Strategic Finance articles from May 2007

Strategic Finance archives from May 2007

Staying current.(Perspectives)(Column)
May 1, 2007... What should we be doing to stay on top of our game? Using a sports analogy may seem to be a stretch for management accountants and for the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]), but I think there are a lot of parallels. TV commentators...

Frederick E. Schea named IMA Chair-Elect.(IMA)
May 1, 2007... Frederick E. Schea, CMA, CFM, CPA, has been named IMA Chair-Elect, which means he will become IMA Chair in 2008-09. John B. Pollara, CMA, is IMA Chair for 2007-08. The IMA Board of Directors announced Fred's nomination on February 24, 2007, and...

Evaluating general managers' performances.(Strategic Management)
May 1, 2007... Choosing what measure(s) to use to monitor performance and to motivate good performance is critically important in all organizations because usually "What you measure is what you get." If you measure profits, managers tend to focus on producing...

Ethics issues still dog pharmaceutical industry.(Ethics)
May 1, 2007... This editor believes it's time that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry rethinks a number of its strategies, including the apparent priority of "profits over people." This is needed not just to serve the public interest, but also because of the...

Lawrence W. Smith named to FASB.(NEWS)
May 1, 2007... Last month Lawrence W. Smith, director of technical application and implementation activities at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and chairman of the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), was appointed to a five-year term as a...

More than a new job.(streetwise)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Half of the CFOs who leave their companies do so to take a new job, according to the results of a study by Right Management. But half do so for other reasons, including not fitting into the culture of the organization (23%), the work...

Missing the point.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... Paul Sharman's lament in Top Line (April 2007 issue of Strategic Finance) that there may not be enough Ph.D. candidates to meet future accounting education needs totally misses the point. Implicit in his approach is that accounting faculty must...

Language foul.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... In the April "Best Practices" column, I was disappointed to see Mr. Gunn and Ms. Gullickson contribute to the erosion of our language by use of the word "disses." I know I am old-fashioned (probably because I am old), but I would like to...

Effort begins in Congress to change SOX.(GOVERNMENT)(United States. Securities and Exchange Commission)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
May 1, 2007... I mentioned last month that business groups almost uniformly had little good to say about the Securities & Exchange Commission's (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) proposed changes to their internal control and...

Effective negotiating.(BOOKS)
May 1, 2007... Leadership is ultimately about leverage. Though strategies, structures, and systems are critical, you must first be successful on the relationship front by building credibility with influential players, gaining agreement with them on goals, and...

Strategic risk management: creating and protecting value.(Cover Story)(Company overview)
May 1, 2007... Expectations that boards of directors and senior executives are effectively managing risks facing an enterprise are at an all-time high. Much of this shift in expectations is in response to recent corporate scandals and resulting changes in...

How do your measurements stack up to lean?(Performance Measures)(Company overview)
May 1, 2007... How many times have you read that you can't really be lean until you measure lean? In an ideal world, every company implementing lean principles would immediately toss away current measures and start from scratch. But who said it was a perfect...

Surviving three SOX opinions: small businesses need to return to accounting fundamentals as they undergo scrutiny of their internal controls.(Small Business)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
May 1, 2007... Batter up! Small firms won't be able to dodge the triple threat much longer. On December 15, 2007, small firms (nonaccelerated filers with less than $75 million in public float) will have to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the...

Mail and e-mail.(tools of the trade)(DYMO Desktop Mailing Solution)(Presto[SM])
May 1, 2007... Ideal for small businesses, the DYMO Desktop Mailing Solution has three parts--a postage scale, a printer, and software--all designed to get you off the post office lines and away from monthly payments. Place the envelope or package on the...

Bad neighborhoods.(Tech Forum)(Editorial)
May 1, 2007... * THE SAME THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU in the worst neighborhoods--getting mugged, getting a closer look at the drive-by shooting experience, and getting kidnapped--can happen in analogous ways online. There might not be tire treads on a...

Wholesale change in wholesale electronic standards.(XBRL)
May 1, 2007... XBRL GL can bring wholesale change in the distribution of business reporting information for wholesale and distribution businesses. In this second chapter of the "XBRL Global Ledger by Industry" series, I will discuss the value of the Global...

A phoenix in midtown.(End Note)
May 1, 2007... The Hearst Tower in New York City is an odd piece of architecture. The new glass and stainless steel tower rises up from the remains of the company's old limestone headquarters built back in 1928 to house Hearst's 12 magazines. ...