Good Week/Bad Week: Invasion of the Latte Snatchers

The following column, while based on actual items, cannot be counted on as a reliable source of news, information, or fiber. Any resemblance between this article and actual articles you might read in real magazines and newspapers is purely coincidental.Please, no lawsuits.Good WeekHollywood Mogul...

By John Goff • July 8, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Morning Becomes Electric

Disclaimer: This copyrighted article is presented by the authority of the Ponds Institute and the Boise Center for Interspatial Studies. It is intended solely for the private and non-commercial use of our audience, which consists mostly of a dozen or so controllers, treasurers, and VP’s of financ...

By John Goff • July 1, 2005

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Dog Days for the Economy?

It may be the middle of summer, but finance executives expect the U.S. economy to begin cooling off. They predict that hiring and capital spending will slow during the next year, due partly to rising energy and raw-material prices. In fact, CFOs are less optimistic about the prospects for the eco...

By Joseph McCafferty • July 1, 2005

Give Little Guys a Break, SEC Told

The Securities and Exchange Commission should consider letting more small companies take advantage of an internal-controls extension, and it should think about clearer guidelines for which controls missteps to report, executives testified at a recent SEC committee hearing.At issue is what many se...

By Helen Shaw • June 22, 2005

Sarbox and IT: How Bad Can Things Get?

When we polled readers about the IT implications of current Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, we didn’t expect a happy chorus, but we were surprised to uncover so many entrenched problems and misgivings about the regulations, the manner in which they’ve been communicated, and the qualifications of tho...

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 22, 2005

Supersized ROI

When Arinc Inc. makes decisions about technology projects going forward, it begins by looking back. The company, which provides systems-engineering solutions to the airline industry, has developed and started using a new metric: ROIE, or return on infrastructure employed. ROIE is a retrospective ...

By Russ Banham • June 22, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Meditate

Disclaimer: Good Week/Bad Week does not adhere to normal standards of journalism, or even those of The New York Post. It is intended to be read, then pretty much forgotten. It is not intended to be taken internally.In addition, the prose contained within does not meet the high artistic, literary,...

By John Goff • June 17, 2005

Boosting Returns on Marketing Investment

Today’s chief marketing officers (CMOs) confront a painful reality: their traditional marketing model is being challenged, and they can foresee a day when it will no longer work.The declining effectiveness of mass advertising is only the most visible sign of distress. Marketers also face a genera...

By The McKinsey Quarterly • June 14, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Epoxy on Your House

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way, shape, or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts.Further, the comments expressed below are strictly those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of the Economist Group, CFO Publishing, or anyone who knows ...

By John Goff • June 10, 2005

U.S. Investment Overseas Up 90 Percent

U.S. corporations are ramping up their investments abroad in a huge way. After three flat years, direct investment by U.S. manufacturers in foreign countries surged a whopping 90 percent in 2004, to more than $54 billion, according to a new study by Deloitte Research.Of course, the recovering eco...

By Stephen Taub • June 3, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Lox, Stocks, and Two Smoking Pharaohs

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way, shape, or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts.Further, the comments expressed below are strictly those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of the Economist Group, CFO Publishing, or anyone with half ...

By John Goff • June 3, 2005

Job Picture Looks Lackluster

Companies have budgeted for salary increases averaging only 3.5 percent this year, and are expected to remain at that level next year, according to the Conference Board.“The recovery from the economic downturn appears to be leveling off, and U.S. companies are paying close attention to cost contr...

By Stephen Taub • June 2, 2005

Airlines Fight to Stay Aloft

United Airlines announced that it has reached an agreement with its largest union, which represents machinists, shortly after its mechanics union ratified a long-term contract, according to the Associated Press. The AP added that both unions had planned to strike if a bankruptcy judge had cancell...

By Stephen Taub • June 2, 2005

CFO Optimism at a Three-Year Low

Capital spending and employment growth will slow during the next year, according to a new survey of chief financial officers, who point to high costs of health care and fuel, rising interest rates, and reduced pricing power.These are some of the findings of the June 2005 Duke University/CFO magaz...

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 2, 2005

Kremed!

What could be more perfect than a Krispy Kreme doughnut? Hot from the fryer and loaded with sugar, the Original Glazed is practically irresistible. For a time, Krispy Kreme’s stock seemed irresistible, too. When the company went public in April 2000, at the peak of the Internet whirlwind, investo...

By Kate O'Sullivan • June 1, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Render unto Cesar Romero

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way, shape, or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts.It has not been approved by the American Society for Quality, the Ukrainian Society for Mediocrity, the Literary Guild, the Lollipop Guild, the Knights of Pythias, ...

By John Goff • May 27, 2005

Extreme Competition

Jack Welch once said that the 1980s would be a “white-knuckle” decade of intensifying industrial competition — and that the 1990s would be tougher still. Despite history’s greatest bull market, rising incomes, and unprecedented prosperity throughout much of the world, the former GE chairman was p...

By The McKinsey Quarterly • May 24, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Throw Edamame from the Train

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way, shape, or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts.It has not been approved by the Gordon Commission, Commissioner Gordon, the IMF (Impossible Missions Force), the Elmira KOC, the Elmira KFC, the Urban League of Ame...

By John Goff • May 20, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: It’s Not the Heat, It’s Thucydides

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way shape or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts.It has not been approved by the Group of Eight, the Gang of 4, the College of Cardinals, the St. Louis Cardinals, UNESCO, Ionesco, or any group associated with the Wo...

By John Goff • May 13, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Be Sure You’re Right

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not, in any way shape or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts. It has not been approved by the European Commission, the Warren Commission, the Cato Institute, the Ponds Institute, the House of Burgess, the House of Burgers, or a...

By John Goff • May 6, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: The Lord Alps Those…

Disclaimer: This column, such as it is, does not in any way, shape or form, purport to adhere to traditional journalistic concepts. In addition, it does not meet the high literary standards set by James Joyce, Joyce Brothers, the Brothers Johnson, Johnson & Johnson, Russell Johnson, and Russe...

By John Goff • April 29, 2005

U.S., E.C. Eye ‘Roadmap’ to Convergence

The United States and Europe are moving much closer toward recognizing each other’s accounting rules, which would remove heavy burdens on companies that want to list on exchanges outside their home continent.William Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission has discussed a “ro...

By Stephen Taub • April 25, 2005

Finance Looking for Growth, Not Cuts

Three-quarters of senior finance executives believe that over the next three years, top-line growth will be a greater contributor to earnings than cost containment. That’s one major finding of “The Activist CFO,” a new study by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and CFO Research Services (a sist...

By Stephen Taub • April 22, 2005

Good Week/Bad Week: Amazing Medical Breakthrough!

Disclaimer: While the entries in GW/BW are based on actual news items, some of the people, quotes, and hat sizes in this article are fictional. Other stuff I just plain made up.Please, no lawsuits.GOOD WEEK:1. Plan SponsorsSome good news this week on the benefits front. According to Mercer Human ...

By John Goff • April 22, 2005

A Little Bit Softer Now

Almost unnoticed, the economic expansion reached the ripe old age of 40 months this month—at least according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which is the official arbiter of such periods. Before the anomaly of the 1990s, the average length of a period of recovery was just 35 months ...

By Joseph McCafferty • April 1, 2005