CMA Management articles from May 2006

CMA Management archives from May 2006

Alignment.(from the editor)(Editorial)
May 1, 2006... Every year, a new term surfaces to become a rallying cry for businesses, for a few months at least. Integration, collaboration, transparency--each has had its vogue. And while none of these have quite gone out of style yet, they're now being...

Alignment.(Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton first made a serious splash in the management strategy community with an article entitled "The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that drive performance." Since then, the Balanced Scorecard and its effective...

The Four Pillars of High Performance.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Companies rise and companies fall. It's only rare success stories that remain robust for many years. The Four Pillars of High Performance: How robust organizations achieve extraordinary results is an examination of robust organizations across a...

Leadership for results.
May 1, 2006... Leadership is a critical factor in the success of any organization. Effective leadership enables the effective implementation of strategy, and a company can't survive without this. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Leadership for Results:...

CSA changes mind over internal audit matter.(News and views)
May 1, 2006... On March 10, 2006, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a notice on the status of their deliberations on proposed internal control reporting requirements. Having considered the many delays and the debate underway in the U.S. over...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2006... In the feature, "Public Accounting in Canada," which appeared in the April 2006 issue of CMA Management, there were two errors of fact. First, the Justice Law Amendment Act, referred to on page 37 and put forward by the previous Ontario...

New software.(News and views)
May 1, 2006... Visit www.managementmag.com for more information on the following software and applications packages: * NetSuite's NetSuite-Software Company Edition * Taxprep--now integrated with CCH Practice

New study calls for change in regulation of public auditing in Canada, U.S.(News and views)
May 1, 2006... The regulatory bodies that oversee the auditors of public companies should be reformed to maintain investor confidence in U.S. and Canadian capital markets, according to The Regulation of Public Auditing in Canada and the United States:...

Accountancy bodies call for stronger governmental, enterprise governance.(International Federation of Accountants)
May 1, 2006... At a meeting hosted by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in late February in London, chief executives of accountancy organizations worldwide expressed a strong desire for improvements in the quality of governmental financial...

Canadian companies recognized for reporting best practices.(News and views)
May 1, 2006... Six forward-thinking Canadian companies were recently included in the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global report, Trends 2006: Good Practices in Corporate Reporting. BMO Financial Group, Cameco, Canadian Tire, Potash, TransAlta and...

17th World Congress of Accountants set for Istanbul.(International Federation of Accountants)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... The 17th World Congress of Accountants is to be held in Istanbul, November 13-16, 2006. The World Congress is organized every four years in a different country by the International Federation of Accountants. It's estimated that 5,000 delegates...

Microsoft goes mini.(Ultra-Mobile PC)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Microsoft made waves in March with the introduction of its Ultra-Mobile PC, which runs Windows XP (a full version), includes a touchscreen and has wireless connectivity. As the website says, it's built to go everywhere and do everything. The...

Mobile converged services: a new business model?(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... The rapid strides cellphone service providers are making in converged multimedia services will likely require a rethink of their basic business models, states a new survey. The report from KPMG International claims that service providers...

IT key controls: 52-111 cancelled, but due diligence still important.
May 1, 2006... In response to the feature article "Changing with the rules," which appeared in the March 2006 issue of CMA Management, a member sent the following query: Is there any literature regarding what depth Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance is...

Simulating success: how well do your corporate leaders understand the other functional departments in your business? Properly integrated businesses break down such knowledge barriers to create value. Engaging leaders in the process of breaking down those walls is essential.
May 1, 2006... Many companies have embraced the concept of the integrated organization--breaking down silos and integrating functions to make businesses more effective. While they understand the theory, some say they are finding it difficult to put into...

XBRL--are we close to the tipping point? For any business practice to establish itself in the mainstream, it needs to be adopted by organizations with a critical mass and a lot of influence. eXtensible Business Reporting Language [XBRL] might be close with the FDIC on its side.
May 1, 2006... XBRL, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is only five years old, yet it has a long, distinguished lineage. XBRL might claim ancestry from the 1960s, starting with the genesis of IBM's Generalized Markup Language, which eventually became...

Changing your performance the key to improved measurement mindset: decision making: the importance of understanding where performance measurement reviews should start is an issue that's often overlooked by management. Managers see a variance in an activity but may fail to see the pattern within that variance. Not seeing the full picture can affect the whole performance measurement activity.
May 1, 2006... What should an organization expect from its performance measurement system? This is an important question that top management must ask for two reasons. First, most firms have invested significant financial resources in developing and...

Redesigned standards: streamlining reporting systems in any organization can be a challenge. When Halton Region wanted to establish an organization-wide standard for its activity and attendance reporting, it definitely looked like it would be an uphill climb. But by engaging both management and employees, and clearly understanding their needs, it wasn't an impossible task.
May 1, 2006... How can an organization with more than 1,400 employees, multiple responsibility centres and several approaches for time, activity and attendance reporting create and sustain an enterprise-wide standard? This is a question that Halton Region, a...

Service level agreements: a shared services cornerstone: creating a shared services model demands a lot of discipline. An effective service level agreement can help an organization start off on the right foot, and provides a document that can evolve with the relationship.
May 1, 2006... Shared services are now a critical strategic tool for government officials the world over. Stand-alone organizations that manage administrative or service functions as a core competency, supporting a number of disparate departments, have become...

The zen of public service accounting: Bruce Manion, CMA, FCMA, adapts financial know-how to the unique fiscal challenges of government service.(Cover story)
May 1, 2006... The fiscal management of Canada's federal government is continually evolving, and it requires innovative financial experts to help steer its challenging course. Because the bottom line, while demanding fiscal responsibility, is really more...

Kyoto and the Conservatives: although the current government's approach to the Kyoto protocol has yet to be clearly laid out, count on offsets to be part of the climate change plan.(government issues)
May 1, 2006... As Canadians watched the first Conservative government of the Kyoto era being sworn in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, many questions arose regarding the policy directions the Harper government will pursue. The Conservative Party election platform...

Team Canada's changing profile: while Asia and Europe continue as key destinations for Canadian business, the way companies are participating on the ground is evolving.
May 1, 2006... It used to be hockey and lacrosse, lumber and ore. So just what is Canada exporting these days? Just about everything from resource-based expertise and technical knowledge to food, education and security. Canada continues to have much to...