CMA Management articles from November 2004

CMA Management archives from November 2004

Stakeholder needs.(from the editor)
November 1, 2004... According to The Conference Board of Canada's first National Corporate Social Responsibility Report: Managing Risks, Leveraging Opportunities, published earlier this year, Canadian companies operating in heavily regulated or intensely political...

Renovate Before You Innovate.(Look before you leap)(Renovate Before you Innovate: Why Doing the New Thing Might Not Be the Right Thing)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... Sergio Zyman has courted controversy in the past with his books The End of Marketing As We Know It and The End of Advertising As We Know It. His newest book follows a similar path. Renovate Before You Innovate: Why doing the new thing might not...

Strategic Supply Chain Management.(Look before you leap)(Strategic Supply Chain Management: The Top 5 Disciplines for Top Performance )(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... On several occasions in the pages of CMA Management we have profiled innovators in strategic supply chain management. However, if you are looking for a useful reference guide, Strategic Supply Chain Management: The top 5 disciplines for top...

Continuous disclosure reviews.(Look before you leap)(national harmonization)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... In July, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced that there would be a harmonization of continuous disclosure reviews. This affects reporting issuers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova...

IIA calls for more representatives on the record.(New and noteworthy information you can use)(The Institute of Internal Auditors urges wider accountability for financial reporting)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... According to The Institute of Internal Auditors president David A. Richards, the CEO and CFO are not the only corporate executives accountable to stakeholders. "Individuals in critical positions charged with overseeing the organization's...

CMA Management article garners Award of Merit.(New and noteworthy information you can use)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A two-part article originally published in CMA Management appears in the 2004 Articles of Merit publication released by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). "Budgeting--an unnecessary evil" by R. Murray Lindsay, CMA, and Theresa...

Managing International Financial Reporting Standards.(New and noteworthy information you can use)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... To help auditors address reporting issues arising from the first-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), the staff of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of the International Federation...

Canadian manufacturers less bullish.(New and noteworthy information you can use)
November 1, 2004... Compared to their U.S. counterparts, more than double the number of Canadian mid-market manufacturers say they are pessimistic about the future, according to a survey released recently by accounting and business advisory firm Grant Thornton....

Road warrior takes on a whole new meaning.(HIGH TECH)(in-car computers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Busy road warriors are always looking for ways to save time and hassle. Personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops and cell phones have all made working a little easier on the road. But some people are suggesting that the mobile trend is about...

Open source additions.(rants and raves)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... As a management professor, I find much to applaud in Jacob Stoller's September article "Open source: assessing the TCO picture" (page 18). There are, however, a couple of issues where I feel he does not portray the true scope and value of the...

The human equity advantage: many businesses talk about creating diversity within their organization. As valuable as this can be, it's worth taking a step further.(human resources)
November 1, 2004... In today's global economy, there is decreasing product, service, price or technological differentiation. Now, human capital is one of the few opportunities left for producing marketplace differentiation. Winning or losing in global markets is...

Getting a line on cost control: while companies ramp up their compliance practices, CFOs have to find cost savings in other departments. Communications costs are an excellent place to start.(management trends)
November 1, 2004... CFOs are under new pressures right now, managing compliance issues and corporate governance reforms. At the same time, they are providing management with information to make the best business decisions--to manage risk, set strategic directions,...

Responsible hands: a director's guide to risk and its management.
November 1, 2004... A recent survey of public and private company directors by the National Association of Corporate Directors in the United States suggests that boards of directors consider risk management one of their most important responsibilities. However,...

First Nations reporting reforms.
November 1, 2004... Despite many positive initiatives aimed at improving aboriginal communities across Canada, more changes are still necessary. Government reporting requirements and community stakeholder reports, for example, could be better designed to better...

Navigating the inter-application zone.(application integration and middleware)
November 1, 2004... As e-business becomes the norm for many industries, the days of the stand-alone computer application may be coming to an end. What transpires between systems is often as important as what goes on in the applications themselves. Adjusting to...

ISO 14000--a profitable investment? Environmental management systems are not just for high-risk polluters anymore. As stakeholder interest in environmental management increases, it's worth considering whether ISO certification will add value to your company.
November 1, 2004... In recent years, ISO 14001 signs have been popping up at breakneck speed across the industrial landscape. The ISO 14000 series of standards, of which ISO 14001 is a part, defines the main tenets of an environmental management system (EMS) as it...

Ottawa's change agent: FCMA Paul Gauvin brings strategic expertise to a changing public service.(PROFILE)(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... The fiscal management of Canada's federal government has undergone, and continues to experience, significant change, with the implementation of the Financial Information Strategy (FIS) and the Modern Comptrollership Initiative (MCI). FIS had as...

Paring down the issues: a new book reminds readers that, to solve problems, it's always wise to simplify your parameters first.(The Power of the 2X2 Matrix)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... A review of The Power of the 2X2 Matrix, by Alex Lowy and Phil Hood. Published by Jossey-Bass, 2004. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Business problems are rarely simple to solve. Part of the difficulty, however, comes not from a business...

Preparing for the perils of wireless access: wireless PDAs provide organizations with a huge productivity boost by giving mobile employees instant access to email and other corporate information sources. They also present a security threat that many organizations are not prepared for.(information technology)
November 1, 2004... Computer viruses come and go, and thanks to the efforts of hard working network administrators, most of us have become pretty complacent. Normally, the first we hear about a virus is in an e-mail from network security that tells us how to...

Northern business exposure: Aboriginal Business Canada's new Yellowknife office promises greater opportunities for aboriginal business.(government issues)
November 1, 2004... Got a yen for kayaking in Canada's north--perhaps a hankering to paddle down rarely traveled streams and challenge some exciting whitewater on the Northwest Territories' Slave River? If so, then you could let entrepreneur Keith Morrison,...

The narrative reporting debate: everyone is concerned about it, but concerted efforts to initiate better global practices remain challenging.(global view)(management discussion portion of annual reports)
November 1, 2004... Non-financial disclosures and other elements of narrative reporting provide important information to stakeholders, and are often key to value creation in growing industries. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, narrative reports are...