Strategic Finance articles from November 2004

Strategic Finance archives from November 2004

Stock options: this time it's going to be different.(Column)
November 1, 2004... The collapse of Enron and scandals at World-Com and other companies in 2002 led to lost jobs and pensions for many employees and lost savings for investors. The public was outraged, politicians were nervous, and analysts were embarrassed. How...

Increasing your visibility at work.(Careers)(Column)
November 1, 2004... Working hard will always be critical to your career success, but you will never achieve full advancement potential unless others are aware of your accomplishments and expertise. While you don't want to clamor for attention or brag about your...

The big picture.(End Note)(relational flowchart on scams, fraud, improper accounting)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... It was when the bubble burst that the scams, fraud, improper accounting, and tax outrages emerged from under a mountain of shredded paper. Bernie Ebbers, the Rigases, Sam Waksal, Dennis Kozlowski, Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and Andrew...

CEOs set ethics priorities; ordinary citizens define ethics broadly.(Chief executive officers)
November 1, 2004... THE FIRST RESEARCH STUDY CONDUCTED BY the prestigious Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics surveyed CEOs of large corporations to determine the most important corporate ethics issues facing the business community. According to the...

One good insight deserves another ...(Best Practices)
November 1, 2004... YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHERE AN INSIGHT will come from or how one good insight will inspire another. One of the most rewarding things about writing this column is the response we get. Thanks to all who read this column and especially to those who...

Corporate greed vs. IMA's ethics code: recent corporate financial scandals--Enron, WorldCom, and others--damaged accounting's image, but IMA's Standards of Ethical Conduct can provide guidance for future ethical dilemmas.(Ethics)(Institute of Management Accountants)
November 1, 2004... IN RECENT YEARS accountants and the profession have come under fire as a result of breakdowns and misdeeds in the financial reporting process. An apparent lack of ethical behavior exhibited by decision makers forms a core area of concern. ...

Adding value with analytics: financial executives need to see the whole picture of their operations before they can make good decisions.(Technology)
November 1, 2004... THE BUSINESS WORLD has entered a new era of proactive financial management in which CFOs can improve their operating procedures in two critical areas: their ability to access information and their ability to report on information in a manner...

Management accountants and enterprise risk management.(Perspectives: message from the chain)(Enterprise Risk Management--Integrated Framework)
November 1, 2004... IMA is a member of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), which was created in 1985 to support the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting. In 1992, the group issued its groundbreaking report,...

Strategic Finance: self-study quiz.
November 1, 2004... ANNOUNCEMENT: The Strategic Finance Self-Study Quiz is a program in which financial professionals can earn CPE credits for passing a test based on what they have learned about various topics from reading certain magazine articles. Two...

Pay for performance: the CFO's stake: BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana developed an innovative way to align corporate goals, strategies, and employee accountability.(Chief financial officers)(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... CFOs are increasingly concerned about their company's ability to achieve desired results as fierce competition, savvy consumers, uncertain economic and regulatory environments, and innovation are the norm. To win, and in some cases simply to...

The management accountant's role in Six Sigma.(Performance Management)
November 1, 2004... Over the past 20 years, Six Sigma has evolved into a powerful and effective methodology that has helped large and small manufacturing and service companies solve problems, improve processes, delight customers, and save (as well as make more)...

What constitutes a successful balanced scorecard?(News)
November 1, 2004... THE MOST EFFECTIVE SCORECARDS HAVE SIX CHARACTERISTICS IN COMMON, according to research by the Hackett Group, a business advisory firm and an Answer-think company that specializes in benchmarking and best practices: Focus--The best...

Donald M. young named to FASB.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Donald M. Young, managing director of Young & Company, a provider of consulting and research services for technology and private equity clients, has been named a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board effective January 1, 2005. He...

Julie Erhardt named at SEC.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Julie A. Erhardt has been named deputy chief accountant for the Securities & Exchange Commission, reporting to Chief Accountant Donald T. Nicolaisen. She will share day-today operations responsibilities with Scott Taub and Andrew Bailey that...

Organizational DNA.(Readers' Input)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... Regarding "Can Organizational DNA Exclude Ethics?" [Ethics, September 2004], we agree completely that values and ethics are critical to an organization's success. As we examined the organizational DNA of successful companies, we found...

Corporate accounting problems turn up in PCAOB review.(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... CORPORATE ACCOUNTING SHORTCOMINGS ARE COMING TO THE FORE AS A result of the publication of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) sampling of Big Four audits that Chairman William McDonough alluded to last July in a House...

Tax status of U.S. subsidiaries becomes "outsourcing" issue.(Government Accountability Office report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report makes U.S. international corporate tax policy an issue in the national debate over the dangers of "outsourcing." The new report points the finger at U.S. companies who win federal contracts...

SEC's Donaldson damns anti-FASB bill.(Government)(Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... SEC Chairman William Donaldson lent his weight to the pro-FASB forces in the Senate. In doing so, he strengthens the position of Sen. Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, who is refusing to bring up the Stock...

Creating a strong control environment for SOX.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)(Column)
November 1, 2004... * BY NOW, MOST FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS, executives, and managers should know about the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as well as the consequences of failing to comply with the Act. But many may still be struggling with how to ensure that...

Photos from camera to album to disc.(tools of the trade)
November 1, 2004... The Concord Eye-Q 5062 is one of Polaroid's newest compact digital cameras. It offers high-quality, 5-megapixel images and a moderate price under $230. The Eye-Q 5062 has a professional black finish, features 5-element all-glass lens, and has a...

How we read web pages.(Tech Forum)
November 1, 2004... ED KOCH, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY IN THE '80S, often greeted his constituents with a big grin and "How'm I doin'?" A great opening line. Most owners of websites--companies and individuals--use a set of basic metrics to answer the mayor's...

How to manage risk--enterprise-wide.(Trends: in financial management)(Committee of Sponsoring Organizations)
November 1, 2004... THE COMMITTEE OF SPONSORING Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) completed its new enterprise risk management framework in September 2004, and it's now available. Titled Enterprise Risk Management--Integrated Framework, the...

SEC wants XBRL filers.(Extensible Business Reporting Language)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... EARLY NEXT YEAR, THE SECURITIES & EXCHANGE Commission (SEC) will be preparing a new most wanted list. But the list won't consist of SEC regulation violators--it will be a list of honor. Companies making the prestigious list will be corporations...