Tomato Newsletter "News 'n Views" No. 140 – July/August 2011
We’re back at work and ready to use the energy we generated during the summer break. We hope you've been able to slow down and focus on things other than business as well. News on finance and IT has arrived in a steady stream. A lot focuses on change, especially the changing business landscape and the resulting change in finance and IT professionals’ jobs.
Enjoy!
Regula Spottl
In Today's Issue:
TOMATO UPDATES
- Tomato News: Veranstaltung bei ZfU Thalwil und Unicredit Salzburg
- Tomato’s Book Review of Outliers Podcast
FINANCE AND BANKING
- Schweizer Banken offerieren iPhone-Apps
- Ist Datendiebstahl-Risiko grösser als Unternehmen denken?
- GTNews’ Annual Treasury Risk Management Survey
- Six Ways for Accounts Payable to Stretch Payment Terms
- Latest Blogs by GTNews Analysts
- Corporate Treasurer’s Role Changes with Increasing Globalization
IT
- CIOs Role Must Adjust to an Empowered Era
- IT Collaboration with Marketing Provides Huge Opportunities
- CIO Time Management: Priorities
MISCELLANEOUS
Tomato News: Veranstaltung bei ZfU Thalwil und Unicredit Salzburg
Am ZfU-Workshop “Liquide Mittel freisetzen: Modernes Working Capital Management in der Praxis”vom 30. August 2011 hält Martin Schneider in Thalwil bei Zürich einen Workshop zum Thema Financial Flow Management. Dieser behandelt, wie die Finanzflüsse von Accounts Payable und Accounts Receivable möglichst ressourcenfrei fliessen (planen, zahlen, verbuchen, berichten, Risiken bewerten).
Beschreibung: http://bit.ly/qPt3r7
Anmeldung über Tomato oder direkt bei ZfU via http://bit.ly/qPt3r7
Am SEPA-Workshop der Unicredit in Salzburg vom 29. September 2011 zeigt Martin Schneider den Teilnehmern, wie man den europäischen Zahlungsverkehr mit SEPA möglichst ressourcenfrei nutzt: sich elektronisch mit der Bank verbinden, Zahlungen effizient ausführen, Berichte erhalten; und wie im SEPA die Gebühren sinken.
Der Veranstalter Unicredit offeriert diese "exklusive" Veranstaltung ihren Kunden aus dem Segment Multinationale Konzerne.
Sollten Sie Interesse an der Tagung haben und bisher keine Einladung erhalten haben, kontaktieren Sie uns und wir koordinieren.
Tomato’s Book Review of Outliers Podcast
Just before summer break, Sven Olof Andersson and Martin Schneider presented a somewhat unusual theme for Tomato: A review of Outliers, the book by Malcolm Gladwell on what makes people successful.
Thank for the many comments on this 15-minute podcast.
If you were away and missed it, check it at http://bit.ly/mPC3IK
Schweizer Banken offerieren iPhone-Apps
Die Tessiner Kantonalbank, UBS, CS und andere Banken bieten neu Mobil-Banking-Anwendungen an. Die Apps erlauben es den Kunden, von unterwegs auf Informationen über ihre Konti und Depots zuzugreifen und Marktinformationen abzufragen.
Zahlungen sind vorerst noch nicht möglich. Bei der UBS App kann man dennoch Einzahlungsscheine einscannen, die dann ans E-Banking übermittelt werden. Dort müssen die Zahlungen freigegeben und ausgeführt werden.
Details:
„Tessiner KB bringt iPhone-App (aber vorerst ohne Zahlungsfunktion)“ http://bit.ly/pUW8VF
„UBS bringt iPhone App (ohne Zahlungsfunktion)“ http://bit.ly/r18zDE
Ist Datendiebstahl-Risiko grösser als Unternehmen denken?
Gemäss einer Studie von Ernst & Young empfinden die meisten deutschen Unternehmen in der Finanzindustrie die Bedrohung von Datendiebstahl und Wirtschaftsspionage als sehr gering. Deshalb sehen sie keinen Bedarf fűr Sicherheitsvorkehrungen.
An der Studie nahmen Führungskräfte von 400 deutschen Unternehmen teil.
Die Experten von Ernst & Young bezweifeln die Resultate der Studie und schliessen daraus, „dass die Mehrheit der Unternehmen noch gar keine Sensibilität für diese Art von Risiko entwickelt haben.“ Stefan Heissner, Leiter der Abteilung Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services findet es unrealistisch, dass sich die meisten Firmen ausreichend geschützt fühlen.
Artikel in Computerworld.ch: http://bit.ly/pNDqrJ
GTNews’ Annual Treasury Risk Management Survey
GTNews asked more than 240 corporate treasurers how they manage risk and what they expect in the coming year.
Similar to last year, they see liquidity, foreign exchange (FX) and counterparty risk as the top three concerns. In fact, these risk elements have grown in importance over the past 12 months.
The article “Liquidity Risk Still Cause for Concern Among Corporate Treasurers” summarizes the survey.
Full story: http://bit.ly/lc5HzE (registration required, free)
Six Ways for Accounts Payable to Stretch Payment Terms
Accounts payable has a relatively low status in finance departments. That’s why is has seldom a priority when companies examine ways to improve working capital, says Steve Riordan, global managing director of advisory services at PRGX, a working capital consultancy.
Accounts payable provides opportunities for process and structural improvements that can help companies to hold on to their cash longer. Riordan recommends six ways for doing just that.
Full story in CFO.com:
Martin’s Comment:
The article highlights interesting values on the supply chain. It is worth reading and may work for some of you. Tomato’s way is seldom to stretch payment terms. We work directly on your processes between your supply partner and your staff. The planning, the flows and early recognition of financial currency risk will give you a high return on your project investment.
See also Workshop at ZfU above and direct your questions to us: martin.schneider@tomato.ch
Latest Blogs by GTNews Analysts
The Role of Market Forecasting in Risk Management
Forecasting financial markets has its limits, so it’s important to consider the appropriate role of market forecasts within the risk management process. http://bit.ly/r2aUEc (registration required, free)
What’s
Next for European Interest Rates?
Key points in the movement of European interest rates and a set of charts that
show movements in yields. http://bit.ly/qBspVd (registration required,
free)
Cash
Forecasting: How it is Done
This blog discusses some of the best practices through examples of two typical
companies and highlights what the most successful cash forecasting improvement
projects seem to have in common.
http://bit.ly/o7xFOk (registration required, free)
Corporate Treasurer’s Role Changes with Increasing Globalization
Increasing globalization of business and volatility is inherent in cash and risk management. This makes it crucial that the CFO adapts to new realities.
In the GTNews article “The Future Role of the Corporate Treasurer” Erik Seifert, SEB, explains what this involves from a Nordic perspective. However, it applies equally to CFOs in Switzerland who are involved in global business.
The article highlights such issues as the need for global cash control, the struggle with working capital, stretching supply chain, how “crisis mode” shaped treasury, the need to take strategic control, forthcoming regulations such as SEPA and Basel III, etc.
Full story: http://bit.ly/ofxN8j (registration required, free)
CIOs Role Must Adjust to an Empowered Era
Many employees as well as customers rely less on IT to provide, manage and run their technology for various reasons.
Forrester’s CIO team has developed a profile of the future for the CIO role in this “empowered” world and has published two reports. The articles “Empowered Business Technology Defined” and “The Empowered BT CIO” highlight the changes in the role of IT and the CIO and what CIOs can do about it.
The blog post The New CIO — Embrace The Empowered Era Or Step Aside by Khalid Kark links to the two reports and suggests specific changes that will have to take place. Details: http://bit.ly/qD5uwH
IT Collaboration with Marketing Provides Huge Opportunities
Forrester recently posted two blog posts on the opportunities that the collaboration between Marketing and IT present. They are the result of research on the relationship between IT and marketing as “one of the critical success factors in managing the customer data flow and becoming a CVC-dominant company.”
Findings of the research include a number of best practices for CIOs and CMOs that help establish an effective IT/marketing collaboration.
Details of research reports and early findings:
“Is Marketing The Biggest Opportunity For IT Since The Internet?" http://bit.ly/on2jbm
CIO Time Management: Priorities
The typical CIO top ten lists often include issues like security, the Cloud, tablets and such. Such lists won't help you. They matter, but not from a time-budgeting perspective, argues Bob Lewis, author of Keep the Joint Running: A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology and eight other books on business, information technology, and where they intersect.
The question is where to invest your time every week. Here's a CIO's big five:
- Organizational listening. This is the single most important activity on your schedule. Organizational listening means finding out “What's Going On Out There”.
- Building strong interpersonal relationships with everyone else on the executive team.
- Defining the business culture you want and then taking steps to make it happen.
- Reading. “Unless you think you're smart enough to have all the great ideas yourself ...”
- Thinking. “Your job isn't to have all the great ideas yourself. You are supposed to be a broker of great ideas ... to sift through them all and figure out which ones matter.”
Details are highly informative and make a lot of sense! http://bit.ly/oBvlAB
Ausgaben für Social Media steigen
Gemäss einer Umfrage der Worldcom Public Relations Group, einem Netzwerk von PR-Firmen, planen mehr als 50% der Firmen dieses Jahr, ihre Budgets für Social Media zu erhöhen. Insgesamt bestätigt die Umfrage unter 100 weltweiten Führungskräften, dass fast alle Unternehmen die Bedeutung von Social Media erkennen.
Interessant ist der Vergleich von Nordamerika und Westeuropa. Unternehmen in Westeuropa setzen Social Media vor allem ein, um soziale Kontakte zu pflegen und neue Partner über das Netzwerk aufzubauen. Firmen in den USA fördern hingegen „Thought Leadership“, um mit gezielter Produktwerbung Kunden über diesen Kanal zu gewinnen.
Computerworld.ch Artikel: http://bit.ly/oVl6CE
From the Desk of Regula Spottl, Greensboro, North Carolina
Panera Bread’s “Pay What You Want” Model is Working!
In my column in the September issue last year, I introduced Panera Bread Company’s experiment with 'Pay What You Want' model.
Instead of handing out a bill, cashiers give customers a “suggested” bill representing the price of the order at any other Panera Bread location. Customers can pay any amount they choose - above or below the suggested amount. There are donation boxes instead of cash registers, but employees can process credit card payments as well.
The program, which Panera calls "Panera Cares," is an example of a "community kitchen," in which for-profit companies act in part like nonprofits.
At the time, experts were divided on whether the concept can work. Well, after one year, the idea seems to be working. About 60 percent of customers leave the suggested amount; 20 percent leave more; and 20 percent leave less. The lesson is that most people are fundamentally good, stepping up and doing the right thing.
All the earnings above operation costs go to charities, so it’s a noble cause that deserves spreading.
Full story: http://bit.ly/igcGlN