Forensic services

CONSUMER ALERT Tired of piles of “pre-approved” credit card offers filling your mailbox? Chances are if you use a credit card, you’re included on credit bureaus’ mailing lists, which are sold to outside parties for pre-screened credit card offers, marketing purposes and insurance solicitations. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,

THE WORLD’S DUMBEST FRAUDSTERS Many Americans have received an e-mail or letter from Nigeria, claiming that the recipient can receive huge funds from an “over-invoiced” government contract or a wealthy individual who died without a will. In actuality, these are advance fee swindles where the victim must pay phony charges

SURVEY SAVVY According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), customer satisfaction for the fourth quarter of 2006 peaked at 74.9 on a 100-point scale, the highest level recorded since its initial measurement in 1994 and up almost 2% from 2005. Satisfaction in the finance and insurance sector registered at

GOLDEN BUSINESS IDEA Gone are the days of performance checklists, hastily reviewed during an employee’s annual review. Companies now use performance standards to design orientation and training plans, research customer service and development needs, and award performance bonuses. The National Federation of Independent Business ( www.nfib.com ) provides guidelines for

NUMEROLOGY Not all business types fared equally in last year’s IRS enforcement efforts. For the 2006 fiscal year, S corporation and partnership audits rose 34% and 15% from 2005, respectively, while audits of small businesses remained constant and efforts against large corporations—those with more than $10 million in assets—actually fell

BUSINESS TRENDS Large companies have moved rapidly toward majority voting for directors in the past year, according to a recent study by Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, a Chicago law firm. More than 52% of the companies in the S&P 500 have now adopted a majority vote policy, bylaw or charter

SURVEY SAVVY Many employees expect revamped retirement plans by the end of 2007. A survey of 146 companies found that by the end of the year businesses are likely to offer: Automatic registration of employees into 401(k) plans (58%). Third-party investment advisory services (43%). Contribution escalation options (34%). Introduction of

ON THE RECORD “People can reject the standards, but ultimately this body was chosen to be independent and tough-minded and to do what it thinks is right. I think I would rather go down than cave in.” —Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IASB, quoted in Accountancy Ireland.

Missing the Train T he typical U.S. company spent nearly 50 times as much to recruit a professional making $100,000 a year than it did to train that person. Across all compensation levels, U.S. companies spent $1,415 in recruiting costs for every $10,000 of new-employee pay. But the median training

Mark of a Good Manager Call it the trickle-down effect of satisfaction: Happy employees make for happy customers. Ed Rehkopf, author of Leadership on the Line—A Guide for Front Line Supervisors, Business Owners and Emerging Leaders, says an effective manager can motivate workers by creating an environment in which BUSINESS

© 2006 The Five O’Clock Club. Reprinted by permission. SURVEY SAVVY

Red Tide Rising T he next big wave of bankruptcies is on the horizon, say attorneys, financial advisers, investment bankers and other restructuring professionals. According to a survey by Dow Jones & Co.’s Daily Bankruptcy Review and the American Bankruptcy Institute, 82% predicted the next major group of corporate restructurings

DATA POINT $190,000 The median fraud loss per scheme in 2004-2006 by organizations with fewer than 100 employees. The amount was greater than in even the largest organizations. Source: 2006 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. CAREER FRONT

Top Five Influences on Business Ethics M ore than 1,100 managers and human-resources experts polled by the Human Resource Institute ranked factors influencing business ethics today and 10 years hence: Factor Rank Today Rank in 10 Years Corporate scandals 1 4 Marketplace competition 2 2 Demands by investors 3 5

Most Audit Committees Still Lack Accountants T he number of accountants on audit committees more than doubled from 2002 to 2005, according to Huron Consulting Group’s 2006 Audit Committee Research Report ( www.huronconsultinggroup.com ), which sampled the biographies of committee members at 178 public companies from Nasdaq 100 and Fortune

Taking Security Into Your Own Hands M ore than 80% of companies reported the theft or loss of an electronic data-storage device containing sensitive or confidential information during the previous year, according to a survey by the Ponemon Institute, an information-security research organization, and Vontu, a maker of data-loss prevention