Strategic Finance articles from January 2004

Strategic Finance archives from January 2004

Creating an effective recognition program.(Careers)(Human resource management)
January 1, 2004... Employee recognition programs are critical retention and motivational tools, yet many managers make the mistake of focusing on them only when unemployment levels dip. Regardless of the macroeconomic trends, staff members should be told often...

Do audit charters need a reality check? Yes, if companies want to make sure they are really following all the rules.(Auditing)
January 1, 2004... The internal auditing profession is in a quandary. Recent changes triggered by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) have created a conflict of duties for the internal auditor. On the one hand,...

Driving auto accident costs down: how Philadelphia reduced auto accident reporting costs by using the information highway.(Technology)
January 1, 2004... The sun is setting on the Schuylkill River as Center City Philadelphia begins to empty after a workday. Gazing more at the rowers on the water below than on the automobiles ahead, a driver slams into the car in front of him, causing an accident...

Managing for the next quarter (century): take a look at these strategies for successful long-term growth.(Management)
January 1, 2004... American companies are sometimes accused of thinking in the short term, of focusing on meeting financial expectations for the current quarter at the expense of long-term strategy. Of course, the people making this charge aren't around to feel...

It's over--we lose.(End Note)(The importance of education and information)
January 1, 2004... The first good advice about humans and the information we collect came from Plato, the father of Western Philosophy. He put it this way: "The unexamined life is not worth living. "We're born with curiosity, and things just naturally seem to get...

Good grief!(Best Practices)(coping with bereavement in the workplace)
January 1, 2004... MMAYBE IT'S BECAUSE WE BABY BOOMERS ARE clicking along through middle age, but more and more of us are losing loved ones. Ray's father. Anastasia's sister-in-law. Jon's colleague. Eric's seven-year-old niece. Jane's friend, next-door neighbor,...

Grab your picks and shovels! There's gold in your data.(usage of data mining)
January 1, 2004... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] The core business processes of many organizations are becoming more dynamic and complex because of globalization and evolving technology that has enabled us to cost effectively accumulate and store vast amounts of...

See you at the annual conference: Mark your calendars! Why? Because IMA's 85th annual conference is coming to Chicago from June 26 through June 30, and you won't want to miss it.(Perspectives: message from the chair)
January 1, 2004... We have gone to great lengths to put together an outstanding program that will give you the tools and knowledge you need to have a competitive advantage. You will be able to earn more than 30 hours of CPE by attending just the Conference. If...

Strategic Finance: quiz 3 CPE credits.
January 1, 2004... Earn Continuing Professional Education Credit ANNOUNCEMENT The IMA is launching a new online self-study course, Strategic Finance Online Learning Program, this month. This program is in response to the new NASBA guidelines that took...

Focusing strategy on fulfilling customer needs.(Strategic Management)(influence of customer relationship management)
January 1, 2004... Successful companies target the right market segments with the right offerings at the right time, and they also know which ones to avoid. The Segments, Offerings, Needs Matrix presented last month (see next page) makes a clear connection...

FASB issues exposure drafts to support global accounting standards.(News)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
January 1, 2004... LAST MONTH THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (FASB) issued four new Exposure Drafts that would improve U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and converge U.S. accounting guidance with existing international accounting...

IASB welcomes FASB releases.(streetwise)(International Accounting Standards Board)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The day the FASB released the new Exposure Drafts, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) said it welcomed their release. They are part of a joint effort of the two to eliminate differences between U.S. GAAP and International...

An incredible man.(Readers Input)(whistle-blower James Alderson)
January 1, 2004... I recently saw the story on whistle-blower James Alderson in the August issue. I am very familiar with Jim. When his story broke open concerning the fines, etc., he was living in Vancouver, Wash., which is across the river from where I am....

Toward a corporation with conscience.(Ethics)
January 1, 2004... ADAM SMITH IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS MAJOR WORK, THE WEALTH OF Nations. Few realize that he also wrote a book on ethics titled Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith concluded that market forces, or as he described it, the "invisible hand," would make...

Corporate tax shelter growth decried.(Government)
January 1, 2004... A NEW REPORT FROM THE GENERAL Accounting Office (GAO) shows the pace at which illegal corporate tax shelters are growing and how much trouble the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is having stanching the flow. Michael Brostek, director of tax...

Mastering alliance strategy.(Books)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... * BUSINESS ALLIANCES HAVE COME OF AGE. Many companies have portfolios of 20 or more alliances, and some have more than 100. Many of the world's largest companies have more than 20%-50% of their assets tied up in alliances. But numerous...

Should you donate your car?(Taxes)
January 1, 2004... ACCORDING TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE Service, charities are soliciting vehicle donations from taxpayers at an increasing rate--something that is evident when counting the number of ads for vehicle donations in the newspapers. Revenue from donated...

Tax season help.(tools of the trade)
January 1, 2004... ATX of Caribou, Maine, has expanded its tax software offerings with Total Tax Office[TM] Plus at the top of a line that has a variety of their traditional Saber[TM] products shoring up its foundation. The Total Tax Office Plus includes the...

The Bookshelf.(tools of the trade)(J.K. Lasser's)
January 1, 2004... J.K. Lasser's[TM] 800-page Your Income Tax 2004 includes guidance on the numerous tax law changes of the past year. Some of these tax cuts continue to phase in and phase out, and it's useful to have a compendium in a single source on your...

Real-time. Really?(Tech Forum)
January 1, 2004... It wasn't very long ago that the basic complaint about business technology was, "When are we going to see a return on our investment?" The answer was elusive because it was a little like measuring water with a yardstick. You could estimate the...

Something to cheer this new year: the economy.(Trends in Financial Management)
January 1, 2004... U.S. ECONOMIC DATA FROM THE third and fourth quarters of 2003 showed the economy gaining momentum to speed past the last three years of persistently weak growth and an eight-month recession. Robust economic fundamentals were due largely to...

XBRL and Metcalfe's rule of technological change.(XBRL)(eXtensible Business Reporting Language)(Robert Metcalfe)
January 1, 2004... IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE AN INTERNAL AICPA effort, known as the extensible financial reporting markup language (XFRML), was rechristened the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and the first international members embarked on the...

What's the future of defined benefit plans?(Benefits)
January 1, 2004... The U.S. Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) is concerned about pension plan underfunding at "troubled" companies with defined benefit plans because it will have to bail them out if these plans fail. The American Benefits Council...