Sarbanes-Oxley: Old Dog, New Teeth

Written by Gerald Czarnecki


Continued from page 1
Fast forward torepparttar current rash of business scandals andrepparttar 136740 latest crises. This timerepparttar 136741 fear in Congress was so great thatrepparttar 136742 mandate was restated; and this time, sanctions for non-compliance were included inrepparttar 136743 legislation. Now 25 years of neglect and sloppiness have caught up withrepparttar 136744 public and private sectors. The threat that corporate officers might actually be held accountable for failure and accordingly charged with civil and criminal penalties, in combination with a comprehensive regulatory system (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) imposed onrepparttar 136745 accounting firms and a strengthened accountability byrepparttar 136746 SEC have now brought internal controls torepparttar 136747 forefront. The plain fact is, there is nothing new with SOX 404. Quality policy, practice and procedure documentation systems have always beenrepparttar 136748 basis of sound internal controls and systems audits. The corollary fact is that corporations have generally given superficial attention to these programs, calling them unduly bureaucratic and unreasonably expensive. Overrepparttar 136749 last 25 years, we have not only ignoredrepparttar 136750 law, we have also ignored sound management practice. All of this inrepparttar 136751 guise of being “cost-effective.” Sarbanes Oxley has obviously cost corporations huge amounts of money during this first year, but that is to be expected after 25 years of disregard for a well documented system of controls. In subsequent yearsrepparttar 136752 costs will be less, but there will still be a permanent increase in systems costs. Controls cost money and it is our own neglect that has createdrepparttar 136753 need for corporate boards and managements to execute a major catch-up program. The irony is thatrepparttar 136754 COSO standard may not have beenrepparttar 136755 best standard to impose onrepparttar 136756 audit process, but it was there and well documented whenrepparttar 136757 Audit community needed to move quickly. With allrepparttar 136758 “push back” coming fromrepparttar 136759 corporate community, there may well be some modifications that will makerepparttar 136760 audit process less onerous, but COSO does provide a basis for very muchrepparttar 136761 same kinds of documentation that are imbedded inrepparttar 136762 standards of documentation found in best practices systems throughoutrepparttar 136763 world. Corporate America simply needs to makerepparttar 136764 best of this mandate and use it as a launch point for continuous improvement of these controls so that they become both compliant and useful to effective management processes. Just as with individual behavior,repparttar 136765 way to get results in business is to either rewardrepparttar 136766 results you seek, or to punishrepparttar 136767 results you want to eliminate. In government, more often than not,repparttar 136768 sanction is more effective thanrepparttar 136769 reward, or at least it is easier to deploy. We now have sanctions that threaten all participants inrepparttar 136770 process of establishing and evaluatingrepparttar 136771 25-year-old mandate for a system of internal controls. Those sanctions have commandedrepparttar 136772 attention of managements and boards alike; and SOX has been granted serious focus in every public company board room in America. Indeed, these standards are also spreading to non-public corporations, and even becoming a de facto standard for nonprofits as well. There is little doubt that as time passes, effectiveness and efficiency will improve and thus limit costs, but they will never go away…that is, not as long asrepparttar 136773 enforcement teeth are still sharp. The sad commentary is that inrepparttar 136774 face of softer enforcement we disregarded a mandate for 25 years, and for this we are now payingrepparttar 136775 price. For more information: www.deltennium.com/articles.php



Gerald Czarnecki, Chairman & CEO of the Deltennium Group, is a consultant, author and public speaker. A leading authority on corporate governance, Mr. Czarnecki conducts seminars and private boardroom sessions on Sarbanes-Oxley and the issues of governance that face boards of directors today. He also serves on the boards of directors of several large American corporations. For more information visit http://www.deltennium.com




What to Look for in a Home Based Business Opportunity

Written by Dee Scrip ©All rights reserved


Continued from page 1

4.Search for a home business opportunity with a company that has live 24/7 support available…

Perhaps you have experiencedrepparttar nightmare of attempting to make an automated payment where you could not figure out which button to push next, or what they meant by their selection choices, and you were unable to talk to a real person to get your question answered. The frustration even compounds when there is a deadline involved for a continuation of service.

Repeat customers comprise 75% of businesses, and satisfied customers will berepparttar 136709 main reason for their repeat business with you and your product or service. Even in this automated society,repparttar 136710 person-to-person contact is preferred, at least byrepparttar 136711 customer. Therefore, your success is dependent upon a home business opportunity with a company that has live, warm bodied live support 24/7 – whether it is support you may need, or support your customer may need.

Another important aspect of a home business opportunity with a company that offers live support 24/7, isrepparttar 136712 global perspective. What is morning for you may berepparttar 136713 next day for someone else onrepparttar 136714 other side ofrepparttar 136715 globe. To be honest, I am hard pressed to think of an international company with live personal support. Locally, they are even hard to find! So, when you locate a global home business with a personal touch, you have found a true gold nugget.

5. Seek a home business opportunity with a company that has a proven success record…

A lot of people, and a lot of companies offering their business opportunity, will tell you anything they think YOU want to hear in order to separate you from your money. When you talk to someone about a home business opportunity – turnrepparttar 136716 tables. You interview them.

Don’t be afraid to askrepparttar 136717 hard questions like what they are making on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis with their home business. Ask them how long they have been running their own home business. Find out how many hours a day, week, or month they spend working their business. Ask them to give you examples of how they market their home business. Especially important is to ask if they have to spend additional money for items such as business cards, advertising tools, etc.

An example of a company with a proven success record is Xerox. Although Xerox is not a home business, it has a proven success record. In fact, they were so successful that their name is not only an icon, butrepparttar 136718 name “Xerox” is synonymous withrepparttar 136719 word “copy”.

6.Look for a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates training from experts and other professionals…

The majority of people onrepparttar 136720 Internet do not know how to harnessrepparttar 136721 power ofrepparttar 136722 Internet and turn it into wealth machine for themselves. Most people do not know how to market a home business. Therefore, a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates professional, expert training, taking you fromrepparttar 136723 basics thrurepparttar 136724 advanced stages of a marketing system, including how to use software programs, marketing tools, etc., is a virtual gold mine.

Sincerepparttar 136725 majority of people onrepparttar 136726 Internet are not savvy with how to harness its power, a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates professional expert training is a definite requisite for success.

7.Look for a home business opportunity whererepparttar 136727 company works as a Team.

We all have our own weaknesses and strengths. We all like to have periods of “fun” when we work. When you have a business opportunity whererepparttar 136728 company works as a team, then your weakness may be a team member’s strength. For example, you may be detail oriented and have a harder time conceptualizing or seeingrepparttar 136729 whole picture. However, someone on your team may berepparttar 136730 opposite. Combining your strengths will optimize your productivity.

In addition, we all have our “good” days and our “bad” days. Have you ever been around a negative person for any length of time? They pull you down too! If you have your own home business, you need to be upbeat and project a positive outlook at all times. So, when we have one of our “bad” days, it is always helpful to have someone fromrepparttar 136731 team help to re-focus onrepparttar 136732 positive. Then when all are sitting around onrepparttar 136733 beach somewhere sharing war stories and battle wounds, everyone will have a good laugh.

Well, those are my nuggets of wisdom when looking for a home business opportunity. If you would like to minimize your search time and discover a home business opportunity that incorporates all 7 criteria, I can offer you one final nugget -- simply go to: http://members.shaw.ca/sportxperience/deecapture.html

**Attn Ezine editors / Site owners ** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modifyrepparttar 136734 content and includerepparttar 136735 resource box as listed above.

Dee Scrip is a well known and respected published expert author of numerous articles on Home Business, Business Opportunities, Fundraising, VoIP, VoIP Security, as well as other related VoIP issues. Other articles can be found at http://www.free-pc-phone.com


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