Blog Entries http://www.cfozone.com Thu, 17 May 2012 22:31:53 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=How-the-CIO-Can-Sell-the-CFO-a-Collaboration-Solution.html&Itemid=713 Caution CFOs, your CIO may soon ask you to finance a business collaboration &nbsp;technology solution.&nbsp;Leveraging the best that technology has to offer is always a challenge. CIOs are constantly struggling with how best to articulate to the rest of the C-Suite and especially the CFO of the value proposition of an essential piece of enterprise technology. &nbsp;Procuring and deploying the right business collaboration technology solution is no exception. As CIOs want the best technology avail [...] bgerneglia@ciozone.com Tue, 08 May 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-Define-Roadblocks-to-Innovation.html&Itemid=713 According to a recent article I discovered on HR.BLR.com, &quot;The biggest roadblocks to organizational breakthroughs are a shortage of fresh thinking and too much red tape, according to executives interviewed for a recent Robert Half survey.&quot;&nbsp;This shouldn&#39;t come as a surprise to most project leaders, over the years I&#39;ve noticed that the path most organizations take to innovation is re-invention. According to the Robert Half survey, 35 percent of the 1,400 CFOs surveyed said a [...] bgerneglia@ciozone.com Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-should-partner-with-IT-leaders-in-this-post-digital-world-9248.html&Itemid=713 <br />By Eric Openshaw and Richard Rorem&nbsp;Chief financial officers face a strategic choice today that could affect their career and their company. Digital technologies are rapidly evolving, converging and becoming C-suite friendly. Will CFOs view them as IT costs to manage or tools requiring a steep learning curve that&rsquo;s best attempted in close partnership with their chief information officer?&nbsp;Two companies, FedEx and American Airlines, have benefitted because their CEOs famously [...] bgerneglia@ciozone.com Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-IT-Workers-Sense-Economy-Improving.html&Itemid=713 Get ready to pay your IT workers. They have been waiting patiently.&nbsp;A global downturn in economic activity resulting in shrinking IT budgets, the financial crises of 2008, and IT outsourcing or offshoring are just a few of the potential major career disruptions IT workers have had to contend with over the last five years. It workers recognized the need to embrace their jobs because if they were let go there was great uncertainty in the prospect of finding a new job.&nbsp;&nbsp;A recent incr [...] Jim@ciozone.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Facebook-Access-Smartphone-Options-Over-Salary-.html&Itemid=713 <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: #454545; font-family: &#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;, &#39;Geneva CY&#39;, Verdana; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px">The headline in Austin Carr&#39;s recent article for Fast Company reads: Half of Young Professionals Value Facebook Access, Smartphone Options over Salary: Report. I have to admit, although I appreciate that money isn&#39;t everything, this blew my mind.</p><p style="margin-top: 0p [...] Jim@ciozone.com Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-lukewarm-about-adding-to-staff.html&Itemid=713 <p>Chief financial officers are an optimistic group these days.</p> <p>While a slew of recent economic indicators seem to point to a slower growing economy, 90 percent of the finance executives are confident about their companies third quarter growth, according to the latest quarterly survey by Robert Half. What&#39;s more, 43 percent say they are very confident.</p> <p>However, this optimism probably won&#39;t result in a surge in hiring of accounting and finance workers. Just 7 percent o [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0100 Robert Half Finance Careers/Management accounting and finance jobs accountants http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Hiring-managers-more-hopeful.html&Itemid=713 <p>A survey suggests that hiring should pick up as 2011 progresses.</p> <p>Dice Holdings says slightly more than half (51 percent) of employers and recruiters anticipate hiring more professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the previous six months. &nbsp;Companies expecting a step-up in hiring in the next six months represented a broad spectrum of industries, including energy, technology, telecom, media, internet, distribution, financial services, consulting and retail.</p> <p>What& [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0100 hiring managers hiring Dice Holdings Careers/Management http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-Struggle-to-find-Talent.html&Itemid=713 According to Bloomberg Businessweek, a recent survey of CFOs finds that 90% expect growth in their organizations, however there seems to be difficulty in finding and retaining the talent to make it happen.<br />The research suggests that effective mangers are the link to drive employee productivity. &nbsp;&nbsp;It has been found that:&nbsp;&nbsp;Effective managers can increase retention level of direct reports by 40% and performance levels by 25%.&nbsp;Managers spend on average 21% of their time [...] Jim@ciozone.com Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Economic-Illiteracy-in-the-OWS-Movement.html&Itemid=713 Occupy Wall Street Crowd Blind to Benefits of Capitalism<br />By Gary WolframWilliam Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy&nbsp;Hillsdale College<br />Whenever I watch media coverage of another Occupy Wall Street event I am reminded of an exchange between Jewish protesters in the 1979 Monte Python movie Life of Brian. One of the protesters asks another what the Romans have brought to the area and the conversation goes like this: <p>&nbsp;</p>&quot;All right, but apart from the sanitatio [...] Jim@ciozone.com Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-Projected-IT-Spending-2.7-Trillion-in-2012.html&Itemid=713 Global enterprise IT spending is projected to total $2.7 trillion in 2012. This represents a 3.9% increase from 2011 spending of $2.6 trillion. The increase is reported by research firm Gartner.&nbsp; <p>&nbsp;</p><br />Enterprise IT spending growth is slowing (IT spending is on track for a 5.9% increase in 2011) despite the fact there remains many global economic challenges. Even in the current environment companies will continue to invest in IT systems and projects in order to remain competiti [...] Jim@ciozone.com Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Facebook-CIO-Rapid-App-Development-to-Save-.html&Itemid=713 Tim Campos made an appearance at Salesforce.com&#39;s Dreamforce 2011 recently to discuss the social media company&#39;s growth and his experiences from a recent major data center project under his direction.<p>&nbsp;</p><br />When you&#39;re the CIO of Facebook rapid deployment and swift execution of project plans are an important part of a successful growth strategy. Tim Campos who addresses the audience in a keynote at Salesforce&#39;s Dreamforce 2011, said massive IT implementations take pla [...] Jim@ciozone.com Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-lower-plans-to-boost-finance-accounting-jobs.html&Itemid=713 <p>Here is yet another reminder that job growth will continue to be slow for a period of time.</p> <p>A survey by Robert Half found that an equal percentage of chief financial officers expect to boost hiring full-time accounting and finance professionals as those who plan to reduce their job ranks.</p> <p>Just seven percent anticipate adding to their staff, offsetting the 7 percent that plan personnel reductions. </p> <p>More significantly, Robert Half says this net 0 percent projection i [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0100 Robert Half hiring Finance CFOs CFO Careers/Management Accounting http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Tech-CFOs-scaling-back-offshore-outsourcing.html&Itemid=713 <p>Tech companies are souring on outsourcing.</p><p>According to a survey of 100 chief financial officers at technology companies by BDO USA, LLP, just 35 percent said they are currently outsourcing services or manufacturing to companies outside of the US. This represents a 43 percent decrease from the 2009 high when 62 percent of companies were outsourcing and a slight decline from 2010 (37 percent).</p><p>What&#39;s more, the 65 percent that are not outsourcing would not consider going oversea [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Mon, 12 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0100 R&D outsourcing manufacturing IT spending IT Cash http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=AT-T-Merger-More-US-Jobs-if-Deal-Approved.html&Itemid=713 AT&amp;T Inc proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA is currently under close scrutiny by U.S. regulators - as it should be. As a carrot AT&amp;T has promised to bring 5,000 wireless call-center jobs back to the United States if the deal soon wins approval. <p>&nbsp;</p>The company has not decided where in the United States the positions will be located, AT&amp;T said in a statement.&nbsp;<br />The jobs are currently outsourced to other countries. There has been a noticable movement and inflow of o [...] Jim@ciozone.com Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Pessimism-grips-executive-suites-Wall-Street.html&Itemid=713 <p>The doom and gloomers are growing in numbers.</p> <p>On a day when the ADP employment report for May showed slower job growth than expected and the ISM Manufacturing Index plummeted in May, at least two new reports were released indicating the business community and investors are becoming increasingly nervous about the future.</p> <p>A global survey of 800 institutional investors and corporate executives found that 86 percent believe there are significant opportunities for growth in fin [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 Risk ISM Economist Intelligence Unit Cash BNY Mellon ADP http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Gen-X-employees-poised-to-lead-job-exodus.html&Itemid=713 <p>Employers beware. Your rank and file is becoming increasingly restless as the jobs picture brightens. </p> <p>Don&#39;t be surprised if you see an exodus of employee as more and more of your rivals post &quot;hiring&quot; signs on their websites.</p> <p>This is very common whenever we start to emerge from a recession. When workers who survived job cuts take on more and more work over more and more time for the same amount of pay, their resentment starts to grow. This can&#39;t be a surp [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 Millennials jobs job satisfaction job dissatisfaction Generation X Deloitte Careers/Management Baby Boomers http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=San-Fran-tops-list-for-finance-jobs.html&Itemid=713 <p>If you are looking for a finance-related job, move to San Francisco.</p> <p>Accounting Principals, an accounting and finance staffing provider, says the Bay Area state tops its list of best cities to find a job in finance today. The ranking is based on internal data from its branches around the country, taking into account the volume of job openings in the past quarter. </p> <p>San Francisco ranked first for a variety of reasons, including the city&#39;s proximity to Silicon Valley, its l [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 jobs Careers/Management Accounting Principals http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=CFOs-expect-to-raise-prices-but-not-employee-pay.html&Itemid=713 <p>The good: CFOs think the economy is on an upswing. The bad: They also believe the Japan disaster will impact the US. The ugly: More of them than before plan to raise prices. The uglier:&nbsp; Even as CEO pay soars, most other employees can&#39;t expect the same for their compensation.</p> <p>That&#39;s according to a biannual survey of CFOs conducted by Grant Thornton. It questioned 318 CFOs and senior comptrollers, 59 of whom were from the Northeast.</p> <p>Specifically, 48 p [...] annearf@aol.com Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 prices Japan economy CFO CEO compensation career/management http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Succession-planning-a-problem-for-many-companies.html&Itemid=713 <p>If a top executive of your company suddenly wasn&#39;t able to work, who would take over? Chances are the answer is not clear. </p> <p>It seems a large number of companies do not have a clear cut succession plan currently in place.</p> <p>According to a CareerBuilder survey, nearly one-third (31 percent) of companies with more than 1,000 employees said they don&#39;t currently have a succession planning program at their organization. </p> <p>In addition, 50 percent of senior management-- [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 succession planning Careers/Management CareerBuilder http://www.cfozone.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Audit-fees-rose-2-percent-to-3.3-million-Report.html&Itemid=713 <p>Publicly held companies paid on average $3.3 million in total audit fees for fiscal year 2010, an increase of two percent from the prior fiscal year, according to a new report from Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International.</p> <p>The nearly 250 executives surveyed cited internal audit staff work, and changes in company operations as some of their primary reasons for the difference in fees.</p> <p>The 16 non-accelerated f [...] stephentaub@yahoo.com Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 Financial Executives International compliance Big Four audit fees accelerated filer