Panama Canal Expansion a Boon for Midsize Companies, Too

When the much-anticipated expansion of the Panama Canal is completed late next year, cargo ships the size of aircraft carriers will ferry goods from Latin America and Asia directly to East Coast ports and back. These ships — up to two-and-a-half times bigger than those currently allowed — will up...

By Doug Davidson • Jan. 5, 2015

Logistics Industry Inches Toward IT Relevance

Editor’s note: this is an expanded version of an article published on CFO.com on Aug. 14. It incorporates the views of several CFOs at third-party logistics firms regarding technology challenges facing the industry.Providers of third-party logistics (3PL) services are lifeblood for companies that...

By David McCann • Oct. 3, 2014

Hacking Incidents Grip Gaming Industry

The latest cyber threat for corporate America, which is alive and “well” in the online gaming industry, has taken an even more ominous turn. On Sunday, the hacking group known as Lizard Squad, which has caused trouble for a number of gaming services, grounded an American Airlines flight by tweeti...

By Iris Dorbian • Aug. 27, 2014

‘Heartbleed’ Bug Opens Hospital Chain to Cyber-Attack

Chinese cyber-criminals exploited an Internet security bug to steal personal information on 4.5 million patients at the for-profit U.S. hospital chain Community Health Systems, a source involved in a probe into the data breach told Bloomberg.The bug, known as Heartbleed, “allows hackers to steal ...

By Iris Dorbian • Aug. 20, 2014

Criminals Posing as CFOs to Commit Wire Fraud

A new, fast-proliferating type of online fraud is posing yet another security threat to small and large companies alike. Bank of the West, which is taking a leadership role in publicizing the threat, calls it “masquerading.”It’s a twist on a fraud attempt that became common in 2012, in which crim...

By David McCann • Aug. 13, 2014

Big Data, Little Security

Although many firms have jumped on the big-data bandwagon, not many have taken steps to secure these systems, according to a feature story on CIO.com (which was originally published by CSO). But that could be changing, even though experts admit that the process is “painfully slow.”There’s no ques...

By Iris Dorbian • Aug. 8, 2014

Mainframe Deficiencies Burden Big Companies

The business world’s burgeoning zeal for the cloud remains the hottest technology story of the day. And why not? There’s lots of news: new vendors, new services, new software, newfound uses for existing cloud software, new ways to integrate cloud applications.Mainframes aren’t as sexy. In fact, m...

By David McCann • March 14, 2014

Monetary Savings on Carbon-Emissions Cuts Sank in 2013

If you get turned on by both corporate profits and saving the environment, here is some good news: The percentage of companies that reaped savings from greenhouse gas emissions-reduction programs took a solid forward step in 2013.But curb your enthusiasm. The average amount of savings, among comp...

By David McCann • Jan. 23, 2014

Meet the Worst Violators of Cyber-Security Policies

When an internal information breach happens, the perception may be it’s the fault of lower-level staff ; yet senior managers, who have access to sensitive, unencrypted information, are often more likely to accidentally share information outside the boundaries of a company’s firewall.Fifty-eight p...

By Alissa Ponchione • Jan. 17, 2014

Compliance Mountains to Climb

Seen from an altitude of 30,000 feet, the compliance landscape that CFOs face in 2014 consists of two big mountains and a few challenging foothills.One of the two loftiest peaks, in the view of many finance chiefs, is complying with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The other is about ...

By David Katz • Dec. 6, 2013

Why Finance Chiefs Should Lead on Cyber-Security

It’s 4:03 a.m., and the CFO’s smartphone rings. Never a good sign.One of the company’s databases has been breached. Details are still sketchy, but it appears customer records, including credit card and Social Security numbers, have been stolen. It’s going to be a long day.CFOs, if you think this ...

By Tom McGrath and Terry Jost • Nov. 19, 2013

Finding Your Cyber-Security Weak Spots

While companies are embracing new technologies and systems, they also need to secure those systems. Cyber attacks are becoming more prevalent, and it takes more than a firewall and malware-protection software to prevent information breaches.According to an Ernst & Young survey that polled 1,9...

By Alissa Ponchione • Nov. 1, 2013

Who is Liable for a Data Breach?

Seeing an opportunity to make workflow more efficient, residents and physicians-in-training at Oregon Health & Science University started using cloud-computing service Google Drive to keep everyone up to date on patient information. After a faculty member discovered the staff was using the cl...

By Alissa Ponchione • Oct. 11, 2013

The Unthinkable Risks of the Cloud

By mid-2013 – meaning now — cloud computing will be in use by about 80 percent of about 600 companies with at least 500 employees each,  according to a 2012 TNS Infratest survey. The trend is undeniable:  Data management and storage are moving offsite to cloud computing vendors on a vast scale.To...

By David E. Wood • Aug. 27, 2013

Why Conflict Minerals Disclosure is Serious Business

There are two important sections of the Dodd-Frank Act that absolutely must be on every CFO’s radar screen: Section 1502 for conflict minerals and Section 1504 for resource extractions (how much a firm may pay governments for access to minerals, oil and gas), both of which require complex disclos...

By Kristine Brands • Aug. 23, 2013

Data Threats Spark Insurance Hunger

Jitters about the potential for steep financial losses stemming from such threats as computer hacking and data-privacy mishaps are driving more corporate risk managers and finance executives to buy cyber insurance, according to recent surveys.With premiums flat for the coverage, which purports to...

By David Katz • Aug. 21, 2013

Five Ways to Curb Workplace Drug Risks

Longer-term use of opioids is costly to injured workers, their families and their employers. It may put injured workers at risk of misuse of opioids, which can lead to addiction, overdose and illegal distribution to others—a serious public health concern. Longer-term use can also substantially de...

By Richard A. Victor • Aug. 8, 2013

Legal Costs Up at 50 Percent of Companies

Faced with mounting legal costs, companies are adopting risk-prevention approaches and doing more in-house work to stem the tide, according to a recently released survey of corporate legal chiefs at U.S.-based companies with yearly revenues of $250 million or more.More than half of 117 corporate ...

By David Katz • Aug. 7, 2013

Oklahoma and Beyond: Significant State Workers’ Compensation Reforms In 2013

The cost of providing workers’ compensation insurance is one of the top issues for companies of all sizes and across industries. Because it is regulated at the state level, companies need to stay abreast of issues in any state in which they do business. To date in 2013, nine states have seen sign...

By Mark Walls • Aug. 1, 2013

Internal Technology Evangelist: Angel or Devil?

The development of new, disruptive and innovative technologies is one thing. Commercializing them and getting them flying off the shelves is another. In the current supersaturated market of innovations, from wearable technology to big data, the role of the technology evangelist can make all the d...

By Rob Livingstone • July 15, 2013

Big Data Makes for Smarter Risk Management

From the smallest business decisions to the largest ones, risk influences all that we do. But taking a risk is not exactly like spinning a roulette wheel, where luck is the primary ingredient for success. With use of the right tools, risks can carefully be calculated, controlled and managed, grea...

By William Fuessler • June 28, 2013

Why On-the-Job Injuries Cost So Much

Despite their battle to contain costs of all kinds, CFOs rarely look at their companies’ workers compensation payments.Reasoning that the per-unit outlays for the medical care of workers injured on the job are fixed by state statute, finance executives tend to shrug and pay bills at 100 percent o...

By David Katz • June 27, 2013

Cyber-Attacks: Computer Says No

“Tick tock tick tock”, tweeted Anonymous Africa, a group of computer hackers, on June 14th. Minutes later a website of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s ruling party, went offline: another victim of the oldest and crudest form of cyber-assault, a distributed denial of service (D...

By Economist Staff • June 25, 2013

Watch out for Workers’ Compensation

In most cases, employers end up paying a whole lot more for outpatient treatment for employee shoulder and knee injuries under workers’ compensation than they do under group-health benefit plans, according to a new study. The takeaway for CFOs: Do all you can to make your workers’ comp payment ra...

By David Katz • June 24, 2013

Fears of Vanishing Terror Insurance Grow

With the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) set to expire at the end of 2014, corporate risk managers are worrying aloud about what would happen if there’s no property, casualty or workers’ compensation coverage available in connection with a terrorist act.The anxieties include the possible unra...

By David Katz • June 19, 2013