. Eric is the principal...