FOCUS: Management Excellence

Why effective leaders must manage up, down and sideways 9 Ways to up your game and multiply your earnings 8 Habits of influential people   Why effective leaders must manage up, down and sideways Strong team leadership isn’t enough. New research shows the importance – for business impact and career success – of also mobilising…

ANALYSIS: IAASB in SA Update on Enhancing Audit Quality Projects

SAICA recently hosted representatives from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and received first-hand feedback on their work relating to quality control and related projects, with touchpoints regarding audit quality and how this is set to affect practice going forward The objective of the IAASB, being an international independent standard-setting body, is to…

MOTORING: BMW 440i Coupé

BMW recently refreshed its line-up of the 4 Series and introduced some name changes as well. The 440i test vehicle replaces the 435i. The nameplate ending with a ’5’ used to be known as the ultimate pre-‘M’ version, but this has now changed. The new 4 Series has been given a few nips and tucks,…

FEATURE: The challenge of business partnerships

Many professionals, including accountants, doctors, lawyers and engineers, form partnerships as a way of organising their professional services. Research shows that many of these partnerships fail. This article suggests that mediation may offer a mechanism to assist partners both to foresee challenges to their relationship and offer a way forward once such challenges have been…

FEATURE: Mentor people who aren’t like You

Mentoring across demographic lines extends the organisation’s talent pipeline and increases leaders’ social and emotional intelligence, so it’s a win all around Leaders tend to coach and mentor their ‘own’. Even those who believe that diversity improves creativity, problem-solving and decision-making often invest in and advocate for the development of subordinates who are most like…

VIEWPOINT: Debilitating inflation

In the May 2017 issue of ASA, I wrote an article on the power of compounding, the inspiration for this being my recent exposure to retirement modelling. As mentioned, those models are wrought with assumptions, and one of those assumptions is inflation. The importance in understanding inflation and its debilitating effects should encourage us to…