In his 14 years in Japan, Paul Butler worked his way up from a financial accountant to finance... more
James Broughton (not his real name), 37, first acknowledged anxiety, a condition he had lived... more
Generally, when we assess unethical behaviour, we tend to see it as rational and intentional.... more
In the quest to find culprits, the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC) has read like a... more
Increasingly sophisticated business technologies may well be changing the way organisations operate, yet a dangerous false sense of security prevails among small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to Konica Minolta. Research showed... read more
Employees using their own digital devices, such as smartphones and tablets, at work can pose significant risks to organisations. While bring-your-own devices (BYODs) can deliver cost benefits, including employee satisfaction, the downside is that... read more
Security, mobility cost efficiencies and environmental considerations are just some of the reasons organisations should consider encouraging directors to use tablets for accessing board papers, Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA) has claimed.... read more
The world’s biggest brands have continued to grow in value during the present economic uncertainty. The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, reveals that the... read more
Email certification and monitoring company Return Path has revealed that worldwide inbox placement rates (IPR) declined sharply in the second half of 2011. According to its Global Email Deliverability Benchmark report, more stringent filtering and... read more
In a recent discussion with INTHEBLACK magazine, Catherine Brenner, non-executive director at AMP, Boral and Coca-Cola Amatil, observed that “technology needs to be a tool rather than an albatross”. She made the comment in the context... read more
At a time when the continuing strength of the dollar is giving Australian manufacturers a big headache, a national study has pointed to the potential for investment in new technologies to help local businesses compete on quality, rather than cost.... read more
Imagine being able to predict how a prospective employee’s brain will behave under stress. Candidates whose cognitive functions do not suit the speed or complexity of particular tasks could be culled from the shortlist, saving time and the... read more
Australia has the second-highest penetration of smartphones in the world – about half the population carries one, which they typically use to search for data, shop and bank as well as communicate. Ignoring this mobile revolution places a... read more
Log on, check in and check out our brand. It’s the evolution of the corporate catchphrase “think global – act local” repackaged for the smartphone age and enhanced with a twist of social media. Since the launch of the first... read more
People love the BYO concept – the opportunity to “bring your own” long-cellared bottle of wine to the local trattoria to enjoy with dinner. There are clear benefits for all. The restaurant does not have to invest in a large... read more
The field of physics unknown as quantum mechanics is so strange that scientists freely admit they don’t really understand it, even though they know it works. The usual explanation is that it is based on the “uncertainty... read more
Cloud-based computing packages are powerful because your clients’ data is stored on a remote computer, making it easy to share information that’s always up to date. But where is that data stored? And how secure is it?Australia’s... read more
Concerns about financial literacy and financial product disclosure have been a part of the accountancy landscape for years. The term “creative accounting” – disclosure practices that are designed to mislead – have long been a... read more
The carbon footprint of the world’s computer users is about the same as that of the airline industry –somewhere between 2.7 and 3 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020 it will have doubled to 6 per cent,... read more
If the only way to measure a bottom line was by the dollars and cents, the alarming numbers associated with electronic waste might not hit home as hard as they do. E-waste – the name given to discarded or obsolete electronic goods – is... read more
It hasn’t managed to stop the rollout of Australia’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) National Broadband Network (NBN), but Australia’s federal opposition’s pressure on the Gillard government to increase the transparency of the... read more
