CMA Management articles from March 2004

CMA Management archives from March 2004

Triple bottom line benefits.(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is no longer a niche practice, and if the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) has enough weight behind it, the federal government might soon adopt sustainability...

Building Confidence.(Reports and Reporting)(Corporate sustainability reporting)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) is still in its infancy in Canada. Although at least 100 companies in Canada have produced sustainable reports that review the economic, social and environmental impact of their organizations, much work...

Information Security.(Reports and Reporting)(Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Security has taken on a new importance in Canada with the creation of the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). However, many companies have been slow to adapt to this, with some not knowing how to...

Presenting Numbers, Tables, and Charts.(Reports and Reporting)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Consistency in reports and presentations is always a challenge, and Presenting Numbers, Tables, and Charts is aimed at helping readers improve their consistency while also making their presentation clear and effective. It demonstrates how to...

New CSA disclosure obligations come into force.(News and Views)(Canadian Securities Administrators)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published National Instrument 51-02, Continuous Disclosure Obligations, late last year. This revision affects continuous disclosure obligations for all reporting issuers in Canada, except investment...

Regulators propose corporate governance rules for issuers.(News and Views)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has published proposals that describe best corporate governance practices and require issuers to make disclosures based on these best practices. The proposals are also being considered by securities...

U.S. boards see modest compensation increases.(News and Views)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Corporate scandals, Sarbanes-Oxley and other governance and accounting requirements have led to changes in the corporate board landscape over the past year. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Management Barometer study, nearly two-thirds of...

BlackBerry adds bite.(High Tech)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Waterloo, Ontario's Research in Motion (RIM) has had a busy year, expanding the reach and distribution of its wireless e-mail technologies. This is important for the company to stay competitive with the ever-expanding range of functions...

The inside track: internal training doesn't always sell itself, so be prepared to make a solid pitch by understanding the questions you'll be asked.(Human Resources)
March 1, 2004... Walk into almost any company and you will hear management proclaim that people are their greatest asset. In reality, however, intellectual capital development is rarely their primary focus and it's often viewed as an expense rather than an...

Revisiting benefits and compensation; Mercer forecasts departures from traditional models.(Management Trends)
March 1, 2004... This year is likely to herald a variety of changes for Canadian businesses and individual investors, according to a recent report by Mercer Human Resources Consulting and the media briefing that followed its release. While our markets, and our...

Negotiation basics: ask yourself the right questions before and during negotiations and you'll be better prepared for any outcome.(Business Strategies)
March 1, 2004... Whether we recognize it or not, we continually engage in different forms of negotiation. Some are obvious circumstances, such as the purchase of a new car. Others are less obviously interpreted as negotiations, such as discussing an extension...

Gold medal growth: David Crawford, CMA, promotes environmentally and fiscally sustainable development in sports event management and the wider community.(Profile)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... Olympic sporting events rarely come to mind when one thinks of effective environmental and financial stewardship. In fact, historically they've been associated with the exact opposite--unsustainable development and long term fiscal losses. ...

Satisfied stakeholders: corporate social responsibility reporting is on the rise, but reporting processes are still evolving. Stakeholder communication is the key--the more there is, the better it will be.(Stratos)
March 1, 2004... Triple bottom line (TBL), or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, is gradually becoming a more common reporting model. This is clearly demonstrated in Building Confidence: Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Canada, the most...

Accounting for knowledge: measuring our intellectual assets helps us manage them effectively. As Dr. Nick Bontis explains, how you measure those assets has to come from within.
March 1, 2004... Since Thomas Stewart's groundbreaking Brainpower article (Fortune, 1991), intellectual capital (IC) has come to be considered the pre-eminent economic resource. Despite its strategic importance, IC is a highly under-leveraged asset in Canadian...

Non-profit needs, litigious liabilities: charitable organizations in Canada need good directors, but potential liabilities are dissuading many from volunteering their time. Though an understandable fear, there are ways to manage the potential pitfalls.
March 1, 2004... Every day, legions of accountants and other professionals play valuable roles in directing or managing an estimated 80,000 charitable organizations throughout Canada. Many consider the opportunity to give time and energy back to the communities...

Timing and precision; implementing a scorecarding system successfully.(final article in series)
March 1, 2004... In this final article in our series, we look at issues involved in the implementation of scorecarding systems. In prior articles, we examined features of scorecarding systems that contribute to their successful implementation and the role of...

The Venture Capital way: five years ago start-up companies with only a bare-bones business plan and a simple idea could get venture capital investors excited. Now that realities have changed, what can your company do to harness some of those remaining VC dollars? And is there even cash up for grabs in the first place?
March 1, 2004... Randy Thompson is all smiles when he talks about the current economic climate. And for good reason. The chairman of the Alberta California Venture Channel, which unites Alberta businesses with California venture capital investors, says the soft...

Insuring your money; the case for, and against, segregated funds.(Money Management)
March 1, 2004... The British comic Spike Milligan once said that the best cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree. Having survived the recent stock market storm, Canadians may be wondering if it's time to man the lifeboats and head for shore. Segregated...

Integrated communication: Voice over IP can put small- and medium-sized enterprises on a stronger footing against bigger players. With the right adoption strategy, it can boost a company's competitiveness.(Information Technology)(Telus)
March 1, 2004... Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, has been heralded as the next big thing at least a couple of times in the past 10 years, and in 2004 it might just live up to that claim. VoIP involves converting telephone calls into data packets for...

Comptrollership in the Martin government: accountability is a top concern leading up to the next election.(Government Issues)
March 1, 2004... On December 12, 2003, Prime Minister Paul Martin unveiled his new government, which revealed a number of important messages for Canadians. While the Prime Minister did not launch a wholesale repudiation of the past regime, he did demonstrate...

New voices in world trade: as new alliances develop at the World Trade Organization, Canada and Canadians are asked to listen carefully.(Global View)
March 1, 2004... For many years, the richest nations on earth have steered the trade and development agenda for the world through the creation of trading blocs and what many perceive as one-sided partnerships with the developing world. But the latest plans to...