CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from January 2006

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from January 2006

Have your say.(READER COMMENTS)
January 1, 2006... What's working in the world of finance? What still needs work? CFO welcomes your contributions to the lively exchange of ideas that thousands of your colleagues follow every day. If you have something to add to any article on CFO.com--whether...

Turning the screws.(from the editor)
January 1, 2006... FILE THIS UNDER "Things You Already Knew": a recent Wall Street Journal article observes that CFO jobs are getting tougher. One of the toughest belongs to Bob Davis. In 2005, Davis jumped from Dell, with its top-notch finance operations, to...

A view of the view.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... I read your editorial "View from China" (November 2005), and found it long on opinion and short on facts. What in the world does Hurricane Katrina show about U.S. business other than that it was more responsive than the U.S. government? U.S....

Adding value where it matters.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... I enjoyed "Striking a Balance" (November 2005). As a former finance executive who subsequently went on to lead the supply-management organizations in two large companies, I'd like to a share a few more ways that finance can add value where it...

Practice makes perfect.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... "Secrets of the M&A Masters" (September 2005) was a concise and on-target summary of the latest thinking on how corporations should structure and run an effective, focused in-house merger-and-acquisition effort to help advance their overall...

Correction.(letters)(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2006... In "Crime, Punishment, and Relief" (Topline, December 2005) we reported that the Department of Justice had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with KPMG International when in fact it reached the agreement with KPMG LLP, the U.S. member...

Flu factor.(EMPLOYEE HEALTH)
January 1, 2006... IT'S A CLASSIC DAMNED-IF-YOU-DO, damned-if-you-don't scenario. Faced with the twin threats of a severe flu season and the possibility of avian flu turning pandemic, employers must carefully balance their traditional policies of discouraging...

Park-n-Load.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2006... LEGALLY SPEAKING, COMPANIES HAVE EVERY RIGHT to prohibit employees from bringing guns to the workplace. Prohibiting them from bringing guns to the parking lot of the workplace... well, that appears to be another matter entirely. In fact,...

Economists on parade.(NEW BOOKS)
January 1, 2006... AS THE 18-YEAR REIGN of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan comes to an end this month, new chairman Ben Bernanke will inherit a daunting job. Fluctuating oil prices, inflation concerns, and a sagging housing market will surely test the new...

Going private.(BUSINESS TRAVEL)
January 1, 2006... WITH COMMERCIAL airlines flying into bankruptcy more frequently than flights arrive at O'Hare International, business travelers are increasingly looking for alternatives--in particular, jetcard programs and charter companies. Six-year-old...

Judging Delta.(top line)
January 1, 2006... "It's a question of, if you had that money rather than having spent it that way, you might not be in the position you're in [now]...." JUDGE PRUDENCE CARTER BEATTY TO DELTA CFO EDWARD BASTIAN,>> REFERRING TO THE $2.4 BILLION STOCK BUYBACK...

The backdating games.(STOCK OPTIONS)
January 1, 2006... FOLLOWING A YEARLONG investigation, it appears the Securities and Exchange Commission is finally beginning to crack down on companies with questionable policies governing stock-option grants. In November, management at Analog Devices Inc....

Are disputes worth it?(CRM)
January 1, 2006... THE OLD ADAGE THAT THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT is true--at least when it comes to resolving collection disputes. A new study by San Mateo, Calif.-based Aceva Technologies finds that 90 percent of disputes are settled in the customer's...

Jumped or pushed?(STOCK LISTINGS)
January 1, 2006... THE NASDAQ STOCK MARKET has made no secret of its desire to lure companies from the New York Stock Exchange. Now the Big Board is making it a little easier. Take the case of Tasty Baking Co. The Philadelphia-based bakery ended its...

Socially unacceptable.(RESEARCH)
January 1, 2006... DESPITE OCCASIONAL INDICATIONS to the contrary, officers at most firms insist that their companies are upstanding corporate citizens. Now, some investment banks are looking to test the validity of those claims. Over the past year or so,...

Bee the brand.(STRATEGY)
January 1, 2006... IN NOVEMBER, Strategic Hotels & Resorts unveiled a slick new corporate image, including a bumblebee logo. The new brand isn't designed for customers; it's intended to help the firm market itself to Wall Street. The branding exercise,...

Reaching for peace pipes.(PROXY SCORECARD)
January 1, 2006... IT LOOKS LIKE CORPORATE-GOVERNANCE PROPONENTS checked their boxing gloves at the door during the 2005 proxy season. With fewer proxy contests, fewer shareholder proposals, and a management push to declassify boards, companies were doing more...

The lowdown: the CFO Business Outlook Survey finds continued uneasiness about the economy.(by the numbers)
January 1, 2006... ENERGY PRICES. HIGHER INTEREST RATES, and the potential for inflation continue to fuel concern among CFOs about the prospects for the economy. According to the Duke University/CFO Business Outlook Survey, just 32 percent of finance chiefs are...

What's old about "new" Japan?(VIEW FROM ASIA)
January 1, 2006... IN JAPAN, BUSINESSMEN SHARE A PASSION FOR golf. So naturally, Shunsuke Takeda, the CFO of financial-services group Orix, turns to the sport to describe his beliefs about corporate governance. "You can own the most sophisticated, highly...

Going for broke: did Congress undermine a key pillar of American capitalism by tinkering with Chapter 11?(insight)
January 1, 2006... LONG LINES ON SIDEWALKS OUTSIDE BANKRUPTCY courts last October 16 testified to a significant change in the way American law treats debtors. Thousands queued up to file for protection from their creditors the day before the new Bankruptcy Abuse...

It's in here somewhere: desktop-search tools are helping employees find information and companies find savings.(in tech)
January 1, 2006... ANYONE WHO HAS EVER PREPARED a tax return knows the feeling: somewhere in that vast pile of bank statements, canceled checks, credit-card receipts, W-2s, checklists, worksheets, and sundry other paperwork lies the one piece of data you need...

A high-water mark? Private-equity firms boosted deal values again in 2005, but resurgent corporate buyers and higher borrowing costs may rein them in this year.(deals)
January 1, 2006... IT WAS THE YEAR OF THE MEGADEAL. ELEVEN North American companies were snatched up during 2005 for prices that topped $10 billion per deal, including such household names as Gillette, MBNA, Unocal, Adelphia, AT&T, Hertz, and Georgia-Pacific. As...

International Rectifier's Mike McGee.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
January 1, 2006... YOU THINK YOUR COMMUTE IS LONG? Don't complain to Mike McGee. For five years (2000-2005), McGee served in two executive capacities: as CFO of International Rectifier, an El Segundo, California-based power semiconductor company, and as co-CEO...

Race to reform: CFO Bob Davis and his cohorts have nine months left to clean up CA.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... TRAPPED FOR FOUR HOURS on a flight packed with irritable travelers waiting for takeoff in Washington, D.C., Bob Davis couldn't help but wonder if the delay was an omen. He was on his way to a job interview. Even before the flight he'd had...

Crackdown: the IRS is taking a tough line on tax cheats. Since taking the helm at the Internal Revenue Service in 2003, commissioner Mark Everson has been threatening to crack down on tax cheats by aiming the agency's biggest guns at large corporate taxpayers and rich individuals. Now Eversons tough stance is beginning to show results.
January 1, 2006... The IRS audited one in five of the largest corporate taxpayers--those with assets of more than $10 million--in 2005, twice the rate of 2002. The agency's audits are now faster, more timely, and more targeted. So-called additional recommended...

This is not a game: top sports agents share their negotiating secrets.
January 1, 2006... FROM THE SIDELINES, professional athletes have leverage that corporate negotiators can only dream of. Endowed with unmatchable skills and advised by top agents, stars like Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James, and Maria Sharapova can just name their...

Simplicity is golden: heeding customer demands, sellers of planning software aim to make their products easier to use.
January 1, 2006... It's not all fun and games in the amusement-park business. Just ask Gary Neveras. As senior director of financial planning analysis at Universal Orlando, Neveras is responSible for tracking and forecasting the numbers on more than 1,000...

'06 IT directions: as a new year begins, Sarbox and governance converge--and new technology takes a holiday.(in practice)
January 1, 2006... FIRST THE BAD NEWS: Even if you're confident that your organization has mastered Sarbanes-Oxley requirements and absorbed the worst of the costs, you still face a growing list of compliance demands that will likely consume a big chunk of your...

Hackers find backers: computer crime is now a game for professionals. Are companies prepared to respond?(security)
January 1, 2006... LARGE ORGANIZATIONS should prepare themselves for more-clever and more-targeted attacks against their security infrastructures this year. That's the one thing law-enforcement officials, security experts, and industry executives agree on....

The joy of text: valuable information lurks in "unstructured" data, and new tools can help companies extract it.(software)
January 1, 2006... RANDY COLLICA IS a modern-day treasure hunter. As a senior business analyst in Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co.'s customer data and knowledge services department, his job is to mine data in search of insight that can help marketers better...

Maps for apps: a new framework helps companies assess the true cost of legacy applications.(management)
January 1, 2006... FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS IT DEPARTments the world over have been tightening their belts. But before you can rein in costs, you must gain control over them, and that can be difficult. Enter consultants from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based...

CFO confidential: where do finance chiefs go for advice?(your move)
January 1, 2006... AT MANY COMPANIES the CFO is a trusted confidant of the CEO, a valuable sounding board for all kinds of issues. But when CFOs themselves need advice, whom do they call? Sometimes the CEO, to be sure. Or perhaps the finance...

General Motors.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... General Motors has appointed Frederick Henderson vice chairman and CFO. He succeeds John Devine, who will remain with the struggling automaker for a year to assist in the transition....

Calpine.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... Calpine CFO Robert Kelly has left the power generator in a management overhaul. Eric Pryor will serve as interim finance chief....

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings has promoted Michael Simonte to CFO from his current role as VP and treasurer. Former CFO Thomas Martin is now executive director of special projects....

Wet Seal.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... John Luttrell, formerly EVP of finance at home-furnishings retailer Cost Plus, is the new finance head at teen-clothing chain Wet Seal....

Ferro.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... Ferro, a maker of specialty materials, has named finance chief James Kitsch to fill the CEO seat following the recent death of chairman and CEO Hector Ortino....

GSI Group.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... Robert Bowen is the new finance chief at GSI Group, a maker of precision components....

Mantech International.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... Mantech International has appointed Kevin Phillips to the CFO post at the security-tech firm....

Johnson Outdoors.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2006... Johnson Outdoors has tapped David Johnson to lead the finance department at the recreational-products company.

Into the fire.(TURNAROUNDS)
January 1, 2006... IT SEEMS Robert Blakely is making a habit of rescuing scandal-ridden companies. The CFO of MCI Inc.--formerly WorldCom Inc.--will soon have a new job: CFO of Fannie Mae, the Washington, D.C.-based mortgage finance giant, which is coming...

Devine departure.(grapevine)
January 1, 2006... General Motors Corp. CFO John Devine has been traded in for a new model. On January 1, Frederick Henderson, the 47-year-old former head of GM's European operations, took the wheel from the 61-year-old Devine. Analysts say they are sorry to say...