Imagine owning a musical instrument valued at $4,5 million – would you not treat this with care? As a speaker, your vocal box and credibility should be cared for just as much. If you are too sick to speak, your best option would be either to postpone the talk or find a replacement. But what…
The rand is ‘getting caned’ amid fears after record low – Business Day US stocks plummet amid global rout – Bloomberg Global markets plunge – Financial Times Hysterical headlines like these may have unnerved you, but keeping your long-term goal in mind will help you stay the course. These won’t be the last headlines like…
Too many boards today are filled with generalist independent directors. Most likely members are drawn from the company’s home country, have similar career backgrounds, and are overwhelmingly male. Companies wanting considerable growth need to examine whether their boards and leadership really have the range of experience, perspectives and expertise to master and thrive in the…
Mindset, rather than circumstances or situations, will propel clerks into positions where they can excel and shape their futures. Angella Makowe and Martin Mutonhora give their impressions of this year’s Young Chartered Accountants Network seminar. There was a dull nervous murmur in the venue and the audience, eager with anticipation, rushed to their seats to…
Theo Vermaak CA(SA), PKF International’s Regional Director – Africa, became chair of the Forum of Firms in January 2015. By Lynn Grala Theo Vermaak grew up in Bergville, a small rural town situated in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains of KwaZulu-Natal. With a great love for animals, and especially wildlife, he hoped to perhaps…
The tranquil setting and exceptional guest services are characteristics that define the Velmoré experience, writes Yuven Gounden The minute you enter the portals of the Velmoré Hotel Estate you cannot miss the tranquillity that greets you. Conveniently located a mere 30 minutes from Pretoria and equally close to Johannesburg, Velmoré is only a short drive…
Christiaan Engelbrecht penned down a few thoughts towards developing our leadership awareness, more specifically the mastering of self-leadership. In this century, successful leadership is linked to authenticity, humility, simplicity, intentionality, clarity and creativity. This is very different to a decade ago when it was all about time-management, process management, problem-solving, organisational skills, procedural planning and…
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors is developing a risk-based global insurance capital standard that is designed to provide transparency and comparability of insurers across jurisdictions. By Kerry-Anne Forster and Matthew Brinckmann Over the past four years the wave of regulatory change that has hit the global insurance industry seems to be refusing to break.…
I sit around board room tables every week helping companies to reason on what constitutes the most appropriate black equity partner. One thing they all agree on is that the biggest risk lies not in the corporate structure itself or even the terms and conditions of the transaction, but in who the future partner should…
I recently came across research by Dr Felienne Hermans that got me thinking. She had the opportunity to analyse 16 000 spreadsheets from within Enron, and her research highlighted some uncomfortable facts on spreadsheets. There is a repository of spreadsheets that researchers use as a data point. It contains spreadsheets from a variety of sources,…