Human Capital: Page

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    The Bigger Picture

    Conventional wisdom has it that specialisation is good. But for someone trying to navigate an increasingly competitive, global economy, manage an increasingly diverse workforce, and serve an increasingly international bunch of customers, what is (increasingly) needed is not just specialised know-...

    By Economist Staff • May 8, 2003
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    Return of the Company Store

    St. Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go,I own my soul to the company store.In October 1955, Tennessee Ernie Ford’s recording of Merle Travis’s folk lament, “Sixteen Tons,” was released. The song, which was issued by Capitol Records, painted a bleak picture of Appalachian miners forever in...

    By David Katz • May 6, 2003
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    A Bad Year for Benefit Costs

    From the point of view of private-sector employers, it’s been a disastrous year for benefit costs.For the year ended March 2003, benefit expenses leaped 6.1 percent, greater than the 4.8 percent jump for the year ending March 2002, according to figures just released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor St...

    By David Katz • May 6, 2003
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    Ditching the Scarlet Letter

    It used to be that unemployment created a maddening Catch-22: You need a job, but no one will hire you because they wonder why you don’t already have one. But a new survey suggests that the burden of unemployment is easing up.In a poll of 323 recruiters by ExecuNet, a career-management and execut...

    By Lisa Yoon • May 2, 2003
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    History as Teacher

    Hillenbrand Industries Inc. CFO Scott K. Sorensen now has some idea of what it’s like to be under fire. And no, that doesn’t mean the Batesville, Ind., company has been hit by shareholder suits or SEC investigations.Sorensen recently visited the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., with his ...

    By CFO Editorial Staff • May 1, 2003
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    Security Blanket

    (Editor’s note: Be sure to check out our interactive401(k) Buyer’s Guide.)The effect of the bear market on 401(k) participants seems clear, at least to plan providers. Employees who once demanded numerous investment alternatives and “advice” services are less sanguine about making their own decis...

    By Roy Harris • May 1, 2003
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    Better Options

    Avery Dennison Corp. sticks to what works — not just in its business, but also in its executive compensation. The adhesive-products company has pointedly not abandoned its stock-option program, despite the recent exodus from options by many other companies. Instead, Avery Dennison adheres to an o...

    By Kris Frieswick • May 1, 2003
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    Back in the USSR

    In discussing the role of Russians in arts and letters in the late 19th century, Friedrich Nieztche wrote: “In Russia, there is an emigration of intelligence.”A century later, a wholly different Russia saw an influx of intelligence — of the corporate kind, as Western executives went East to join ...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 30, 2003
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    Coming: Souped-Up MBA

    Finance executives looking for ways to jazz up their resumes may want to consider a new degree certification that’s being unveiled next month. MBA graduates who want to earn the spanking-new Certified Masters of Business Administration (CMBA) certification can start testing as early as May 5, 200...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 29, 2003
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    Former CFO Now CEO at American Airlines

    Welcome to the left seat, Gerard ArpeyArpey is the new chief executive of troubled American Airlines. He started at the company as a finance specialist, joining American in 1982 as a financial analyst, working his way up to CFO by 1995. In 2000, he became executive vice president for operations, ...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 28, 2003
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    Happy Gilmour?

    It seems Ford Motor Co.’s Allan Gilmour wants back — into retirement, that is.According to Reuters, the carmaker has been putting out feelers for Gilmour’s replacement for some months now. Gilmour, a Ford veteran, came out of retirement last May to help Ford get back on track.Now he’s saying that...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 24, 2003
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    You’re Not CFO Material

    The numbers are firm, and they’re not encouraging. You may very well be a skillful, seasoned finance manager, but many other people — both inside and outside your company — can say the same. And in every company, there’s room for only one CFO.The first, most important step you can take toward lan...

    By Marie Leone • April 20, 2003
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    Pension Gain Estimates Too High?

    CFOs won’t get the same bottom-line boost from pension fund gain assumptions this year that they got in 2002. That’s because new federal guidelines will force companies to be more conservative about their rosy investment return sceanrios.Starting later this year, regulators will audit the financi...

    By Marie Leone • April 18, 2003
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    Ex-Enterprise Controller Wins Suit

    A jury last week found in favor of former Enterprise Rent-a-Car controller Thomas P. Dunn. As CFO.com reported earlier in the week, Dunn had sued Enterprise for wrongfully terminating him in 2001.In a 9-3 verdict, the jury awarded Dunn $4 million in damages late last Friday. Dunn’s suit charged t...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 17, 2003
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    Trouble Up North: Solly Hit With Two Suits

    Canada may be the Great White North, but things are decidedly not great for the Canadian arm of financial-services giant Salomon Smith Barney Inc.The former finance chief and a bank analyst of Salomon Smith Barney Canada Inc. are both suing the firm for wrongful termination, reports Canada’s Nati...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 16, 2003
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    Back to the Future

    No doubt executives of fallen telecom giant WorldCom have wished certain recent events had never happened. That’s wishful thinking, of course, but they can attempt to start over with a new name and a new finance chief. Hence, the appointment of restructuring specialist Robert Blakely as CFO of MC...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 15, 2003
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    Salary World Turned Upside Down

    If misery loves company, then many CEOs in today’s bad-news economy could pass for extras in Les Miserables. Pay raises for chief executives for 2003, for example, were the lowest in a long time. Moreover, an unprecedented number of CEOs are going without bonuses.But amid this dreary backdrop for...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 14, 2003
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    FASB to Look at Pension Accounting

    In a meeting next week, members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are expected to begin crafting a plan for improving corporate pension-plan disclosure under FAS 87.According to Dow Jones Business Wire, the standards-setting body will reportedly discuss whether companies should b...

    By Jennifer Caplan • April 11, 2003
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    Fashion Accessory: Gap Promotes Old Navy CFO

    Gap Inc. is continuing its management shakeup. Yesterday, Lee Bird was promoted to COO of the Gap’s domestic division. Bird was previously CFO of Gap’s Old Navy division.Patti Johnson is succeeding Bird as finance chief at Old Navy.Bird joined the apparel retailer in April 2001 as finance chief f...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 9, 2003
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    CFOs Dodging Train-wreck Economy

    In his Monday column, New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert addressed the brutal job market, quoting one out-of-work executive as calling the scene “the bleakest employment picture I’ve ever seen.” That view was echoed by several executive recruiters also cited in Herbert’s piece.But as the ...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 8, 2003
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    The Enterprise Incident

    At first blush, it sounds like a classic David-and-Goliath match.A former controller sues his ex-employer, a corporate giant, for wrongful termination. He wants $5 million in damages including damage to his reputation and loss of employment prospects. But when that controller is described by nume...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 7, 2003
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    Twist: CFO Sues SEC

    Apparently, finance officers dismissed under dubious circumstances don’t always go gentle into that good night.In recent cases, several former CFOs have resigned after SEC investigations implicated them in accounting scandals. Exhibit A: HealthSouth’s Weston Smith, who quit his job after reported...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 3, 2003
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    HR Important — But Who Measures?

    CFOs listed human-resources issues as one of their top concerns in a study released Tuesday by Accenture.But while finance chiefs say they’re willing to pony up the money for workforce development, the survey found that many fail to measure the effects of such programs on the bottom line.The stud...

    By Lisa Yoon • April 2, 2003
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    Survey: Pension Plans Way Underfunded

    Listen — it’s that great sucking sound.No, it’s not the noise of jobs going south of the border. It’s the gurgling of the amount of cash previously used to fund corporate pension plans.Indeed, fully funding a corporate pension plan seems to have rapidly become passé among corporate managers. In f...

    By David Katz • April 2, 2003
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    The Case Against Cases

    When an accounting scandal felled Enron Corp., it turned many MBA cases featuring the erstwhile high-flier into scrap paper. “For the most part,” says accounting professor John Shank, who is affiliated with both Babson College and Dartmouth College’s Amos Tuck School, “you can’t use those cases n...

    By Roy Harris • April 1, 2003