Strategic Finance articles from February 2005

Strategic Finance archives from February 2005

Communicating effectively with employees.(Careers)
February 1, 2005... Poor communication is a common problem in many workplaces. Managers sometimes become so focused on meeting deadlines and demands that they fail to share vital information with employees, ignore input, or choose ineffective channels for...

The next great thing--then and now.(End Note)(Modern Home and OQO Pocket Computer )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The American obsession with the "latest and greatest" has been a part of the cultural landscape for a very long time. Though separated by nearly a century, the two innovations presented below reflect the same spirit. The OQO pocket-size...

The freedom of "not knowing".(Best Practices)
February 1, 2005... With endless to-do lists and the constant demands for attention from e-mail, pager, phone, fax, and all the other tools of 24/7 "efficiency," we can easily lose sight of the essence of our job. Where is the greatest return on our energy? Where...

Do you know where your financial assets are? How to revamp PP&E records so internal controls comply with Sarbanes-Oxley.(property, plant, and equipment)
February 1, 2005... Suppose your external auditor is addressing a meeting of your audit committee and he or she says, "You have a material weakness in your internal controls." Are there any words more likely to cause heart palpitations in audit committee members,...

Does your scorecard need a workshop? BSC and CSA: merging mutual complements.(Performance Measures)(balanced scorecards and control self-assessment)
February 1, 2005... Many balanced scorecards (BSCs) are initiated with great promise but soon fade away. Why do they fail? More often than not, management doesn't systematically communicate strategies to all employees for practical implementation or obtain...

A holistic approach to venture capital investment decisions.(Strategic Management)
February 1, 2005... What is the primary challenge facing venture capital firms today? After three years of steady decline from the lofty 1999-2000 levels, venture capital investments exceeded $20 billion in 2004, and concerns are being raised about successful...

Top HR compliance issues for small businesses.(human resource)
February 1, 2005... So many small businesses get caught up in day-to-day operations, the competition, and trying to increase revenue that they often don't have the resources or time to focus on other issues. One that could be costly if they don't concentrate on it...

Offshoring benefits take work.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The formula for reaping benefits by improving business process sourcing is more complex than just moving work to an offshore outsourcer to cut costs, executives at a Hackett Group conference told their colleagues recently. One key element...

Errata.(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2005... In the Certification column in the January 2005 issue, there was an error in the name of one of the schools that had the most Certified Financial Managers (CFMs) for 2002. Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management,...

SEC schedules review of internal controls requirements.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Securities & Exchange Commission will be holding public meetings this spring on its rule requiring companies to have Sarbanes-Oxley internal controls in place and to attest to the sufficiency of...

IRS issues instructions for M-3.(Internal Revenue Service)(Treasury Department releases corporate income tax rule)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... In early December, the Treasury Department released the final instructions for the Schedule M-3, Net Income (Loss) Reconciliation for Corporations with Total Assets of $10 Million or More. Schedule M-3 is to be used by certain corporate...

Robbing U.S. blind.(Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America)(Book Review)
February 1, 2005... While the media, politicians, and the public decry the Ken Lays and the Riga families of the world for destroying employee pensions, bankrupting their companies, and causing millions of job losses for their personal gain, Nomi Prins, a former...

The burden of being employed: U.S. vs. Canada.(Taxes)
February 1, 2005... Whether working for a domestic or international company, managers face resource allocation problems everyday. One resource that always causes management concern is finding and retaining competent employees to meet its staffing needs. One...

Transforming government *and the* accountability profession.(David Walker Comptroller General of United States)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... DAVID WALKER is the seventh Comptroller General of the United States in the 84-year history of the GAO, now known as the Government Accountability Office. He was sworn in for a 15-year term in November 1998, following his nomination by...

Tax season opens.(tools of the trade)
February 1, 2005... The tax prep solutions from ATX continue to expand with a wide variety of offerings from MAX[R], MAX Plus, 1040, 1040 Office and Office Plus, SaberPRO[R], and the Total Tax Office[TM], which includes Max and Kleinrock's Federal Tax Expert,...

Enough Sun Tzu?(Google Inc.)
February 1, 2005... * WHEN A COMPANY COBBLES TOGETHER a philosophy out of borrowed parts, it's just asking for trouble. Sure there were elements of Chinese warfare that were successful at one point in time (5th Century BC) on a battlefield, and the same is true of...

A word from accounting's powers that be.(Extensible Business Reporting Language)
February 1, 2005... The mind-set of financial reporting should ideally evolve from "minimum compliance" to "investor driven." This was an overarching theme from preparers, auditors, regulators, standards setters, and users of financial reports who made...

XBRL and IFRS in Latin America.(Extensible Business Reporting Language and International Financial Reporting Standards)
February 1, 2005... Exciting developments are currently taking place within the borders of our South American neighbors regarding International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and XBRL. Countries are quickly moving toward International Accounting Standards or...

How risky are your capital expenditures? Here's how to incorporate risk into your NPV and IRR analyses.(Financial Management)(net present value and internal rate of return)
February 1, 2005... What could possibly be new about net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) analyses? For many decades, accounting and finance professionals have been using NPV and IRR measurements to evaluate capital expenditures. Typically,...