B-school prof discusses scandal at Fannie Mae

David Sherman, an accounting professor at the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University, recently addressed the scandal at Fannie Mae.

“Regarding them [Fannie Mae] ‘righting themselves,’ I think that it is a bit of a love fest, in that things seemed so bad and it was not clear when the new numbers would arrive,” Prof. Sherman states. “They also did eliminate some of the board members that were not able to catch these problems or prevent them. The accounting problems do add up to big absolute numbers but smaller percentages than some would have liked. The net adjustment to equity was really only about $2billion, they reported restating retained earnings down by $6B and other equity went up $4B. The press underemphasizes the lattter because it is less dramatic and the net of $2B over several years is related to total assets of almost $1Trillion, so it is less than 1% per year.”

Prof. Sherman was an academic fellow at the SEC last year, and was integrally involved in the analysis that led to them requiring a restatement. He also was at the House hearings and some of the internal enforcement hearings, so he also understands the accounting issues and observed the many political elements that influenced the resolution.

Below is Prof. Sherman’s bio:

H. David Sherman, Professor, Accounting Group. A member of the CBA faculty since 1985, Professor Sherman also serves as an adjunct professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He has been on the faculty of the MIT Sloan School of Management, and was visiting faculty at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, in 1999. He teaches executive and MBA courses in accounting, control, and global financial statement analysis with a focus on high technology, medical technology, financial services, health care, and nonprofit organizations. His current research focuses on financial literacy issues for management and boards in global businesses, financial reporting issues, improving shareholder returns in bank mergers, and managing health care service cost and quality. He is an expert on developing and using financial and nonfinancial measures to evaluate and manage performance. Professor Sherman has served as director, manager, and consultant to financial, healthcare, and high technology businesses, including BankBoston; EMC; KLA; A.T.Kearney (BankAmerica); U.S. Bancorp; Fidelity Brokerage Services (FMR Corp.); CRESAP; U.S. Department of Defense - managed health care programs; Department Of Supply and Services - Government of Canada; and INSEAD. He has also served as a board member and manager of several new ventures from start-up to IPO and sale to acquiring private and public companies. Professor Sherman holds DBA and MBA degrees from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Brandeis University. A Certified Public Accountant, he has practiced with Coopers & Lybrand and served on an advisory task force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Professor Sherman has authored two monographs: Accountability - A Key Obligation of Management and Service Organization Productivity Management. His research has also appeared in such publications as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Accounting Review, Bankers Magazine, Interfaces, Management Accounting, Journal of Banking and Finance, American Banker, and Medical Care. He is the co-author of Profits You Can Trust: Spotting and Surviving Accounting Landmines (2003).

NHL tries to spin a new Web

In a sports story appearing in The Charlotte News and Observer, Lorenzo Perez writes about the NHL's new deal with YouTube, and how it might bring fresh interest to the league.

In the story, Andy Rohm, marketing professor at the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University, states "I think the appeal of YouTube is it's not a 90-minute or two-hour broadcast of the games. It really packages the excitement and action on ice in small, kind of digestible segments. With the younger demographic, we're dealing with a generation that's kind of characterized by media-consumption ADD. So it's really, I think, a smart vehicle with which to reach these people."

To read the entire story, visit http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/NHLYouTube.htm

Beyond The Executive Branch

In the January issue of Industry Week, Jonathan Katz writes that companies are moving business intelligence into formerly uncharted areas to maximize its benefits. In the story, Katz notes that "approaches similar to Briggs & Stratton's are driven by 'customer demand for real-time decision making,' according to a recent BI study conducted by Boston Corporate Finance (www.bostoncf.com), a technology-focused investment banking firm."

To see the entire story, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/beyondexecutive.htm

President of M&A International Discusses IBM Acquisition

IBM recently announced its acquisition of compliance specialist Consul. Here are some of the thoughts of Murray Beach, president of both Boston Corporate Finance (www.bostoncf.com) and M&A International:

"This is a very interesting acquisition and is consistent with a strong trend which we are seeing in the security space," Mr. Beach noted. "Enterprises today have a need to monitor their entire network and all interactions within the network in order to fully comply with regulations and to ensure that only authorized employees and contractors are accessing key information. The type of technology offered by Consul addresses this need and allows for the full monitoring of the network and who is actually using and pulling on corporate information."

"This acquisition by IBM is similar to EMC’s acquisition of Network Intelligence earlier this year," Mr. Beach continued. "Network Intelligence has a very robust solution around this same area of monitoring all “network events”. This type of interaction detail has not been important prior to the advent of the highly regulated business environment, but is now essential.

"Recent research shows that most security breaches occur from within the enterprise versus coming in from outside the enterprise. These tools are designed primarily to keep track of the internal access and allow for this clear data for analysis."

For more information about Boston Corporate Finance, please visit www.bostoncf.com.

Will Zune, Wii and PS3 succeed?

People are actively speculating about the possible success and failure of consumer electronics products like Microsoft’s Zune or Nintendo’s Wii. Gloria Barczak, marketing professor at the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University, has been studying the successes and failures of consumer electronics product launches.

“An interesting thing about these products is that Zune is late to market in terms of MP3 players and Wii is not as technologically advanced in terms of graphics, processors, or high-definition video compared to its competitors (PS3 and Xbox). Yet, both products have raised the stakes in their respective markets by providing a unique and worthwhile feature that seems to meet today's consumer lifestyles,” Prof. Barczak states. “For Zune, it's the ability to share your entertainment experiences with others which builds on the trends of blogging, viral marketing, buzz marketing, etc. For Wii, it's the ability to be more involved in the gaming experience which again builds on the trend of consumers interacting with their environment rather than passively watching or listening to things happen. So, both products attempt to achieve two goals simultaneously: to meet our social needs for connection and interaction with others while at the same time, to advance the isolated world of digital technology which can cut us off from these social relationships.”

Below is Prof. Barczak’s bio:

Gloria Barczak, Professor, Marketing Group. Professor Barczak served as assistant professor at Georgia State University prior to joining the CBA faculty in January 1990. She holds a BA from the College of Mt. St. Vincent, an MBA from State University of New York at Albany, and a PhD from Syracuse University. Her research interests include new product development, new product strategy, and managing the innovation process. Professor Barczak is a member of the American Marketing Association, Product Development and Management Association, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Her research has been published in a number of journals including IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and Organizational Dynamics.

B-school prof and expert on corporate governance can speak to backdating options issue

As the media pays increasing attention to the issue of the growing scandals surrounding the issue of backdating of options, I thought you might be interested in the thoughts of Chris Robertson, professor of international business at the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University. One of his areas of expertise is corporate governance:


"One major cost related to backdating exercise dates on tax returns by executives will clearly be a drop in confidence by rank and file employees. With resentment of high stock payouts to executives on the rise this scandal will no doubt trigger angst at the middle management and staff levels. Time and again board of directors and top management team members underestimate the value of a strong corporate culture, and the potential negative implications of what are perceived as behind the scenes deals. To maintain a sustainable level of motivation in the workplace strong leaders must do everything possible to avoid misconduct, or even the slightest perception of unethical behavior. Skepticism is at an all time high and executives must endeavor to steer clear of scandalous situations."


Below is Prof. Robertson’s bio:


Christopher Robertson, Associate Professor, International Business; McCarthy Family Research Fellow. Professor Robertson has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA and PhD from Florida State University. Prior to joining the Northeastern University faculty, Professor Robertson taught at James Madison University, La Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, Florida State University, and La Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. He has also lectured in Israel, Hong Kong and Chile. His professional experience includes work with toy giant Hasbro, Inc. and a number of small businesses, primarily in the restaurant industry. Professor Robertson's primary research stream is cross-cultural management. Specifically, he is interested in ethical, behavioral, and strategic differences across cultures. His work has been published in journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Ethics, Management International Review, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of International Management, Organizational Dynamics, Journal of Business Research, Business Horizons and the Thunderbird International Business Review. Professor Robertson is a member of the Academy of International Business, the Academy of Management, and the IberoAmerican Academy of Management. In addition, he serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Public Administration and the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior.

Best of the Web 2007

In their December issue, Internet Retailer highlights eight online retailers as being "best of the Web." Featured in this story is WebCollage's (www.webcollage.com) work with Tiger Direct.

To read more, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/bestoftheweb07.htm

Glowing Gifts From Brightec

On a November 30th posting on PC World's blog Gearlog, Brightec's (www.brightec.com) ideas for Christmas ornaments and wrapping paper are featured.

To read more, visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/cheerlog.htm

Digital Focus - It Glows

In a November 28th story in PC World, Dave Johnson indicates that Brightec (www.brightec.com) sells one of the most unique photo gifts he's ever seen.

Go to the following to read the entire story: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/digitalfocus.htm

M&A NEWS: Is SourceFire IPO a Done Deal (INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR NEWS)

In a November 17th story in Institutional Investor News, Brad Adams, a managing director at Boston Corporate Finance (www.bostoncf.com), stated that the first offer SourceFire received, was about seven times Sourcefire's $32 million total revenue last year. And it sets a $225 million baseline for potential buyers, because the company is performing better than it was when the offer was made.

To read the full story, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/sourcefireIPO.htm

SARBANES-OXLEY: Feds to ease corporate curbs (DENVER POST)

On November 19th, Sanjay Anand, chairman of the Sarbanes-Oxley Institute (www.soxinstitute.org), told The Denver Post: "It is about time that (the two agencies) took a hard look at the burden of (Sarbanes-Oxley), in particular section 404 - and not just for political reasons, but for actually doing an unbiased and effective cost-benefit analysis."

To read the entire article, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/fedstoease.htm

SPORTS SPONSORSHIP: The Top 10 Power Brands of World Club Football

Today, Global Sponsors ( www.globalsponsors.com ), a global London-based sponsorship agency, released its list of the Top 10 Power Brands of World Club Football. Below is this ranking, as well as comments by Michael Stirling, commercial director of Global Sponsors, about each club.

The Top 10 Power Brands of World Club Football

The Top 10 Power Brands of World Club Football is today released by London based sponsorship agency Global Sponsors.



Rankings



1 Barcelona

2. Manchester United

3. 3. Real Madrid

4. 4. Chelsea

5. 5. AC Milan

6. 6. Bayern

7. 7. Arsenal

8. 8. Liverpool

9.

10. Lyon

9. Inter Milan



Source of Results



Global sponsors undertook the survey of 100 of its Fortune 500 contacts and clients. Using a points system respondants were asked to rank clubs for each of the following criteria which the objective of determing which 10 clubs worldwide provided the best platform for corporate communication through sponsorship over the next 12 months. Respondants were also requested to provide their comments on issues they considered relevant in determing which clubs they would or would not seek to sponsor.



Suvey criteria



The History of Winning Competitions

Quality of current sponsors

Match day Attendance

Profile of the club's Manager

Cause for Concern from Singnificant Adverse Publicity

The Power of the Club Brand as a Means of Corporate Communication

Quality and Capacity of Stadium

Attraction of Star Players

Global Media Profile



Analysis:



Michael Stiriling Commercial Director at Global Sponsors comments on the main finding of the survey of Globals Sponsor's clients and contacts.



Ranked 1 FC Barcelona have built an capable corporate communication platform in a relatively short period of time, although the global viewing figures of La Liga not as high as those of Barclay's Premiership. This has been compensated by their recent progress in the UEFA Champions League which has premium television coverage globally. Barcelona's international appeal has been enhanced by global icons such as Ronaldinho and manager Frank Rijkaard, who are widely recognised. The club has developed innovative ways of reaching a global audience. However, the club will benefit from more major international sponsors. Some international corporations have been hesitant to back the club due to the polarisaton of support between Madrid clubs and Barcelona, although this i s more of more local concern that international relevance. The involvement of UNICEF as sponsors of the club shirt was an innovative way of neutralising Barcelona fans' opposition to sponsorship and of preparing the fans for a commercial sponsor at the end of the current agreement with UNICEF.



Ranked 2 Manchester United were a perhaps an unlikely candidate to finish so far up in the survey given the lack of success in recent times and widespread negative publicity the club has suffered since the hostile Glazer takeover. However, respondants acknowledged that it is not easy to build a truely global brand and United were well on their way to doing so before the distraction of the takeover. However, United's fotunes seem to be changing since there has been less negative publicity associated with the club this year. Last year United found it more difficult than expected to secure a replacement for long-term sponsor Vodafone. Many global brands shied away from the opportunity, worried that their brand would be tarnished with the negative publicity and attention the club was experiencing at the time.& nbsp; However, recent success on the pitch has improved perceptions, while stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney enhance brand value and recognition. Some respondants stated that United's association with an insuance company is not as exciting as being associated with a technology and telecommunications innovator who previously the main sponsors which makes the United brand boring. The key issue for respondants remained sporting success.



Ranked 3 Real Madrid. No club can compete with the success of Real Madrid's sporting success of winning the European Cup nine times, which entitles it to finish in the top three. Its purchases of world class players or at least world class marketing icons such as David Beckham, Luis Figo, Zinadine Zidane and Ronaldo, has brought with it a global fan base. However, respondants expressed concern that the club is all about money and commericalisation and that the club needs to do more to publicise its non-commerical community activities and investment in ordinary people. Barcelona has stolen the lead in this respect with its sponsorship of UNICEF, the purpose of which may be politica l in addition to a desire to aid the charity. Real Madrid needs to recapture its lustre by winning titles, Championships and the hearts and mind of fans, and not to be perceived as purely a commerical entity. Some respondants said Real Madrid's record of purchasing big name signings places the club under greater pressure from sponsors and fans to continue its investment in buying big name players. Major corporations are insisting that football clubs to invest in the community. This enables sponsors to show that they are responsible corporate citizens. Many new agreements between corporate sponsors and clubs now insist on this type of activity.



Ranked 4 Chelsea has increased its apeal in the shortest of time scales. It powers its way up the list by drawing global attention with big money signings of the world's biggest football stars. Big personalities that attract the media's attention such as its manager Jose Mourinho and its owner Abramovich have done the brand no harm. The club has restructured itself to select and work with big name brands and has shed sponsorships which it believes are not in its best interest to grow its global profile. The club has attracted a new wave of fans globally who are attracted by the glamour of the club. The club is in danger of being perceived as a club for the rich and alienate many ordinary fans. Chelsea does not have an illustrious history and its success is releatively recent. It has still not&nb sp;won the Champions League. The club is perceived by some respondants to have a bottomless pit of fianance therefore the value and excitment of winning major titles is diminished as some respondandents said they had a grossly unfair advantage over the competition which they felt resulted in the club buying its way to the top. While other respondants stated unfair competition is a fact of the game,and provided the club can provide the exposure a brand needs it is a good platform through which to communicate.



Ranked 5 AC Milan is a club with great history and sporting success. Respondants said that the striking colours of the club makes it immediately identifiable. The Italian League has the second highest global audiance figures only to the Barclays Premiership and recent progress in the Champions league enables the club to enjoy good global exposure. The club's heartthrob global icons such as Kaka, Dida and others widens the club's appeal. However, the recent scandals in the Italian League have made many corporate sponsors more hesitant to sponsor some of the big- name Italian clubs. Most sponsors are looking for non controversial associations. AC Milan has been working hard building global partnerships in creating some of the most innovative and meaningful youth development projects globally.&nb sp; The club has avoided making the mistakes of some of the bigger-name clubs of just going to play games and take the cash and move on but has worked hard to leave a legacy behind with which local fans can connect. However, its selection and association with a betting company as its main sponsors was a surprise choice for many respondants and a reason behind the unwillingness of some to sponsor the club.



Ranked 6 Bayern Munich's world class stadium and the success of its players in the German national team has lifted the exposure of the club. Bayern provides an important gateway into the economically important German market for corporate sponsors. Although it has pockets of fans scattered all over the globe some respondants stated that the club is still at an immature stage in building its global presence. International viewing figures when the German National team plays matches are high comparative to the viewing figures that German club football acheives. Respondants stated that Bayern can provide a powerful national platform but were hesitant whether the brand has mass international appeal. This perception can be deminished if the club can consistantly progress to the later stages of the UEFA Champions league coupled with a strategy to internationally build the club's profile. The club however has an association with some excellent high profile sponsors which has added to the club's prestige.



Ranked 7 Arsenal have sold most of their sponsorhsip packages this year. Some respondants commented on the clubs choice of sponsors in that Emirates was chosen as the club's main sponsor and Israel as its offical travel destination as is its secondary sponsor. This strategy has been aguably adopted to appease the opposing points of views and political discussions the club has had to face as a result of selecting these partners. The new stadium has elevated Arsenal's commercial status and players such as Henry and Fabregas are stars. Some respondants thought that Arsenal are in need of a big-name star as a global icon as Henry's career has possibly peaked. Arsenal are without a major title for a number of years to their name but still enjoy high levels of media exposure particlarly due to pr ogressing to last years UEFA Champions league final. Their need for a title remains desperate, however.



Ranked 8 Liverpool still trades on its great history and its Champions League triumph in 2005 gave the club a much needed boost to push it into the top 10 power brands. Respondants stated the the club's performance has been inconsistent and the club has suffered from a lack of a clear vision to build on its historical success. However, Liverpool is clearly well supported globally but in need of establishing a more dynamic commercial strategy. Some respondents thought that the club has significant undeveloped potential. However, they also said potential is of little use as corporate sponsors are firstly interested in results and exposure. Steven Gerrard remains the Icon of the club and is an established name regarded favourably by corporate sponsors. Peter Couch was also mentioned as an asset to the club. Greater stability of a core team of players is an attribute that sponsors would like to see.



Ranked 9 Inter Milan have been the main beneficiary from the recent corruption scandel affecting Italy's biggest clubs. The club has picked up a number stars including Hernan Crespo. Their squad contains two 2006 World Cup- winning players: Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grosso. Respondants suggested that Inter appear to be a new force, in the Italian game. The club however, concern was expressed that the club often plays in empty stadiums and the loss of Juventus to Serie B has erroded some of the excitement of the league. Inter Milan had not won a major title for a number of years until being installed as the Italian Champions of Serie A after the match fixing scandal that affected Italy last year.



Ranked 10 Lyon has had a sparkling start to the season and last years progress in the UEFA Champions League has brought the club to the attention of corporate sponsors. However, French football is the least watch football league world wide out of the top 5 leagues. Lyon will need to maintain their progress in the Champions League if they are going to maintain their position in the top 10 Power Brands of World Football.



Copyright Global Sponsors December 2006

B-SCHOOL NEWS: devoting increased attention to interpersonal skills development

As you may know, various studies highlight the growing dissatisfaction among corporations worldwide with the skills business schools are teaching to MBA students. For example, according to surveys conducted a few years ago by The Association of Graduate Recruiters (in the UK), employers continue to seek – and continue to find scarce – the personal skills that will make MBA graduates valuable employees. These surveys go on to point out that what employers seek most from new graduates are enthusiasm, self-motivation, interpersonal skills, team-working, and good oral communication – and that these skills are more important than specialist knowledge.

Earlier this year, Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration formally announced an overhaul of its full-time MBA program. The news here is that the school is focusing on working and partnering with the businesses that hire their MBAs in ways that most business schools do not. Moreover, a central tenant of this transformed MBA is a heightened focus on developing these personal skills through a unique combination of skills assessment and implementation of a personal development portfolio.

“Personal assessment is all the rage at business schools right now,” says Brendan Bannister, professor and head of the human resources group at the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University. Prof. Bannister was also in charge of the skills design team that spent two years planning the changes at Northeastern. “While things like our online personal development portfolio or learning teams are not unique in and of themselves, no other MBA program offers the combination of components aimed at both identifying and improving these critical personal skills.”

To show that this is happening on a national scale, I thought I would highlight what other MBA programs are doing in this area:

Tuck (Dartmouth College): utilize 3600 assessments, one on one coaching, study groups, career counseling, internship; strong focus on leadership potential and development

Wharton (University of Pennsylvania): heavy focus on Learning Teams including use of peer coaches

UChicago: heavy focus on Learning Teams including use of peer coaches

UVA Darden: use Learning Teams including peer coaches; second year peer coaches take a ‘How to Coach’ 3 credit elective while they provide facilitation/coaching to the Learning Teams

UCBerkley: utilize 3600 assessments and personal development planning

Last year, Northeastern University College of Business Administration (CBA) conducted over two-dozen in-depth interviews with Global 500 companies. “We had to push them to go beyond the platitudes, and to tell us what they really wanted, and where business schools were failing them,” said Thomas Moore, dean of CBA. “Very few universities take the time to identify corporate partners and work with them to understand exactly what skills-sets they want in the MBAs they hire. Based on corporate feedback, students will supplement a rigorous MBA curriculum with management intensives and skills modules to develop abilities in communications, interpersonal effectiveness, project management, and ethics.”

After talking with their corporate partners, the most frequently cited skills of effective managers (and leaders) were as follows:

Verbal communication
Managing time and stress
Managing individual decisions
Dealing with complexity and ambiguity
Project Management
Business Analysis
Recognizing, defining and solving problems
Motivating and influencing others
Delegating
Setting goals and articulating a vision
Self-awareness
Team building
Managing conflict
Leading positive change

To identify, assess and strengthen these skills sets of their students, CBA has created a skills program that goes across all the students’ course work, consisting of four key components:

1. Skills intensives
2. Learning teams, led by corporate coaches
3. Personal development portfolios
4. Corporate residencies

If you’d like to talk with the Dean, current students, or corporate partners of CBA about this unique approach to personal skills development, I’d be happy to facilitate an interview.

FINANCIAL NEWS: Murray Beach predicts that the Enterprise Content Management space will continue to consolidate

Murray Beach, president of Boston Corporate Finance, recently told Tamina Vahidy of Line56.com the folllowing:

"Open Text is the largest standalone company in the space...We see more consolidation coming. In this imminent consolidation, Interwoven or Vignette might prove to be attractive targets."

Please visit the following link to read the entire story: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/oracleacquiresstellent.htm

FINANCIAL NEWS: Comment on Keane (NYSE: KEA) as a good buyout candidate

Brad Adams, managing director at Boston Corporate Finance (www.bostoncf.com), was interviewed recently by Tom Taulli of Motley Fool: "he thinks that Keane(NYSE: KEA) would also make a good buyout candidate: 'It has a very attractive service offering, some fantastic clients and an interesting global delivery model that incorporates on-site, offsite, near-shore and offshore delivery capabilities," he told me. "Further, it has a sizeable presence in India, which we believe could be interesting to a number of acquirers.'

Visit the following link for the entire story: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/kanbaysellsout.htm

New software development lifecycle management software used by KeyBank, Champion Mortgage and others...

Last week, QAVantage, a leading provider of software development lifecycle management software, announced the release of version 4.0 of its RTIME™ product. You will notice that a number of prominent financial institutions, including KeyBank and Champion Mortgage, are users of RTIME.

Some of the benefits of this solution include:

- Enforces development and change management process/methodology
- Enforces IT compliance
- Prevents software defects, improves software quality and lower costs
- Reduce development cycle times lowering costs and bringing products to market faster
- Facilitates team collaboration and visibility across all stakeholders to ensure project success, and software meets business needs and accountability

A copy of the news release appears below.

QAVANTAGE LAUNCHES RTIME 4.0 –
A USABLE, FLEXIBLE AND AFFORDABLE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PLATFORM
With a proven track record at Key Bank, Champion Mortgage and other leading firms, RTIME is improving process methodology and helping to enforce IT compliance.

Parsippany, NJ – Nov. 13, 2006, QAVantage, a leading provider of usable, flexible and affordable software development lifecycle management software, announces the release of RTIME™ version 4.0. Selected by Key Bank, Champion Mortgage and other leading firms over competitive solutions, RTIME’s usability and affordability ensures involvement by all Business and Technical stakeholders. RTIME delivers the collaboration, visibility and traceability teams need to minimize defects, reduce cycle times, lower costs and ensure technology project success. Software vendors and commercial organizations alike will benefit from process enforcement over multiple initiatives including new application development, change management and IT compliance in a single application.

“We selected RTIME to help us manage our largest web-based initiative in 2002. RTIME allowed us to accurately capture the requirements up-front, avoiding misinterpretation while helping to forecast the level of effort for testing. Along with defect tracking and solid reporting, RTIME was critical to managing the tens of thousands of requirements that were part of this project. We also knew we would see substantial savings ensuring overall quality prior to roll-out” said Lorri Shipman, Manager, Central Testing.

RTIME provides a single centralized solution that succinctly manages a company’s Releases, Project Costs and Estimates, Requirements, IT Controls, Technical Specifications, Test Cases, incidents and more providing senior level management with a web based dashboard for complete visibility. In addition, RTIME is completely configurable to meet the needs of various methodologies with “Out of Box” integration to commonly used applications such as MS Visual Source Safe, MS Project, MS Outlook, Lotus Notes and industry leading testing tools.
“Many companies struggle with the visibility, collaboration and process methodology enforcement required to effectively manage software development and technology projects. And now more than ever, compliance is driving organizations to adopt new methods for better visibility and control over and across multiple initiatives. Since 2002, RTIME has been helping customers address these common challenges while reducing cycle times, lowering costs and improving software quality”, said Paul Schwartz, recently appointed CEO of QAVantage.
New features in RTIME 4.0 include:
- A web-based reporting dashboard delivering graphical and tabular reporting to further improve individual and cross project visibility
- Enhancements to the RTIME MS Project Gateway for even greater control over budget management, time and cost estimates and resource management
- The ability to manage technical specifications with linkage to business requirements further improving overall traceability
- Templates to jumpstart configuration, for various development and IT compliance methodologies
Developed and enhanced through nearly a decade of real-world project endeavors, RTIME’s feature-rich technique is both usable and practical at a price point that any size organization can afford.

About QAVantage Founded in 2006, QAVantage, based in Parsippany, NJ is a software company that provides RTIMETM, a ground-breaking project management and software development lifecycle management platform. RTIME, initially developed and used as a servicing tool in 1997 by LastCall Solutions has been in production as a packaged product since 2002. LastCall Solutions, a Quality Assurance consulting company, formed QAVantage to focus exclusively on bringing RTIME to a broader market at a price point any organization can afford.
For more information on QAVantage or RTIME, visit http://www.QAVantage.com send an e-mail to contact@QAVantage.com or call 1-800-573-1983.
QAVantage, the QAVantage logo and RTIME are trademarks of QAVantage. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Dennis O’Connor
Paradigm Communications (for QAVantage)
(508) 650-0100; cell: (781) 883-5109
Dennis.oconnor@paradigmshiftpr.com

NEW BOOK: The Fast Path to Corporate Growth

A new book by business school professor Marc Meyer offers a new framework to enable large corporations to generate internal innovation by developing new product lines that address new market applications and generate new revenue streams for these companies. Prof. Meyer’s new book, The Fast Path to Corporate Growth, presents examples a global companies such as Honda, IBM and Master Foods, that have put this framework to use. Below is more information about this book.

THE FAST PATH TO CORPORATE GROWTH
Leveraging Knowledge and Technologies to New Market Applications
Marc H. Meyer

Every company understands the importance of growth. Yet, few successfully craft and
implement long-term growth strategies; instead, they spend their time on incremental innovation or rely on acquisitions. Still, organic, internal growth, accomplished through product
line renewal and new service development, is essential to the long-term vitality of corporations
across all industries.

The Fast Path to Growth takes on the challenge that large corporations face in generating
internal innovation: developing new product lines that address new market applications and
provide the corporation with new streams of revenue. The development framework that
Meyer offers to address this challenge integrates the key disciplines—new product strategy,
user research, concept development and prototyping, market testing, and business modeling—
needed for enterprise growth.

The book illustrates this integrated framework with in-depth examples of companies that
have generated impressive results by leveraging their core technologies to new markets and
new uses. These include IBM, Honda, and Mars. Many examples contain actionable templates
that readers can use in their own projects. The book also addresses the human side of
new market applications, providing advice on what executives and innovation team leaders
must do to execute the steps of Meyer’s development framework.

Marc H. Meyer is Matthews Distinguished University Professor and Department Chair, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group of the College of Business at Northeastern University. He is also a Visiting Scientist in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT.

Chair of SOX Institute comments on SEC/PCAOB reviewing section 404

Below are some comments from Sanjay Anand, chairman of the Sarbanes-Oxley Institute ( www.soxinstitute.org ), pertaining to the plans of the SEC/PCAOB to review the burdens of SOX in general and section 404 in particular:

It is about time that the SEC and PCAOB took a hard look at the burden of SOX (in particular section 404), and not just for political reasons, but for actually doing an unbiased and effective cost-benefit analysis. While it is impossible that SOX will be repealed (we're too far deep into it not just in the US, but around the world), the expectations going forward do need to be revisited. In particular:

1. For accelerated filers (who are already 404 compliant) ... How can the burden of audits be reduced? That should be a combination of (a) more guidance around the expectations of a top-down risk-based approach, and (b) fewer SOX audits (similar to what some other countries are doing).

2. For non-accelerated filers (whose deadlines are coming up) ... Do they really need full-blown SOX audits? And can we really expect the same level of due diligence from their SOX implementations as we do from those with deeper pockets and larger organizations where segregation of duties and the like are much more likely.

3. Recognition of the fact that companies have spent a lot (in the millions per company, or close to $20 billion collectively over the past 3 years), and admission of the fact that the legislators were off by two orders of magnitude in their estimates and expectation-setting around the cost of compliance.

Although the "word on the street" is that foreign companies are preferring to delist from the US exchanges en masse and re-list on London, Tokyo, HK etc. because of SOX, there is some element of exaggeration in those claims. While SOX is part of the reason, there are other reasons as well (e.g. weak dollar, more capital overseas, risk propensity etc.). In fact, we are seeing a number of Chinese companies come right back to the US to tap into the world's largest capital market (America) despite their initial adverse reaction to SOX.

Point is: SOX has gotten a bad reputation. Much of it was well-deserved, but some of it is clearly exaggerated, and I hope the SEC and PCAOB will take a rational (rather than dramatic or emotional) approach to coming up with a "solution" to the 404 problem. I do expect they will be pragmatic about it, but political pressures can sometimes thwart the best of intentions, and that is my biggest concern. Case in point: SOX. SOX was the result of politicians and legislators trying to solve business problems. Not a bad thing in itself, but can become a disaster and a nightmare if not done in collaboration with those that will be impacted.

So here is the real question: Will the SEC and PCAOB get and use the input of those impacted by SOX, namely the companies, the exchanges and the economy at large, or will they make their decision in a vacuum. I know that they are trying to get as much input as they can. But how do we know that they will use it? And how do we know that they will not be biased in their decision? That to me is the real question.

Like many others out there, I too have my fingers crossed that SOX, albeit not repealed, will take on a shape and a message that will encourage companies to IPO and to list in the US. And it is not just the words and the announcement, but then the follow-through and the implementation that will really make the difference. I think December 13 is just the first day in a new year-long saga. Hopefully, this new saga will have a favorable outcome and a happy ending unlike the saga of 2004 (which is when the first companies had to demonstrate 404 compliance).