Filed in archive risk
by leon on January 18, 2008
In the past, I have written about how to build a resilient organization. The problem with risk management in many organizations is that they don't know how to pull it all together and incorporate...
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Filed in archive risk
by leon on January 18, 2008
In the past I have raised the question of whether China is headed for a slowdown. It's one of the big issues for 2008 and the answer is important for businesses and economies around the world,...
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Filed in archive strategy
by leon on January 17, 2008
Around the world, the statistics for start-ups are scary. About two out of three first-time start-ups will fail, usually because of cash flow problems and often because stuff happens that hasn't...
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Filed in archive SOX
by leon on January 17, 2008
With Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox last month announcing a one-year delay in imposing Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 requirements for small public companies - something that...
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Who is the youngest director in the US? And who is the oldest?The Corporate Library has an interesting breakdown of the demographics of US boards. As a snapshot of corporate governance, US style, its...
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Filed in archive strategy
by leon on January 16, 2008
Mattel's recall of some 20 million toys last year highlighted that the old supply chain had changed. About 65 per cent of Mattel's toys are made in China, where about 50 per cent of...
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Filed in archive Compliance
by leon on January 15, 2008
Last year, former Morgan Stanley chairman Sir David Walker issued a report that put greater onus on private equity funds in Britain to provide more details of the financial performance of companies...
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Filed in archive strategy
by leon on January 15, 2008
Does sponsorship deliver bang for the buck? How effective is it as a strategy?Joe Akaoui, the R&D director of marketing analysis firm Integration has some interesting insights in his paper Brand...
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Filed in archive strategy
by leon on January 14, 2008
Many years ago, management thinker Gary Hamel was praising Enron just before the energy giant imploded. Never mind, Hamel's ideas are always provocative. And he has maintained that stance in his...
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How is it that despite all the focus on corporate governance and diversity, corporate boards all look and sound the same? Why do some directors get more board seats than others, and as a result have...
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Filed in archive markets
by leon on January 11, 2008
When Alan Greenspan was at the height of his influence as Fed chairman, the financial news network CNBC would film him arriving for Federal Open Market Committee meetings and focus on the size of his...
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Filed in archive risk
by leon on January 11, 2008
Some sobering reading from McAfee about this year's biggest IT disaster zones.McAfee's Top 10 Threat Predictions for 2008 tells us to watch out for botnets piggybacking on Storm Worm, the...
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Filed in archive risk
by leon on January 10, 2008
The threat of bird flu has dropped off the radar - thus far, avian influenza has killed just over 200 people worldwide with about half occurring in Indonesia - but that doesn't mean the pandemic...
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Filed in archive Accounting
by leon on January 10, 2008
Despite best efforts, problems with audits still keep coming up. According to the International Federation of Accountants, improving audit quality requires a massive shake-up of practices and...
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Filed in archive markets
by leon on January 09, 2008
Back in November I did a blog entry looking at how Citigroup had given itself into Junk bond status with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's $7.5 billion bailout, giving it a near 5 per cent...
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Filed in archive Ethics
by leon on January 09, 2008
Fascinating developments in the world of micro-finance.Online auction giant eBay last year launched a microlending website that lets people invest in entrepreneurs in poor communities around the...
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Filed in archive markets
by leon on January 08, 2008
Back in November, I did a blog entry focusing on research showing that average private equity returns have underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 share index by 3 per cent, after fees charged to...
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Filed in archive regulators
by leon on January 08, 2008
Most states in the US, and indeed many jurisdictions around the world, have enacted some form of anti-spam legislation. But it's done nothing to stop the onslaught and indeed, the problem seems...
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Filed in archive markets
by leon on January 07, 2008
Just finished reading Will Hutton's powerful book The Writing On The Wall which argues that China's extraordinary growth is more the result of good fortune than good management. Hutton argues...
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Filed in archive risk
by leon on January 07, 2008
So what are the big trends to watch out for in 2008. According to a raft of surveys that came out before Christmas, reported here, the global credit crunch, tougher economic conditions and the chase...
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Filed in archive corporate crime
by leon on January 05, 2008
More on the Samsung scandal.Now The Art Newspaper has published allegations that Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee set up a $225 million slush fund to buy art for his art museum director wife. The...
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Filed in archive corporate crime
by leon on January 04, 2008
Conrad Black made his biggest mistake in giving up his Canadian citizenship in order to join Britain's House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour. It means that he can he not be returned to...
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