Companies can take specific actions to generate cash, make competitive gains in an economic downturn, and position themselves more strongly for the upturn, say experts from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Wharton School in a new video series.
The first two segments of the four-part series, titled Winning in a Downturn, Accelerating in the Upturn, are being released today by Knowledge@Wharton, the online publishing venture of the Wharton School. The final two segments will be released October 7. “Ambitious companies see the opportunities...
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With equity values stabilizing and debt markets returning to life, companies face a rare window of opportunity to do mergers and acquisitions that will reshape industries and create new leaders, says a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
For those with the financial wherewithal, current conditions offer a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” say...
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Are you collecting your maximum tax breaks from the massive economic stimulus law passed earlier this year?
The IRS has issued a fact sheet touting the tax perks available to small business owners under the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. (IRS FS-2009-11) Here are eight key provisions:...
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Whatever level of automation your Accounts Payable department is at, there are still basic invoice-processing principles most staffers need to follow.
When it comes to processing invoicing accurately and efficiently, here are five best practices:...
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You probably get pretty aggravated when you spot an error on your company’s bank statement. But we bet whatever you found wasn’t this big.
True, sometimes there’s a major systems glitch behind the screw-ups; other times it’s as simple as human error causing these monumental mistakes:...
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Directors should no longer accept “no worries” explanations on regulatory matters. Compliance tests should be employed routinely and if regulatory action does occur, management needs to take action."
A self-diagnostic to identify risk factors for poor governance and reporting.
Some of the best indicators of our overall physical health come from blood tests. Unfortunately, too often we don’t begin to watch and manage these numbers until later on in life. Of course, it’s never too late to improve your diet and exercise, but we’re always left thinking, “if only I’d paid attention to this earlier.”
With so many recent corporate crises, it is plain it’s suffice to say that a great many corporate board members and executives are experiencing similar regret right now. Perhaps this could have been avoided if they too had practiced routine diagnostic check ups. Like an individual blood test, board members need to know the
risks their company is facing, and as with any health risk, they also need to be able to mitigate those exposures. Sounds great, but the devils in the details, right? Perhaps not...
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Corporate tax issues may not be the first thing on board members’ minds. But they should occupy a prominent position on any board’s agenda, especially in today’s economy.
Board members may think of tax issues as the purview of lawyers and accountants: important, but probably best left to specialists. Yet boards need to stay current on tax matters for two main reasons: value and risk. Appropriately planned taxes can enhance a company’s overall value by improving corporate earnings, strengthening the
PE ratio of company shares, and influencing the way analysts perceive and cover the enterprise. Tax issues are also closely tied to risk. When companies engage in tax planning, they are interpreting laws, an activity made risky by the possibility of disagreement between the company and tax authorities. If not property controlled,
tax issues can lead to a finding of material weakness by auditors. Tax planning is therefore a crucial part of risk management. To understand the impact that tax matters may have on value and risk, boards should be familiar with five main areas:...
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When investigating misconduct, watch out for these pitfalls.
Warren Buffett put it best when he said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This statement could not be more relevant today. It takes only one person to tarnish an organization’s reputation. Not only is the current turbulent economy affecting
the corporate bottom line, but if past history is any indicator, businesses can anticipate it to lead to an increase in incidents of fraud. As a result of the SEC, regulators, stakeholders and the public paying closer attention to the way an organization functions, organizations and corporate directors need to be diligent
when conducting internal investigations. It is important that an organization have a mechanism in place to alert the company’s Board of Directors and management about incidents of suspected employee misconduct and the need to conduct an internal investigation. [An organization must be aware of—and make appropriate effort to
avoid—certain potential missteps when conducting an internal investigation. The following are some of the most common mistakes made in internal investigations:...]
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You may lose employees if you don't do it right.
I used to love this time of year: the holidays, the presents, the annual bonus. Ah, the anticipation. The renewal of hope, if not in mankind at least in my manager and the organization for which I toiled so hard all year. Not anymore. The season of bonuses has turned bleak. Outside of those Wall Street sharpies who ironically are being rewarded handsomely for taking the role of the Grinch to new heights, most of us still on the payroll will be happy with a lump of coal in our stocking--anything but the proverbial pink slip. Yet as grim as it may seem from the receiving end, those doing the giving, managers, face an equally joyless season. [The problem is that a lot of those good people, the ones working so hard to keep themselves and their organizations afloat, are seriously thinking about jumping ship when the times get better. They're thinking "it's got to be better over there…"--and there is about everywhere but here. How managers handle this bonus period may make that decision for their employees, and it will play a critical role in determining whether or not organizations still have their best talent when the good times return. So what should a manager do?...]
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Employers traditionally have used temporary employees when not seeking to hire permanent full-time employees.
In most situations, employers will work through a temporary employment agency to avoid placing an individual on payroll. The use of temp employees is usually driven by a corporate culture that does not wish to increase head count, even when additional resources are necessary to satisfy internal and/or client obligations.
Properly used, temporary employees can result in flexibility to employ individuals for short-term projects. However, employers frequently do not anticipate the true length of projects. Similarly, it is common to test an employee's skills through a temp agency and to hire them if they are determined to be a good worker. There is
nothing wrong with hiring a temp into a full-time position. However, employers must carefully consider the impact upon their...
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Employees are often the best sources of ideas because they are closest to the daily details of the organization.
But too often, employees are sitting on great cost-saving, business-generating ideas because they’ve never been specifically asked. Don’t depend only on an open-door policy...
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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York gave up much of its power in high-pressure negotiations with the American International Group’s trading partners last year, according to a government report made public on Monday.
Just two days before the New York Fed paid A.I.G.’s partners 100 cents on the dollar to tear up their contracts with the insurance giant, one bank volunteered to take a modest haircut — but it never got the chance. UBS, of Switzerland, alone offered to give a break to the New York Fed in the negotiations last November over how to keep
A.I.G. from toppling and taking other banks down with it. It would have accepted 98 cents on the dollar. But UBS’s good-faith gesture was quickly drowned out by Goldman Sachs and...
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How John Paulson took home $10 million a day betting on a fall in home prices.
John Paulson was among the executives testifying on hedge fund regulation before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last November. From left, George Soros of Soros Fund Management, James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, Mr.
Paulson, Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners, and Kenneth Griffin of Citadel Investment.
It was the fall of 2007, financial markets were collapsing, and Wall Street firms were losing massive amounts of money, as if they were trying to give back a decade's worth of profits in a few brutal months. An investor named John Paulson somehow was scoring huge profits. His winnings were so enormous they seemed unreal, even
cartoonish. His firm, Paulson & Co., would make $15 billion in 2007. Mr. Paulson's personal cut would amount to nearly $4 billion, or more than $10 million a day...
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At the office, you've got a sluggish computer running aging software, and the email system routinely badgers you to delete messages after you blow through the storage limits set by your IT department.
Searching your company's internal Web site feels like being teleported back to the pre-Google era of irrelevant search results. At home, though, you zip into the 21st century. You've got a slick, late-model computer and an email account with seemingly inexhaustible storage space. And while Web search engines don't always figure out
exactly what you're looking for, they're practically clairvoyant compared with your company intranet. [Some companies have decided the best solution is to start giving workers what they want...]
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Paying is passé. Use these 10 free software programs instead. Free
is a lovely word; unfortunately, it's often followed by a disappointing product. We have found 10 great free apps that will help you run your business. Some are so good, you might even be willing to (shudder) spend money on them. -- Mark Spoonauer...
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capitalize on the upturn
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Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice. We are committed to the proper use of
email and to protecting consumers from fraudulent or inappropriate
offers.