Human Capital: Page

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    Sea Change

    See this year’s 401(k) Buyer’s Guide.One year ago, 401(k) plans were in crisis: account balances had plunged by double digits, employers were suspending matching contributions, and the volatility of the Dow made it uncertain as to whether the bottom had been reached.The situation improved markedl...

    By Alix Stuart • April 1, 2010
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    OTJ Is A-OK

    A new survey from McKinsey & Co. paints a decidedly mixed picture of corporate training initiatives. On the one hand, executives rank “capability building” as a top priority — 15% of senior leaders, in fact, rate it as the top priority, while 55% place it in the top three. But when it comes t...

    By Scott Leibs • April 1, 2010
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    “We Fail Fast, Learn, and Move On.”

    Steven Neil knows nuts: how they are harvested, who buys which kinds and why, what packaging works best, and what supply-chain strategies keep all the players in the food chain happy. A 25-year veteran of finance jobs, most recently as CFO of contact-lens maker Cooper Cos., Neil is a roll-up-your...

    By David Katz • April 1, 2010
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    The CFO as Chief of Objectivity

    As the chief financial officer of Celanese Corp., Steven Sterin is much more than a numbers guy. Of course, his department has to produce timely, accurate financial statements every quarter for the $5.1 billion global chemical company. But he also views his role as providing unbiased input on the...

    By Sarah Johnson • March 31, 2010
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    Staring Down the Banks

    It was an odd time to dish out tough love to your banks. But in early 2009, not long after becoming CFO of Marsh & McLennan Cos., Vanessa Wittman balked at investment bankers’ pricing plans for a $400 million MMC bond offering. With her finance staff quaking at her hard-nosed approach, Wittma...

    By David Katz • March 29, 2010
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    Reacting to Reform

    For legislators, the long process of reforming the nation’s health-care system has finally come to an end. On Thursday Congress passed the reconciliation bill containing the final changes to the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law on Tuesday....

    By Alix Stuart • March 26, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 26

    Investment-management company AllianceBernstein has named John Howard finance chief. He takes over from Robert Joseph, Jr., who has been CFO since 1994 and will stay at the firm in a senior advisory role until he retires at the end of the year. Howard comes to the company from AQR Capital Managem...

    By Joan Urdang • March 26, 2010
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    How to Hire a CIO

    Hiring a chief information officer may be among the most important human-resources decisions a company makes. Unlike the head of sales, a business-line leader, or even the CFO, the CIO will touch every part of the business, end to end. How that executive performs over the long term will likely ha...

    By • March 25, 2010
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    Be Well (or Else)

    Corporate wellness programs will likely retain their popularity when health-care reform is implemented, say experts. In fact, the bill signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday contains limited incentives for employers to provide them. But to ensure that wellness programs are effective, compa...

    By Alix Stuart • March 23, 2010
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    Health Reform: How Much Will It Hurt?

    While much is uncertain about the future of health-care reform, one thing seems clear: many employers that currently offer health coverage will see their costs go up over the next three years if the budget reconciliation bill the House passed on Sunday clears the Senate without major changes.On t...

    By Alix Stuart • March 22, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 19

    Richard Goodman, CFO of PepsiCo, will leave his position at the end of the month and take on a new role as executive vice president responsible for global procurement and operations, business information systems, and postmerger integration. Goodman will be replaced as CFO by Hugh Johnston, execut...

    By Joan Urdang • March 19, 2010
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    How to Get on a Board

    By any measure, Geoff Hibner is an experienced financial executive. The 60-year-old Harvard MBA has been CFO of five companies (four public and one private), in industries from consumer products to manufacturing. He’s bought and sold companies, done stock buybacks and dividend issuances, and defe...

    By Alix Stuart • March 19, 2010
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    Jerry York, Iconic CFO, Dies at 71

    Jerome “Jerry” York, a pioneering and prophetic finance chief who served as CFO of IBM and Chrysler, died on Thursday after being hospitalized in Pontiac, Michigan, with a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 71.York was one of a handful of CFOs “who first put the title on the map,” says Julia Homer, vice...

    By David Katz • March 18, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 12

    The Dow Chemical Co. has tapped William Weideman for the top finance spot. Weideman, who has been interim CFO since November, has spent more than 30 years at the company, most recently as corporate controller. He replaces Geoffery Merszei, who is now chairman of Dow Europe and president of Dow Eu...

    By Joan Urdang • March 12, 2010
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    A Prescription for Cutting Health-Care Costs

    Jeff Henderson, CFO of Cardinal Health, may not know the future of health-care reform in the United States, but he is sure about what is needed.“The really big issue that will dictate whether health-care reform happens or not is…whether it helps get health-care costs under control,” the finance c...

    By Alix Stuart • March 10, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 5

    Consultancy ICF International Inc. has appointed Ronald Vargo to head finance, effective April 1. He succeeds Alan Stewart, who had announced his intention to retire at the end of March. Vargo comes to the firm from EDS, where he was also CFO.TradeBeam Inc. has promoted Doug Harrison to finance c...

    By Joan Urdang • March 5, 2010
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    A Snapshot of the Image Business

    If imitation is indeed flattery, then Shutterstock, which offers a vast library of downloadable digital images, should have a healthy ego. But because the six-year-old company’s business model has spawned a number of imitators, its CFO and president, Adam Riggs, is focused largely on how to grow ...

    By • March 4, 2010
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    Founder CEO, Fired CFO?

    Finance chiefs have any number of reasons to be cautious when joining a company whose CEO is also a founder, not the least of which is how much control they’ll be afforded over the finances. Now a new academic study offers one more item to put on the list: a higher likelihood of being fired when ...

    By Alix Stuart • March 2, 2010
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    Lords of the Brass Ring

    Your phone may be about to ring, and you may want to answer it. Executive turnover, which usually proceeds at a brisk pace, ground to a near-halt last year as many CFOs and CEOs chose to stay put rather than risk moving to a new and possibly worse-off company. Boards also hesitated to replace top...

    By Kate O'Sullivan • March 1, 2010
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    “Because It’s the Right Thing to Do.”

    In 1984, Richard Galanti was a young investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette when a Seattle-area start-up retailer invited him to become its vice president of finance. He is now starting his 27th year as finance chief of Costco Wholesale Corp., which has become the nation’s third-la...

    By Edward Teach • March 1, 2010
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    The Crisis Is in the Mail

    Speaking recently from snowbound Washington, D.C., Joseph Corbett sounded remarkably cheerful for the CFO of a business that may not be able to pay its bills after September 30, the end of its fiscal year. That’s the worrisome plight of the $68 billion U.S. Postal Service, which is struggling to ...

    By David Katz • Feb. 26, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending February 26

    Barry Rowan is the new CFO, treasurer, and chief administrative officer of Vonage Holdings Corp. He is a former CFO and treasurer of Nextel Partners Inc.Pizza restaurant chain Shakey’s USA Inc. has named Jake LaJoie to head finance. Previously, he was a vice president at Argonne Capital Group.Wil...

    By Joan Urdang • Feb. 26, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending February 19

    The Hartford Financial Services Group has named Christopher Swift as its new CFO, effective March 1. He succeeds Lizabeth Zlatkus, who will become chief risk officer at the company. Previously, Swift was vice chairman and CFO of American Life Insurance Co.Martin Ellen will become finance chief at...

    By Joan Urdang • Feb. 19, 2010
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending February 12

    Social-networking service Twitter has named Ali Rowghani as its first CFO. Rowghani, who currently holds the top finance spot at Pixar Animation Studios, will join Twitter in March.L. Heath Sampson is the new head of finance at SquareTwo Financial. Previously, he was CFO of the Financial Services...

    By Joan Urdang • Feb. 12, 2010
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    Sweet Surrender

    Chris Liddell made out well at both ends of his recent job transition from CFO of Microsoft to the same post at General Motors. Besides getting a boost to his base salary — $750,000 at GM, up from $561,667 in 2009 at Microsoft — Liddell also received from Microsoft a parting gift of $1.9 million....

    By Alix Stuart • Feb. 11, 2010