CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from November 2004

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from November 2004

Bribes and the balance sheet.(Featured In November)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The risks for corporations of not having a handle on possible foreign corrupt practices in both their overseas units and companies they might acquire are growing fast--and need to be managed, reports CFO.com deputy editor David M. Katz....

Bleak house.(Editorial)
November 1, 2004... IT IS NOT THE BEST OF TIMES. FOR MANY OF THOSE WORKING in finance, it may be the worst of times. During the past three years, many companies reduced head count or stopped hiring, and the strain in shorthanded finance departments is showing. ...

Sporting suggestions.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I ENJOYED YOUR PIECE ON THE National Hockey League labor dispute ("Hockey Fight," September). I am a former financial executive with the Anaheim Angels and the Mighty Ducks. I continually find it amusing that the players unions in each of the...

Sad but true.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... THE ANNUAL CFO MAGAZINE WORKing capital survey (September) again proved to be interesting yet sad reading. Companies continue to have significant amounts of working capital. Add to the average level of 14.2 percent (5.7/365 x 100 percent) of...

Ruling on the rule.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... YOUR ARTICLE ENTITLED "WHO'S THE Boss?" (September) is interesting, but misses several material issues. The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rule (14a-11) would result in a sham upon the investing public. There is no factual basis...

How do they do it?(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... REGARDING THE LETTER TO THE EDItor "Strong Words for the PCAOB" (October), there is one audit check I'd like to see in place: run a comparison of due/completion dates for transactions against raised/initiated dates. I remain concerned about how...

So many initials, so little time.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... AS ONE WHO HOLDS THE CPA, CMA, and CFM, I can clarify that the annual CPE requirements generally overlap ("School Days," September). Thus, I am not required to do 100 hours of CPE to maintain these three credentials. Dale Schwartzenhauer ...

Hello there.(newswatch)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... It's no secret that American companies outsource call centers to lower-cost locales. But customers often have no idea whether they are speaking with an operator in Baltimore or Bangalore. That's because overseas call centers go to great lengths...

The SEC plays good cop.(Compliance)(Securities and Exchange Commission)
November 1, 2004... PERHAPS THERE IS A KINDER, GENTLER SIDE TO THE SECUrities and Exchange Commission after all. With companies straining to meet the requirements for documented and audited internal controls by the end of the year, the SEC has apparently taken...

The telephone game.(Whistle-blowers)
November 1, 2004... IT'S BEEN JUST OVER TWO YEARS SINCE Sarbanes-Oxley began requiring companies to provide employees with a way to anonymously report financial misdeeds. In practice, that has usually meant setting up telephone hotlines, most of them open to any...

Back to the present.(Taxes)
November 1, 2004... On the way to its first profitable year since the 1990s, Lucent Technologies may soon reap a windfall from a loss. In September, the telecom-equipment maker said the Internal Revenue Service had tentatively agreed to a net operating loss...

Bank fraud brings executions.(China)
November 1, 2004... WHILE SOME CORPORATE OFFICERS continue to carp about the stiffer penalties being handed out by the Securities and Exchange Commission for accounting fraud, those punishments pale in comparison with what's going on in China. In September,...

Conference calls can air dirty laundry.(Investor Relations)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... During a conference call to discuss second-quarter results at Sears, Roebuck & Co., CEO Alan Lacy was prepared for a barrage of questions from analysts about why the company missed earnings expectations. What he was not prepared for was a...

Space invaders.(Facilities)
November 1, 2004... IT'S NOT JUST MARTHA STEWART WHO is feeling a little confined these days. A report by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), released earlier this year, shows that workspace is shrinking. The space for general clerical...

Sarbox support groups.(Accounting)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Sometimes you need a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. As companies struggle to comply with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, which requires them to document and obtain audits of their internal controls, some finance executives are organizing peer...

After the storms.(Insurance)
November 1, 2004... THE FOUR HURRICANES THAT DEVAStated Florida this summer packed a bigger punch than Andrew, 1992's monster storm. Together, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne racked up more than $20 billion in insured property damage, compared with Andrew's...

Leaves of a different color.(Benefits)
November 1, 2004... As goes California, so goes the nation. At least that is the case with a new paid family leave law that went into effect on July 1. Now 27 other states are considering similar options. The problem for employers: the rules all promise to be...

Ready to wear: long the stuff of science fiction, body-worn computers are making their way into the workplace.(techwatch)
November 1, 2004... IMAGINE, IF YOU WILL, THIS SCENE FROM THE FUTURE. A doctor--an anesthesiologist to be precise--enters the step-down unit of a university hospital to check on the recovery of a patient who underwent heart surgery 48 hours earlier. While noting...

Let there be cheaper light.(SG&A)
November 1, 2004... FORGET THE MOUSETRAP. BUILDING a better lightbulb has been a constant--and profitable--pursuit ever since Humphrey Davy first invented the are light circa 1810. Along the way, there have been major breakthroughs, including proto-light bulbs,...

A buyer's job market: in the new war for talent, acquirers want only the right people--at the right price.(new deals)
November 1, 2004... BACK IN THE MERGER MANIA OF THE 1990s, COMPAnies bought and sold workforces as much as they scooped up or divested tangible assets. In their haste to expand, acquirers coveted personnel--especially executive talent and technical personnel--as...

Shelter fallout: how much will the government's crackdown on tax shelters affect ordinary companies? More than you think.(Spotlight: tax)
November 1, 2004... LEONA HELMSLEY WOULD HAVE MADE A COLORFUL SPOKESwoman for the tax-shelter industry. "Only the little people pay taxes," she cheerfully asserted in 1989, shortly before her conviction for tax evasion. [paragraph] Of course, Helmsley's...

A tale of two worlds.(Work/Life)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, most CFOs are grateful for their lot. Most financial managers are happy to be alive and working today, enjoying the highest standards of living in history. No one in his right mind envies the Dickensian world...

Great expectations: how today's corporate training programs are grooming tomorrow's CFOs.(Work/Life)(Chief Financial Officers)
November 1, 2004... Ever since the 1940s, when CFO J. Edward Lundy helped restore Ford Motor Co. to profitability, training and mentorship have been as much a part of the carmaker's financial strategy as number-crunching and analysis. The legendary Lundy...

Career tracks: where CFOs got their start. *.(Work/Life)(Chief Financial Officers)
November 1, 2004... Lifers These Fortune 100 CFOs have been with their companies for at least a decade, working their way up from the most junior finance roles to the top job. NAME DESTINATION James Bell Boeing John Carrig...

Hard times: why finance executives are overworked and under stress.(Work/Life)
November 1, 2004... What does it feel like to work 100 hours a week? It feels like never doing anything but work. It's being so tired at the end of the day that you don't trust yourself to make good decisions until you get some sleep. It's almost 15 hours a day,...

The pipes are flowing: small public companies can find it less costly to raise new money privately, but only if they can find the right investors.(Special report: capital markets)(private investment in public entities)
November 1, 2004... When Evergreen Solar needed a fresh infusion of capital in 2003, the public markets were not the place to go. True, Evergreen had encountered little difficulty going public in November 2000. But that was before the stock-market bubble popped,...

Cutting through the clutter: desktop business systems at last begin to succeed in taming the profusion of cyberpasswords, websites, and software.(Tech report: portals)
November 1, 2004... OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, THE proliferation of virtual publishing tools has made it fairly easy for the average person to construct, populate, and maintain a Website. While this would seem to be a good thing, there is one minor downside to the...

Squeezing the SBA: small-business borrowing may get more expensive.(finance)(Small Business Administration )
November 1, 2004... FOR AN ADMINISTRATION THAT LIKES TO TRUMPET the "ownership" society, it's a bit perplexing: President Bush wants to eliminate the federal subsidies that support the nation's smallest businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration's most...

How green is my company? Sustainability reporting tracks a triple bottom line--economic, environmental, and social.(reporting)
November 1, 2004... SUNCOR ENERGY INC. HAS COME clean. The Calgary-based integrated energy company, which reported $6.3 billion (Canadian) in revenues last year, also reported its environmental, social, and economic performance in a 78-page confessional that bares...

Do as I do.(Leadership)
November 1, 2004... AN AWFUL LOT OF ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID LATELY TO "tone at the top." In September, in his censure of the former CEO, CFO, and president of Freddie Mac, a federal judge claimed the trio had set "an inappropriate tone at the top." The Public...

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Dina Dublon is stepping down as CFO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. at year-end after 23 years with the bank. She will be replaced by Michael Cavanagh.

Burger King.(Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ... The aptly named Cedric Burgher is leaving Halliburton to become CFO of Burger King.

Stewart Enterprises.(Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ... Finance chief Kenneth Budde was promoted to CEO at funeral-services provider Stewart Enterprises.

MBNA.(MBNA America Bank N.A.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ... MBNA has named Kenneth Vecchione to the top finance post.

Southwest Airlines.(Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ... Gary Kelly, formerly CFO of Southwest Airlines, has been promoted to CEO after the resignation of James Parker.

Dow Jones & Co.(Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ... Gregg Melnick, a former VP at Dow Jones & Co., joins Party City as CFO. For more on CFO careers, visit www.cfo.com.

Trading places.(grapevine)
November 1, 2004... With bad news about Citigroup appearing with alarming regularity--the latest a forced shutdown of its private banking group in Japan--the financial-services behemoth is shuffling two top managers. CFO Todd Thomson and Sallie Krawcheck, head of...

In the hot seat.(grapevine)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... WHILE MOST CFOs WOULD welcome the title of co-president, some may not envy CFO Kevin Parker's recent promotion at PeopleSoft. Since June 2003, the software company has been the object of a hostile-takeover bid by Oracle. Stepping up to help...