Strategic Finance articles from January 2003

Strategic Finance archives from January 2003

The year 2002--what has it taught us? (Letter from the President).(importance of ethical conduct in accounting profession)(Column)
January 1, 2003... What a year it was! It was a year full of the news of Enron, Andersen, WorldCom, and others. It was a year of business failures--of tough economic times. It was a year filled with increasing distrust of business and financial executives. It was...

Strategy, value creation, and the CFO. (Strategic Management).(chief financial officer)
January 1, 2003... What is my organization's strategy? How does this strategy create real financial value? What role do I play in the value-creation process? These are questions every CFO should be asking since, having solid financial discipline, they're in the...

Delegating decision. (Best Practices).
January 1, 2003... WHAT IF YOU COULD FIND A POWERFUL instrument for "turbo-charging" performance? Turbo-charged as in taking advantage of opportunities, being resilient when confronted by issues, outwitting competitors, or making lasting improvements. Fact...

Enhancing your technology expertise. (Careers).
January 1, 2003... Technology has played an important role in shaping the accounting profession and will continue to change the way people work in years to come New versions of financial software applications are being introduced continually, and timely upgrades...

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Executive Certification Requirements. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 are pretty clear, questions keep coming up about the executive certification requirements. To help answer these questions and clarify issues for boards, companies, and executives...

What do you know about abandoned property? (Street Wise).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Almost all companies have abandoned property that they must report to states annually. Examples are forgotten bank accounts; uncashed dividend, payroll, or vendor checks; unexchanged shares of stock; refunds due from insurance companies;...

Economic Census. (Street Wise).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Last month more than five million American businesses should have received their 2002 Economic Census forms to fill out and return to the Census Bureau by February 12, 2003. Those who receive a form are required by law to comply. The...

Should ethical principles apply equally to all? (Ethics).
January 1, 2003... LARRY HANSEN ENTERED THE EMPLOYEES' LOCKER ROOM PRIOR TO THE starting time for his second shift at the northern Ohio plant of XYZ Manufacturing Co. He saw about a dozen of his co-workers just finishing the day shift. It seemed like an informal...

SEC proposed new Regulation G on non-GAAP financials. (Governemnt).(Securities and Exchange Commission, financial disclosure rules)
January 1, 2003... DAYS BEFORE CHAIRMAN HARVEY Pitt threw in the towel, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) published another one of the proposed rules stemming from the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, the congressional legislation passed this summer aimed at...

From fast close to fast forward: how an operational perspective can revolutionize budgeting and forecasting.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2003... Rumor has it that the board of one of the world's largest technology companies announced to the analyst community that it would hit its quarterly earnings projections at the end of the month. During the month, though, the production staff...

Cultivate finance talent from bottom to top: that way you'll have a pool of dedicated, skilled financial leaders. (HR Management).
January 1, 2003... Reliable, innovative, and continuous finance leadership. It's a vital aspect of any organization's financial success and future growth. Is your organization practicing the kind of rigorous recruitment and development processes it takes to stay...

Is your firm safe from Cybersmear? (Internet).(list of cases in which individuals or companies have been accused of publishing false company information over Internet)
January 1, 2003... The Internet has accelerated the way the stock market reacts to information, both good and bad. In one highly publicized case, misinformation was posted on an Internet stock-chat message board to manipulate the price of Emulex (EMLX) stock and...

The rules explosion: is it time to move toward principles? (Standards Setting).(accounting standards and corporate corruption)
January 1, 2003... Grey is good. Indeed, today in U.S. corporate accounting and auditing circles, it promises--or threatens, depending on your point of view--to become all the rage. The issue? How to deal with an accounting standards-setting system that many...

How strategic performance management is helping companies create business value. (Performance Management).
January 1, 2003... THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION MUST BE ALIGNED BEHIND THE GOAL OF TURNING THE STRATEGIC PLAN INTO EFFECTIVE ACTION. At most companies the business strategy is no sooner developed than it begins to lose steam. There's no mechanism to cascade and...

Tools of the trade: new offerings for this year's tax seaxon. (Product Watch).(tax preparation software)
January 1, 2003... Tax Preparation ATX, Inc. has added a research dimension to its Max[R] and Saber 1040 tax preparation offerings. After a merger with Klein-rock Publishing, ATX created the new Total Tax Office[TM], which combines Max with the 24 volumes of...

Killer app turns homicidal. (Tech Forum).(getting rid of junk e-mail)
January 1, 2003... If you have decided not to help the widow of Togo's minister of finance get that $342m U.S. to a bank outside her country, and you certainly don't want herbal Viagra or a real easy second mortgage, and you don't "want to EARN substantial income...

XBRL: EDGAR Analyst changes everything. (XBRL).(EDGAR Analyst L.L.C. uses eXtensible Business Reporting Language to build database)
January 1, 2003... FROM THE BIRTH OF FINANCIAL MARKETS TO today, there has always been a need for high-quality, transparent financial reporting. Transparency facilitates the fair flow of information to investors who, in turn, assess the potential risks and...

Are you FOBIO? (End Note).(use of corporate and technology jargon)
January 1, 2003... Ask a question like, "How would you do that?" and you might get, "You need to give write access to your CGI directory or whatever directory you put the PSP translator in." Some say IT jargon is necessary for accuracy--others say it's a...

Resuscitating Big Blue. (Books).(Who Says Elephants Can't Dance)(Book Review)
January 1, 2003... * "WHO SAYS ELEPHANTS CAN'T DANCE?" NOT Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., who turned around a foundering IBM, one of the major technological companies in the world, and wrote a book with that title. In the nine tumultuous years as IBM's CEO, he turned...