News provided by: There was a time when a business could probably get away with a mild greenwash for awhile. But we've learned in recent years -- and political campaigns – that if you say something that is provably false, you could find yourself outed on a thousand blogs. Even a local mom-pop shop may find itself the star of YouTube if they promote themselves as being committed to recycling, but the dumpster behind the store reveals otherwise. That's a marketing backfire. In other words, those who are not going to walk the walk, should refrain from talking the talk. Here are some of the ways businesses indulge in greenwashing.
A recent study by the Grocery Manufacturer's Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that companies that report genuine sustainable practices tend to do well financially. Sustainability, says the report, is great for enhancing your company's reputation. In a press release, Lisa Feigen Dugal, a PwC advisory leader, said, "It's well known that sustainability initiatives can be a great brand and reputation enhancer, but we've discovered they're much more. Positive reporting on these initiatives can enhance a company's bottom line and shareholder value." Sounds good. But marketing wizards recommend that if you hope to sell your products and services with a tinge of green, start by getting your ducks in a row. Ensure that you are compliant with environmental regulations in your industry. Get independent certification for your claims whenever possible. If you say you are green, you may be inviting attention, so it's important to clean up your backyard, literally and figuratively. The bottom line is, the public wants to believe the claims made about products they like, and in many cases, they are willing to pay more and drive across town to buy them. So smart marketers will make sure that when they paint their businesses green, the green goes all the way to the bone.
People looking for jobs are able to post a resume anonymously, explore currently listed jobs, set up personal job alerts, and take advantage of job search skills including cover letter tips. There is no charge to employees for posting resumes or using the resources available on the AJT/AWEB site. Employers are able to browse resumes, and they pay a fee only when they want contact information for the person who submitted the resume. Employers also pay a fee to list their job on the list of Featured Accounting Jobs. "We're truly excited to offer this new feature to our members," said Rob Nance, publisher of AccountingWEB.com. By providing this job search service to our readers, we offer more tools and resources for members of the accounting profession, including those who have the capacity to hire and those who are looking for new jobs." For more information go to AccountingWEB.com and click the Find Employees/Jobs link today. You can see the grand prize winner, "Lemonade," from Marc Boese. He wins $5,000 in cash and an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to attend NFIB's Small Business Summit. You'll also find the three semi-finalists videos as well. Contestants were required to create a 30-second clip that answers the question, "Why does small business work for America?" and submit the video to NFIB. After an initial review, entries were posted on the NFIB YouTube channel where viewers rated them. A panel of judges used those ratings to select semifinalists and the overall winner. Gartner defines the installed base of PCs as the estimated number of PCs in use as opposed to the number shipped over a given a period, which is reported in Gartner's PC forecast and market share reports. The world's installed base of PCs remains heavily concentrated in mature markets. However, emerging markets will claim an increasingly larger share of the world's installed base going forward as the rapidly rising PC penetration in emerging markets continues to drive strong double-digit PC growth. "Mature markets such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan currently account for 58 percent of the world's installed PCs, but these markets only account for 15 percent of the world's population," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. "There's a startling difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets. Of course, much of this difference reflects the disparity in average living standards between mature and emerging markets. But, rapid economic development across emerging markets is not only narrowing the disparity in average living standards, it's closing the difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets." "We expect per capita PC penetration in emerging markets to double by 2013," added Mr. Shiffler. "Rapid penetration in emerging markets is being driven by the explosive expansion of broadband and wireless connectivity in these markets, the continuing fall in PC average selling prices (ASPs), and the general realization that PCs are an indispensable tool for advancement." "Emerging market governments are also increasingly committed to reducing the digital divide by promoting PC use among their citizens through a variety of means, including providing PCs directly to the less affluent," said Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner. "Whereas mature markets accounted for just under 60 percent of the first billion installed PCs, we expect emerging markets to account for approximately 70 percent of the next billion installed PCs." The global PC installed base is constantly being churned as PC users replace their used machines with new ones. Some retired PCs find their way back into the installed base to second owners through various channels, some are broken up and recycled, but others are simply dumped directly into landfill. “We forecast just over 180 million PCs — approximately 16 percent of the existing installed base — will be replaced this year,” said Meike Escherich, principal research analyst at Gartner. ”We estimate a fifth of these, or some 35 million PCs, will be dumped into landfill with little or no regard for their toxic content. The disposition of retired PCs has become a high-profile issue for many PC vendors, governments and environmental interest groups. It will become an even more pressing issue, especially in emerging markets, as the number of retired PCs grows with the continuing expansion of the PC installed base.” Analysts will provide more detailed analysis on the state of the PC industry, as well as analysis on server and printer markets, during the Gartner Hardware Briefing June 25 at the Gartner U.K. headquarters in Egham. Analysts will be available for one-on-one interviews during the event. Members of the media can register for the briefing by contacting Holly Winter at holly.winter@gartner.com, or by calling +44 1784 267738. Additional information is also available in the Gartner report "Forecast: PC Installed Base, Worldwide, 2004-2012" The report is available for purchase on Gartner's Web site.
"With more candidates applying for each open position, standing apart from the competition is increasingly critical to getting the offer letter," stated JillXan Donnelly of CareerExposure.com. "The rules for job seeking are changing and candidates need to switch up their game to make new connections and learn new skills that will get them noticed." To this end, Career Exposure offers the latest tips to getting noticed. 1) Make every resume unique. Gone are the days where one resume or cover letter will get the interview. Customize every resume and cover letter to showcase why your skills and experience make you the best match for each job. 2) Use broad and niche job-seeking tools. Broad job sites are easy one-stop-shops for job seeking, but don't overlook niche sites that are tailored by profession, industry, skill set, or gender. By using these sites, such as CareerWomen.com, DiversitySearch.com and MBACareers.com, job seekers can connect with employers that are targeting their specific demographic. Who can afford to miss that? 3) Employ virtual and in-person networking strategies. Certainly call and e-mail former co-workers, colleagues, and business associates to get connections. You should also join associations or volunteer in your area of interest to create new contacts. Use online networks such as LinkedIn and build connections virtually. Consider jumping into social networks such as Twitter where you can find, follow, and chat with people who work at companies or in industries you find of interest. 4) Take a class for content and connections. Staying sharp is one reason for taking a class; however, other reasons could include making new connections by way of classmates or the professor. Classes can also add extra beef to your resume that will demonstrate your commitment to your career and skills. 5) Stay positive. A positive attitude is tremendously appealing to an employer, both current and future. Look at your job search as an adventure that will have both high and low points. Being positive about the process, while sometimes challenging, will help you get through it. For additional career and employment information as well as job and candidate search strategies, CareerWomen.com, DiversitySearch.com, MBACareers.com and CareerExposure.com About The Career Exposure Network But new troubles may be brewing. Amazon has eight distribution centers in eight different states that are operated not by Amazon but by wholly owned subsidiaries, according to the Industry Standard. Amazon is making the case that it should not have to collect taxes in those states. But The Wall Street Journal is reporting this argument can be rejected if the sole function of these subsidiaries is to avoid tax obligations. When items are coming from the subsidiaries, the Amazon website still shows the seller as Amazon, according to BloggingStocks.com. It is well known that one of the reasons shoppers find Amazon attractive is because they save money on sales tax, which gives Amazon an advantage over other retailers. But many internet-based companies appear to be collecting sales taxes in order to skirt any problems that may arise, BloggingStocks.com reported. "As governments are greedy for more and more tax dollars, they're looking for any and every target from which to extract money," BloggingStocks.com pointed out. "Sales tax on internet sales is an obvious one." The Wall Street Journal reported that Kansas began collecting sales taxes from e-tailers, including Amazon, last year. The state collected $35 million in 2007. A survey by the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University showed it is the first time charitable giving has surpassed the $300 billion mark. When inflation was taken into consideration, charitable giving by Americans increased one percent over the previous year, according to the survey, which was released Monday. Giving from private foundations was up by 7 percent from last year. The combined assets of foundations in the United States blossomed from $550 billion in 2006 to $614 billion last year thanks to gains in stock market investments and a record $37 billion in new gifts, according to the Foundation Center, which researches philanthropic giving. The survey found that foundations are spending more of their assets than they did a decade ago and more than half of the foundations surveyed plan to increase giving this year. Giving through personal bequests was also up 4 percent after adjusting for inflation. The overwhelming majority of the giving, about $229 billion, was from individuals. China View reported that more than half of that money came from households earning the top 10 percent of incomes in the country. "But after years of steady growth, that figure remained stagnant last year, a sign that the softening economy may be pinching charitable contributions," The Washington Post reported. Giving from corporations showed an inflation-adjusted decline of 1 percent from 2006 to 2007, coming in at $15.9 billion. This comes at a time when the need for charitable help is soaring nationwide. The Washington Post reported that requests for emergency assistance at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington have gone up 28 percent. Giving USA found that religious congregations received the most money from donors, collecting $102 billion of all gifts. Next were nonprofit educational organizations, which raised a total of $43 billion. But international aid agencies, environmental groups, and human services charities reaped the largest increases in charitable gifts last year. The IFRS Taxonomy 2008 is a complete translation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as published in the IFRS Bound Volume 2008 into XBRL, an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that is used to communicate information between businesses. The taxonomy is published in the same languages as the IFRS Bound Volume 2008 and includes support material such as the Taxonomy Architecture Paper and the Taxonomy Extenders Guide. The IFRS Taxonomy 2008 represents a complete review of past taxonomies and is also the first taxonomy to undergo an extensive external review by the XBRL Quality Review Team, which comprises experts from the preparer community, securities regulators, central banks, financial institutions and software companies. The release of the IFRS XBRL Taxonomy 2008 follows the publication of a near final IFRS XBRL Taxonomy in March 2008 for a 60-day public consultation period. The Foundation received comments on the near final taxonomy from all over the world. Comments received focused on technical and minor accounting details and where appropriate were reflected in the final taxonomy. The specific characteristics of XBRL will provide users of the IFRS Taxonomy 2008 with easier filing, access to and comparison of financial data. In accordance with the XBRL International policy the IFRS Taxonomy 2008 is freely available on the IFRS XBRL Web site. Commenting on the release, Gerrit Zalm, Chairman of the Trustees, said: "I congratulate the IFRS XBRL team on their success and I am very pleased that the IFRS Taxonomy 2008 is now available to be used in countries around the world. I also want to thank the many stakeholders that have commented on the near final version of the taxonomy and the XBRL Quality Review team for their valuable input. They all have made an important contribution to what is set to become an essential component of a truly global accounting language." Olivier Servais, the IASC Foundation’s XBRL Team Leader, added: "The IFRS Taxonomy 2008 development has been a collaborative effort with contributions from organisations and individuals around the world. We are particularly pleased to note that many countries adopting IFRSs will combine this with the introduction of XBRL. The release of the IFRS XBRL Taxonomy marks a milestone in the advancement of interactive data." If you haven’t thought about scheduling time for a summer conference, here are some reasons to reconsider:
So you’re ready to attend a conference – now what? Check with your state CPA Society, the AICPA, and any other associations you belong to. They all have their summer conference and training schedules up on their Web sites. Or check into new groups – this might be a good time to get your foot in the door with an association you’ve been meaning to join. Copyright
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