Strategic Finance articles from September 2004

Strategic Finance archives from September 2004

Strategic Finance self-study quiz.
September 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...

Creating a culture of peak performance: freedomroads knew this was the way to succeed.(HR Management)(FreedomRoads LLC)
September 1, 2004... Not 15 months ago, two recreational vehicle business entrepreneurs named Steve Adams and Marcus Lemonis embarked on an ambitious journey to create and brand a national RV retail chain composed of the nation's most successful family-owned RV...

Can organizational DNA exclude ethics?(Ethics)(Deoxyribonucleic Acid )
September 1, 2004... THE METAPHOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL DNA attempts to apply the all-inclusive biological characteristic known as DNA to the culture of organizations. While several examples involving organizational DNA have been published, one of the first uses of DNA...

The antidote to burnout.(Best Practices)
September 1, 2004... MANAGING CONSUMES MENTAL ENERGY. THE institution makes demands on the leader's time, thoughts, and willpower that can easily require 24 hours a day, seven days a week--and still leave the job unfinished. One more phone call, meeting, or trip...

Safety inventory analysis: why and how?
September 1, 2004... WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW how the stock market was going to behave tomorrow, whether or not there's going to be an accident on your way to work, and if your flight is going to be delayed--and for how long? It goes without saying--we live in a...

Trading solutions for lowering air pollution: trading of greenhouse gas emissions allowances can lower the cost of regulatory compliance and create business opportunities.(Environmental Accounting)(related article: Where air pollution allowances trade.)
September 1, 2004... Thanks to innovative trading in greenhouse gas emissions allowances, complying with air pollution regulations isn't the same for all firms all the time. In this rapidly growing field, a company--be it an electric utility, a dry cleaner, or an...

Does your company need a workout? Here's how to implement informal plans of reorganization and avoid Chapter 11 or liquidation.(Cash Management)
September 1, 2004... Four years ago, a $23 million manufacturer of electronic circuit boards was seriously considering selling the company at a discounted price after its expansion plan failed. Losses for several years had created $4 million in negative equity, and...

Why look at German cost management?(Perspectives: message from the chair)
September 1, 2004... The IMA Foundation for Applied Research is dedicating a good deal of research to understanding a well-established form of German cost accounting, Grenzplankostenrechnung, known in the United States simply as GPK. I'm frequently asked, "Why?"...

It's about time: strategies for managing your work priorities.(Careers)
September 1, 2004... Demanding workloads are certainly nothing new in the accounting profession. But additional projects resulting from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related corporate governance regulations come at a time when many companies have limited resources to...

Dennis R. Beresford named to Accounting Hall of Fame.(News)
September 1, 2004... IMA MEMBER AND FORMER FASB CHAIRMAN DENNIS R. BERESFORD HAS BEEN elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame along with Gerald A. Feltham, internationally known accounting theoretician, and the late William J. Vatter, professor and writer on cost...

Attmore named GASB chairman.(News)(Robert H. Attmore)(Governmental Accounting Standards Board )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Robert H. Attmore, a former deputy state comptroller in the New York State Comptroller's Office, began his term as chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) on July 1, 2004. He formerly was president of Attmore &...

At the forefront.(Readers' Input)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I enjoyed reading Larry White's column in the July 2004 issue of Strategic Finance. Of course, I strongly agree. Management accounting should be at the forefront. The goal of management accounting comprises adding value to a business...

Preventing crime in your company.(Occupational Crime)(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... * DESPITE ALL THAT WE READ IN THE BUSINESS SECTIONS TODAY, we need to remember that occupational crime isn't just limited to the Enrons of the world. From the fraud that dominates the headlines to environmental waste discharge, tax violations,...

Big Four auditing still questionable?(Government)
September 1, 2004... THE FRONT PAGE PHOTOS IN JULY of Ken Lay as he was led to the Houston federal courthouse in handcuffs brought back memories not only the sad fate of Enron but also of its auditor, Arthur Andersen, whose demise turned the Big Five into the Big...

"Perspectives" hits the mark.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Larry White's "Perspectives" column (August 2004) on accounting profession balance in the Sarbox age was quite timely and hits the mark with financial managers of operating businesses. Informal discussions with other CFOs and controllers...

Handy memory.(tools of the trade)(new mini disk drives in the market)(Swissbit Group)
September 1, 2004... It was bound to happen in a world filled with thumb drives and keychain, pen, and wristwatch USB drives. Victorinox, maker of the classic all-in-one Swiss Army Knife, has teamed up with Swissbit to produce the SWISSMEMORY[R] USB Victorinox....

Handy scanner.(DocuPen)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Scanners are usually the size of a printer, and they lay claim to a fair amount of space on your desktop. There are smaller, pen-shaped scanners, but these usually are swiped like a magic marker over text and numbers, one line at a time, and...

Technology and us vs. them.(Tech Forum)
September 1, 2004... * THE EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP has been made a little more uncomfortable by the numerous technologies that improve monitoring. In a recent editorial, Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief of Computerworld, explained the polarities involved....

Section 404 Costs Soar.(Trends: in financial management)
September 1, 2004... COMPLYING WITH SECTION 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is costing public companies much more money and time than previously anticipated. Section 404, which goes into effect for fiscal years ending after November 15, will cost public companies...

SEC assessing XBRL: may propose a rule by fall.(Extensible Business Reporting Language)
September 1, 2004... ON JULY 22, 2004, THE SECURITIES & EXCHANGE Commission announced that it is formally "assessing the benefits of tagged data and its potential for improving the timeliness and accuracy of financial disclosure and analysis of Commission filings."...

Small business owners and ERISA protection: a working business owner's benefits in an employment retirement income security act plan are protected from creditors if the plan also covers other business employees, the supreme court rules.(Small Business)(Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)
September 1, 2004... The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided a case arising from the bankruptcy of the owner-employee of a corporation that sponsored an employee retirement plan in which the owner participated. The court was asked to decide whether the working...