Strategic Finance articles from March 2003

Strategic Finance archives from March 2003

Lifelong learning--it's the only way to remain competitive in the job market. (Letter from the President).
March 1, 2003... The business world keeps changing. New processes and technologies are being developed every day. Companies continue to downsize, outsource, subcontract, or merge. Jobs are eliminated or significantly changed. How do we in the fields of...

Strategy or execution? (Strategic Management).(carrying out strategic plans)
March 1, 2003... Which is more important, strategy or execution? This question has surfaced again and again with CEOs and managers alike. It isn't a matter of which is more important--strategy and execution are inseparable and integral parts of each other. ...

You show me yours. (Best Practices).
March 1, 2003... OVER THE YEARS WE'VE HEARD THEORIES OF how men and women operate differently in business. At a first meeting, it has been said, women seek to uncover what they have in common--someone they know, someplace they've been, something they've done....

Sarbanes-Oxley Act: what does it mean to me? (Careers).
March 1, 2003... Without a doubt, corporate governance has become the primary topic of conversation among accounting and finance professionals. In the wake of corporate scandals, investor confidence decreased and the call for corporate accountability became...

William Donaldson is new SEC chair. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Kathy Williams LAST MONTH, WILLIAM H. DONALDSON, 71, WAS SWORN IN AS THE NEW chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission, replacing Harvey L. Pitt, who resigned in November 2002. The former head of the New York Stock Exchange and...

Superior employee practices create greater shareholder value. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Companies with superior human capital practices have better total returns to shareholders or growth in shareholder value, according to Watson Wyatt's latest Human Capital Index[R] studies in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. ...

FASB sets up User Advisory Council. (Street Wise).(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... To increase the investment community's participation in the accounting standards-setting process, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has established a User Advisory Council made up of 35 professionals representing a variety of investment...

More on valuations. (Readers' Input).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... I enjoyed the article "Business Valuation Made Simple" by David S. Harrison in the February issue. He took a complicated subject and broke it down into its basic components. However, I would like to add to his paragraph regarding "Project...

Are "whistle-blowers" heroes or just doing their job? (Ethics).
March 1, 2003... FIVE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN SINGLED OUT FOR PUBLIC PRAISE AND admiration because they took great personal risks in order to "blow the whistle" on actions in their organizations that they considered unethical or illegal. During the year they had...

Changes to Bush stimulus package unavoidable. (Government).(George W. Bush)
March 1, 2003... THERE IS NO CHANCE CONGRESS is going to give President Bush all of his $670 billion in tax cuts, despite the fact that the Republicans control both the House and Senate. Senate Democrats are pushing a much smaller package with considerably...

Former SEC chairman Levitt speaks out. (Books).(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... * WHO WOULD KNOW MORE ABOUT THE machinations of Wall Street than the quintessential insider Arthur Levitt, who worked as a broker and then as president of Shearson Hayden Stone brokerage before President Clinton appointed him chairman of the...

AICPA wants changes in records-retention rule. (Government).(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) wants the Securities & Exchange Commission to make some changes in its proposed rule regarding retention of records relevant to audits and reviews of issuers' financial statements....

Corporate counsels want changes, too. (Government).(in-house lawyers as corporate watchdogs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Should in-house and outside attorneys have to inform the SEC that a company they work for is about to report an inaccurate financial statement? That's what the SEC wants and groups such as the American Bar Association and Business Roundtable...

Bigger criminal penalties for securities crimes. (Government).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Federal court judges will start imposing tougher criminal penalties on corporate officials who "substantially jeopardize" the health of a publicly traded company. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, whose guidelines are used by federal judges,...

Improve productivity with contextual collaboration. (Technology).
March 1, 2003... As the project deadline approaches, you set aside one afternoon to call together everyone whose input might be valuable. With a conference call and a hosted videoconference, the widely scattered group will be able to look over and discuss the...

Performance pays off: how one company encourages employees to think like owners and rewards them with bonuses worth even 50% of their salaries. (Performance Management).
March 1, 2003... DO the employees who work in your company's warehouse pressure the salespeople to sell more so they in turn can ship more products out? The answer to this question is most often "no." But since we started a new program at NYF Corp., our...

Sarbanes-Oxley act: who gets the bill? (Financial Reporting).
March 1, 2003... Invoices will Soon be arriving at the offices of all public companies so they can provide the financial support for a standards-setting body and an oversight board as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Companies need to be aware of...

Breaking the code: what to present to venture capitalists. (Finance).
March 1, 2003... YOUR BUSINESS PLAN IS COMPLETE, and you've used your best contacts to arrange a meeting with a venture capital firm or an angel investor. What should you show them? First of all, recognize that you will have very little time to make a good...

How to pick a consulting firm: here are the top 10 issues you should consider before hiring one. (Management).
March 1, 2003... The Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies have triggered many changes in the consulting environment for accounting firms. Securities & Exchange Commission and Congressional limitations on consulting services have caused the Big 4 accounting firms to...

It doesn't equal GAAP compliance. (Opinion).
March 1, 2003... IF A TITLE (like a picture) is worth a thousand words, then IMA President Margaret Butler's "Can Financial Professionals Be Trusted?" (Perspectives, August 2002, p. 5) must be a perfect example. Who would have thought that such a question would...

AlphaSmart, Inc. (Palms and Berries).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... AlphaSmart, Inc. has been producing its keyboard-sized computer for almost 10 years, and it has survived well in one of the toughest labs imaginable, schoolrooms across the country. The company recently released the Dana, based on the Palm OS....

Handspring[TM]. (Palms and Berries).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The Treo 300 from Handspring [TM] is called a communicator because it combines a PCS phone, organizer, e-mail, and Web in a pocket-sized device that weighs about six ounces. With activation from Sprint, you can read, reply to, and delete your...

Nextel National Network. (Palms and Berries).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The BlackBerry 6510 [TM] from Nextel provides "always-on" immediate access to your business e-mail anywhere on the Nextel National Network. The e-mail function is compatible with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, and it's ISP/POP3 capable. PDA...

ItsDeductible[TM]. (Tax Help).(computer software)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... You've donated a Boggle game, a belt sander, and a baby monitor (Evenflo) to Goodwill, so what can you deduct from your income taxes? If you had the ItsDeductible[TM] software loaded on your computer, or the 13th book edition, you would know...

2nd Story Software[R]. (Tax Help).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... 2nd Story Software[R] offers a variety of TaxACT software and online services that are free or inexpensive. Three of the packages can be downloaded onto your computer, and three others offer tax-prep online. TaxACT Standard 2002 guides you...

The great idea evolves. (Tech Forum).
March 1, 2003... LAST MONTH in Tech Forum, we considered what makes an invention revolutionary. Truly innovative ideas are rare. What passes for innovation is usually iteration--just another version of some same old thing. The computer, on the other hand,...

XBRL and Office 11: a field of dreams. (XBRL).
March 1, 2003... "IF YOU BUILD IT, HE WILL COME," INTONED the mysterious voice to the Iowa farmer in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams. Costner's character, Ray Kinsella, proceeds to build a baseball field right in the middle of a patch of corn....

Sentence extended for Mickey and friends. (End Note).(Copyright)
March 1, 2003... He was up for parole at the end of 2003, but the bad news came down on January 15 when nine Supreme Court judges announced a 20-year extension to be added on for the Mouse and his friends. The vote against parole was 7-2. The downcast...