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Exactly one year ago, markets were in a flurry as the rand reached and exceeded R11 to the US dollar. As usual, analysts rushed to predict where the trajectory was headed. In retrospect, we can say with confidence that those who predicted a downhill slope were the accurate ones. The rand...
A business owner who has started outsourcing financial management recently remarked: “Once I’ve spent an hour with my financial manager, it feels like I’ve spent an hour with a therapist!” Her comment got us thinking about just how far the analogy might carry. It led to this Huffington Post article, which...
On CliffCentral radio’s Leadership Platform programme last week, we chatted to Steve Giddings, managing director of Frontier Corporation about the notion of competition. Giddings, who is also a global business consultant, said that many companies take an overly narrow view of what it means to compete. “A lot of entrepreneurs simply...
The role of chief financial officer was once interpreted as fairly narrow. He was seen mainly as a controller: the guardian of the company coffers. Nowadays, that role has undergone an evolution. Instead of being the back-office person he was once was, he is now expected to partner with the...
It’s every financial director’s dream to walk into a company and change it from struggling to smooth-sailing. But the chief financial officer of Sony has managed to do just that. The revival of a slumping share price and the revitalisation of a flagging brand is thanks, according to some, to...
What does it take to be seen as South Africa’s foremost chief financial officer? This year’s CFO of the year award (as presented by the association CFO South Africa) was bagged by Alexander Forbes’s Deon Viljoen. The chief financial officer of one of the country’s largest financial risk services companies,...
There’s something magnificent about rowing: the sun glints its reflection as you watch a boat or kayak glide – seemingly effortlessly – across the water. A team of eight moves in perfect synchronisation; their collective efforts helping the vessel move that little bit closer to its destination. If you are...
It takes courage and a degree of humility to recognize that your company needs to implement a turnaround strategy. The decision may have been months or even years in the offing; the swelling worry as you watch your expenses mounting and your coffers draining. Or, it could have happened seemingly...
Last weekend, friends of ours attended a wedding. True to South African tradition, it went on for longer than a work day! Our friends have a one-year old child who needed to be babysat. They decided to share the load between two sets of relatives. The first relatives would do...
