CMA Management articles from December 2006

CMA Management archives from December 2006

Risk--the need for new parameters.(from the editor)
December 1, 2006... In early November 2006, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) held their annual summit in Toronto. The subject of the day was taking corporate social responsibility (CSR) beyond philanthropy and using it to create stronger...

Magna Cum Laude.
December 1, 2006... Despite the amount of ink Frank Stronach has commanded on Canada's financial pages over the years, until now there hasn't been an attempt to tell the full story of the man and his success in book form. Magna Cum Laude--How Frank Stronach became...

Juicing the Orange.
December 1, 2006... Creativity is something every organization boasts or covets--either way, few really know how to use it. Too many think it means throwing money at marketing fads or paying lip service to "out-of-the-box" thinking. Rarely do these approaches...

Fit In, Stand Out.(Mastering the Factor for Success in Business and Life)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Knowing when to be noticed is important for achieving success since people are often passed over when they conform and fit in. In her book Fit In, Stand Out--Mastering the FISO Factor for Success in Business and Life, Blythe McGarvie points to...

IFAC tables guidance on codes of conduct.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... Effective codes of conduct are a key element of strong corporate governance and internal controls within businesses worldwide. Recognizing the critical role that professional accountants in business play in these areas, the International...

IFAC public sector exposure draft.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is working to improve both the quality and uniformity of financial information reported by public sector entities around...

Directors limiting board appointments--good news?(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... Almost half of directors (47%) sit on only one public company board, and a total of 78% sit on one or two, according to the latest What Directors Think study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Corporate Board Member magazine. ...

IFRS: Canadian banks can learn from competitors.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... Canadian banks can learn from their global competitors as they work to implement International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), based on the findings of a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Major global banks are just beyond their...

New software.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... Visit www.managementmag.com for more information on the following software and applications packages: * Sage Software's Business Vision 50 Accounting Version 7.1 for small business * Cognos 8 Planning and Cognos 8 BI

Financial services face global transfer pricing risks.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... Financial services companies are increasing their transfer pricing resources and focusing more on transfer pricing policies in response to a perception of heightened risk in this area, according to a survey released recently by Ernst & Young....

REITs excluded from income trust tax.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... The vast majority of real estate investment trusts (REITs) will be excluded from the recent announcement from the federal government that a tax will be levied on income trusts, according to a report from the Real Property Assocation of Canada...

Wireless style.(HIGH TECH)
December 1, 2006... The wireless headset has become ubiquitous on city streets and office towers over the past few months. Differentiating a product in the market will be an uphill battle for anyone but Sony is trying its best with the HBH-IV835. This new release...

Low taxes a competitive advantage, study states.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
December 1, 2006... New research covering 86 countries has confirmed that low corporate tax rates can help give a country a significant competitive advantage over economic rivals, and are connected with higher than average economic growth. But the advantage tends...

Strategic application: ERP systems and ADC Tools have reached a level that, when implemented effectively, can elevate an organization's information infrastructure and knowledge culture to a strategically higher level.(business strategies)
December 1, 2006... Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrated application software systems and Automated Data Collection (ADC) tools are experiencing a resurgence. Existing users are expanding their use of existing functionality, and new users are acquiring...

Risk--getting the whole picture: management decision makers don't always consider the social and political risks of their actions. This is because those risks are hard to quantify, and there hasn't been a methodology to make it easier to do so. With the publication of a new CMA Canada--AICPA Management Accounting Guideline, this could all change.
December 1, 2006... The corporate risk landscape has shifted significantly in recent years. Larger and more varied risks than ever previously thought have been seen in companies and countries who had believed they were immune from those risks. Rapidly increasing...

Strategies for shareholder value enhancement: by taking an integrated approach to the examination of key underlying variables that affect organizational growth, management accountants can play an important role in value creation.(Company overview)
December 1, 2006... Management accountants are well suited for the role of champions of value creation, because of the quality of the CMA program and its emphasis on the essential business skills of leadership, decision making, communication, and professionalism....

Scorecards and dashboards--partners in performance: the line between these management tools is often blurred. Understanding the goal of each, however, can clarify and enrich an organization's approach to performance tracking.
December 1, 2006... Over the years, organizations of all sizes have struggled to measure and manage performance to achieve success, but the nature of the struggle has changed. Now there are sophisticated approaches and applications available to help with these...

No Halloween treat for income trusts: the rules have changed once more for income trusts. While they may still be a good investment, it's important to understand how the new tax treatment will work.
December 1, 2006... Income trusts seemed almost too good to be true... and it looks they were. On October 31, 2006, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty held a scary news conference to announce a new tax on income trust distributions. Stating that $70...

Better controls, better business: Gary Brennan, CMA, FCMA, has spent the past 12 years helping Syncrude develop and enhance its business management and controls systems. While these innovations help control costs, they also create a more strategic finance function.
December 1, 2006... The Athabasca oil sands represent a world scale investment prospect for many decades to come, but it has only been in the past 40 years that the extraction of oil from those sands has been commercially viable. During the 1960s, it was Suncor...

Space tech experts: Canada's technology firms find a place in space, with the essential support of the CSA.(government issues)
December 1, 2006... The exciting potential of space exploration has held the public's attention for decades. From Jules Verne's book From the Earth to the Moon, penned more than 140 years ago, to CGI-laden space movies and the real-life exploits of a manned moon...