Business Credit articles from July 2006

Business Credit archives from July 2006

New federal policy could create billion-dollar loophole for corporate giants.(front page)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... House Republicans issued a last minute proposal to the Small Business Reauthorization Act. The new policy would repeal existing Federal policy that prevents large companies from using their franchises as fronts in order to obtain small business...

Buyback activity continues; earnings impact becoming widespread.(front page)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced that S&P 500 first quarter buyback activity has surged 22.1 percent over that of the first quarter of 2005, with the trailing 12-month increase at 55.2 percent. According to S&P, 500 constituents spent $100.2...

Wal-Mart raises poverty rates in counties where stores are located.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A study published in Social Science Quarterly is the first to examine the effect of Wal-Mart stores on poverty rates. The study found that nationwide, an estimated 20,000 families have fallen below the official poverty line as a result of the...

Business application vendors face challenge to move to 'the process of me'.(front page)(business automation software for future )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A significant challenge facing major vendors is to evolve their business applications to meet the needs of individuals carrying out their work, instead of on enterprise process automation, according to Gartner. While business applications have...

Tuniewicz's vision: a bias towards action, making NACM an indispensable resource.(Meet Mark Tuniewicz, CCE)(dialogue with Mark Tuniewicz of National Association of Credit Management)(Interview)
July 1, 2006... WHEN IT COMES TO NACM, NEW Chairman Mark Tuniewicz has 20-20 vision. His vision for NACM is clearly focused on implementing NACM's mission: "To position business credit professionals for success while setting standards of excellence in business...

Dominant trends in financial services.
July 1, 2006... A number of interesting and converging trends are accelerating the use of data and analytics to reduce the uncertainty involved in managing large enterprises. This past January, Knightsbridge Solutions published its annual white paper,...

What business are you really in?(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... Imagine people not knowing what business they are in! Sadly, that is not all that unusual. First, staff members in today's organizations, like their clothes closets and garages at home, tend to lose their focus over time. Secondly, markets...

Operational risk management: the difference between risk management and compliance.
July 1, 2006... There seems to be a good deal of confusion about the role of the compliance function versus the role of the risk management function. In many organizations risk management has been subsumed into the audit organization, and there are a growing...

A credit look at new customers.(new business)
July 1, 2006... THE PROCESS OF SETTING CREDIT TERMS FOR a new business customer usually presents a greater challenge than deciding on a change in credit terms on existing customers. When a company is establishing a new relationship with a customer, it involves...

Breakthrough for the business person: how to overcome career disappointment.(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... Have you ever heard the following disappointing statements? "I'm sorry. You just aren't a good fit for us." "You are over qualified." "We are currently downsizing and sadly are going to have to let you go." "We wanted to...

Expand your collectors' role.(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... What should a collection agency do when it appears that the debtor has the will and volition to pay but not the means? Should they proceed with a suit? Foreclose on their home? These are often the usual courses of action, and in many cases the...

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... facing corporate reality.(EXTRA * CREDIT)
July 1, 2006... It was not pornography; though it did fascinate. It did inspire guilt and caused each of them a kind of embarrassment. Even Harry, who had spent hours with it, found it so. They sat there, fascinated, silent and ashamed, just staring......

Being fully secured defeats preference exposure.(CREDIT COLUMN)(Expediters International of Washington Inc.)
July 1, 2006... There have been a rash of court decisions addressing preferences over the past year. Recently, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, in In re Paul Harris Stores, Inc., addressed one of the elements of a...

"Capping mechanism": provision of Massachusetts Mechanic's Lien Law enforced.(CONSTRUCTION * CORNER)
July 1, 2006... A recent case from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts holds that a subcontractor or supplier that fails to avail itself of the procedural protections provided by the Massachusetts Mechanic's Lien Law, M.G.L. c. 254, [section] 1, et...

When must a subcontractor be paid under a "pay-when-paid" clause?(CONSTRUCTION * CORNER)
July 1, 2006... It is not unusual for a contract between the general contractor and a subcontractor to contain payment terms such as, "All progress payments of the Subcontract Sum shall be made within 10 days after payment is received by the General Contractor...

Six succession planning myths debunked.
July 1, 2006... Of late, the topic of succession planning has sparked much concern. However, it seems few organizations have heeded the warning. According to a Human Resource Planning Society and Hewitt Associates study, fewer than 60 percent of companies have...

NACM Credit Manager's Index report for June 2006.(CMI)(National Association of Credit Management)(Statistical data)
July 1, 2006... "The Combined Credit Manager's Index (CMI) rebounded sharply in the month of June, reversing much of May's precipitous losses," said Dan North, Chief Economist with credit insurer Euler Hermes ACI. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CMI rose...

Adoption of data standards and shared best practices will help drive automation of corporate actions.(Headline: TowerGroup)
July 1, 2006... The processing of corporate actions remains one of the biggest roadblocks standing between the securities industry and straight-through processing (STP). New research from TowerGroup finds that despite some progress toward greater processing...

56.7 percent of UK exporters say "no" to euro.(Headline: TowerGroup)(Atradius survey)
July 1, 2006... UK exporters are becoming more Euro-sceptic according to new research released by Atradius, the global credit insurer. The research, carried out for Atradius by the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) revealed that nearly 60 percent of UK...

Updated earthquake model for Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canada.(Headline: Risk Management Solutions)
July 1, 2006... Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a provider of products and services for the management of natural hazard risk, has announced the launch of a major update to its U.S. and Canada Earthquake models. The latest versions represent a significant...

Bolivia's country risk--should it change credit terms?(INTERNATIONAL)
July 1, 2006... On May 1, 2006, Bolivian President Evo Morales seized control of foreign oil and gas company assets. This is the kind of dramatic political event that credit professionals, who sell to companies overseas, must monitor and try to anticipate....

Ethics Resource Center launches 'Donate Your Data' program; organizations asked to donate ethics and compliance data from internal surveys in order to improve research on ethics.
July 1, 2006... The research-based nonprofit Ethics Resource Center (ERC) announces "Donate Your Data," a new charitable contribution program that allows companies to donate data accumulated from their internal ethics and compliance surveys in order to further...

Corporate directors may not be providing sufficiently robust enterprise risk oversight: directors may be open to liability unless they keep pace with evolving 'best practices' in enterprise risk management.(Headline: The Conference Board)
July 1, 2006... Corporate directors could find themselves exposed to liability if they fail to keep pace with evolving best practices in enterprise risk management (ERM), according to a major new study released by The Conference Board in conjunction with...

Hot spots: India.(economic scenario)
July 1, 2006... In the early months of this year, as during all of 2005, India was the beneficiary of heavy inflows of foreign capital into the local equity bazaar. The stock market was one of the world's best-performing and the Bombay Stock Exchange's...

Pickin' credit in music city.
July 1, 2006... NACM's 110th Credit Congress Exposition May 21-24, 2006 Nashville, Tennessee Gaylord Opryland Resort The beautiful grounds of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Center were the stage for this year's Credit Congress in Nashville....

When words fail: 8 tips for preparing your employees for a crisis.
July 1, 2006... Imagine you are driving down the highway on your way to work. You have lots on your mind, reflecting upon your children's progress in school, the upcoming presentation at tomorrow's meeting and your plans for a relaxing weekend with your...

A whistle blower's ouster.(Headline)
July 1, 2006... Philip Pergola arrived on the Massasoit Community College campus as a bright-eyed 22-year-old, eager to teach business and constitutional law. July 1 would have marked the tenured professor's 39th year at the college. Hundreds of students have...

Banks will be prepared for potential pandemic.(Edward Yingling of American Bankers Association)
July 1, 2006... While a flu pandemic presents unique challenges, banks have an established history of disaster preparedness and will be ready, said ABA President and CEO Edward Yingling in testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight...

Credit professionals can benefit in good times and bad.(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... It may be true that a rising tide--in the form of an expanding economy--lifts all boats. But credit professionals are in a unique position to benefit from both rising and sinking tides. An improving business environment naturally bodes well...

Credit at work.(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... Dear Andy, When departmental meetings are held, I leave feeling they've been unproductive. What advice do you have to ensure internal meetings are as effective as possible? Your perception is probably correct. Many employees joke that...

Why assumptions are bad for business.(SELECTED * TOPIC)
July 1, 2006... We make assumptions when we don't fully understand a situation. It is a natural reaction to immediately fill in any missing information by making up our own story. We do this because we like to try to make sense of people and situations. The...

The CIBA Vision: credit department story.(member news)
July 1, 2006... After joining CIBA Vision almost two years ago as North America Credit Manager, I realized the team needed refresher courses in credit, collections and general accounting principles. CIBA Vision's corporate policy supports training for all of...

Congratulations to NACM Houston's newest award winners!(National Association of Credit Management )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Walt Wissel Chairman's Citation Karen Bennett--Scientific Drilling International Rosie Prosser--NACM Houston Excellence in Credit Award in the Service Company category Credit Alternatives Excellence in Credit Award in the...