Halliburton Under Fire for Operations in IranWritten by Kirt Hill
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In closing he tells company, "We continue to expect Halliburton to honor its commitment, and to produce a full and complete report that includes Board's review of reputational risks of doing business with Iran." On January 25, 2004 William Thompson made his case on CBS program "60 Minutes". The title of segment was, "Doing Business with Enemy". 60 Minutes went to see Halliburton subsidiary in Cayman Islands and found no actual office there and no employees. When Halliburton explained that Cayman subsidiary is actually run out of Dubai, 60 Minutes again went to see. In Dubai, they found subsidiary sharing office space with a division of its U.S.-based parent company. This arrangement raised more legal questions about independence of subsidiary. If there is no agreement reached between now and annual meeting in May, there will be a proxy vote on resolution. When you own stock in a corporation you obtain right to vote on important matters concerning corporate policies and governance. When you invest in a mutual fund that holds stocks, you convey this important responsibility to your mutual fund manager. Last year (2003) SEC ruled that mutual funds must disclose how they vote proxies in corporate-governance shareholder fights. If resolution comes to a vote in May, many large mutual fund companies will be forced to vote either with company, or with angry shareholders. We will be following this story. SUPPORTING STATEMENT from form 8-K: According to U.S. State Department, Iranian government has actively supported and funded terrorist operations against innocent civilians outside its own borders. These activities led to imposition of government sanctions that provide that virtually all trade and investment activity with Iran by U.S. corporations, is prohibited. We believe that Halliburton's use of its Cayman Island subsidiary to establish operations in Tehran violates spirit, if not letter of law. It also exposes company to prospect of negative publicity, public protests, and a loss of consumer confidence, all of which can have a negative impact on shareholder value. The following is a list of top mutual fund holders of Halliburton reported as of 2003: Growth Fund of America Inc Van Kampen Comstock Fund Fundamental Investors inc Fidelity magellan fund inc Lord Abbett Mid Cap Value Fund Hartford Capital Appreciation Hls Fund, Inc Putnam Fund For Growth and Income Merrill Lynch Basic Value Fund Vanguard 500 Index Fund Washington Mutual Investors Fund If you are interested in purchasing a share if Halliburton (HAL)in order to vote on this resolution, click here, or copy and paste this link to FOLIOfn into your browser bar: http://www.foliofn.com/wsjsp/lp/lp.fsp?id=CPVLRS00010304N Please keep in mind that there is an ongoing dialogue between shareholders and company, and issue may be resolved before it comes to a vote in May.
Kirt Hill is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He founded his website, CapitaqlValues.com in 2004 to support socially responsible investing.
| | "Do You Mind If Someone Screams At You?"Written by Lora J Adrianse
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If your employees have conditioned themselves to tolerate and even disregard your screaming, they've probably learned to not take it personally. After all, your hissy fits are about YOU, your huge ego, your insecurities, and your lack of desire to create win-win, mutually beneficial relationships. If your company is successful in spite of way you treat your employees, just think about how much more successful you could be if your employees loved to come to work every day. And finally, "What is your screaming costing you?" I'm talking about in terms of dollars and cents. Think in terms of unproductive employees, way your employees treat each other and customers, turnover, health benefits, and maybe even some employee sabotage. The Bottom Line Is This... Even military is undergoing a huge initiative to become more emotionally intelligent. The drill sergeants of tomorrow will be very different than drill sergeants of yesterday. What could be different for you and your business if you stopped screaming and started treating people with respect and dignity? It's simply a choice you know.
As the owner of Essential Connections, Lora Adrianse is a catalyst for clients who aspire to create dynamic business relationships with their colleagues and customers. She authors a free monthly newsletter, "Relating@Work". Go to her website to subscribe now! www.connectionscoach.com
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