Who’s On The Team? Recently, I was having a conversation with a colleague about hiring a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). We were discussing the attributes of such a hire. After my usual statement that what was critical was to hire a person who shared the corporate values, I added that they needed to be a strategic thinker. He replied that …
A Bit of a Rant <rant> I’m doing my usual thing of reading an e-book. I am annoyed by Amazon SPAMing me with an ad to purchase the audio files to go with the book. Really? I understand how convenient it is to have an audio version of books and newspapers. I listen to podcasts and The Economist all the …
It seems to me that “profit” has become a dirty word. Even in our for-profit companies, we seem to be worried about the image of wanting to be paid a fair price for the services or products we provide. Yet we all know that in order for our organizations to continue the development and innovation of products and services requires …
Some pundits and revenge seekers are trying to “punish” the big banks by suggesting we all move our funds to small regional banks. Bad advice, especially if you don’t complete a very thorough due diligence process before moving your accounts.
In this iteration of their book, Berman and Knight focus on understanding finances for Entrepreneurs. I have read many books on the financial statements, ratios and indices that apply to businesses, and this book is among the best. In one place there is a clear explanation of the various reports, how the numbers are derived, what they mean and how …
The great corporate counselors I have encountered gauged the business owner’s or executive team’s tolerance for risk, presented their ideas for balancing the risk with the business goals and then helped the decision makers move the company forward. It’s the same with the the best financial professionals I’ve met. Rather than simply account for transactional history, or be a roadblock …
This article discusses the imperative to understanding the financial statements for your company. There is little margin for error in this economy.
More on the corporate ethics scandals! There is much to be learned about the slippery slope of situational ethics in this book. What is compelling is that Ms. Toffler tells all, including her own shortcomings, after her realization that she had started the slide down that slope! Ms. Toffler writes in a straightforward, no holds barred, manner that keeps one’s …
One of the areas of business on which I spend a great deal of time is that of Ethics. It is my belief that ethics is a process and that businesses do well when they treat that process the same as any other business process; that is, they consciously build into the policies, procedures and culture, the process whereby their …