With a wide spectrum of career avenues, the CA(SA) profession is made up of a melody of personalities. In this special report we focus on five CAs(SA) in various phases of life who despite circumstances, are leaders in their own making Lawrence Shuttleworth turns 100 Freedom of speech Mother to child genes Leading change…
The mandatory rotation of audit firms continues to be proposed as a way to promote the independence of the audit process. However, South Africa’s governance savvy has ensured we already have a workable solution that has proved to be effective, writes Parmi Natesan The mandatory rotation of auditors is one of those issues that seem…
Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is commonly used in practice to value businesses and underlying assets. Unfortunately, it is often misapplied or misunderstood. Greg Beech and Dave Thayser explain The concept of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is widely used in practice and taught at most tertiary institutions. The underlying thinking is that…
Is your organisation ready to play? Treating customers like fans instead of wallets, listening to their needs, and welcoming their contribution can be very beneficial to an organisation. By Wandi Kruger-van Renen and Riaan Rudman A question that is frequently asked is: ‘How can technology be used to release value from customers?’ One such a…
It is going to happen one day when in spite of your tireless effort, things go wrong with your presentation. Let’s look at those common presentation nightmares and how you can deal with them. First, your PowerPoint presentation does not work or there is a technical glitch. Have your slides and notes pre-printed so you…
In an arena where every second counts, professional drag racer Larry Dixon knew what it meant to focus on the job. He won a record of 12 races in 12 finals, including the prestigious Mac Tools US Nationals four times. He notes, ‘Winning teams have the least amount of distractions. They have a tight group…
When it comes to the business of wealth creation, one rarely has to look far to uncover the vices of greed and exploitation – usually under a thin guise of charm and sales ingenuity. It is argued that regulation of advice and financial products only creates cost and red tape. However, looking at some of…
All around you staff, colleagues and business partners are considering a ‘sabbatical’. But what is a sabbatical and when do you need to consider taking yours, if at all? In recent times, ‘sabbatical’ has come to mean an extended absence from your workplace in order to achieve something. Corporates offer paid and unpaid sabbaticals. In…
TIDY UP THE MESS The cloud offers significant benefits when it comes to security and business continuity, writes Steven Cohen Cloud backup provider IronTree estimates that one in five South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) experience some form of data loss once a year, most commonly as a result of accidents and natural disasters,…
The board of an organisation is required to understand the strategic importance of IT, assume responsibility for the governance of IT, and place IT governance on the board agenda. By Marius van den Berg This first principle in Chapter 5 of the King III code is central to the governance of Information Technology (IT), yet…