Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but are short of time? Don't worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.
1. Steve Jobs Said There's 1 Decision That Separates Leaders Who Achieve Success From Those Who Still Don't Get It
In an exclusive 2008 interview, three years before his death to pancreatic cancer, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs spoke about the keys to Apple's success. With the now-CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, by his side, Jobs dropped this little gem on his audience...
2. The new CFO mandate: Prioritize, transform, repeat
Amid a raft of new duties for CFOs, our survey suggests that finance leaders are well positioned to lead the C-suite agenda by championing transformations, digitisation, and capability building.
3. An Eye-Opening Psychology Study Found This to Be the Greatest Predictor of Happiness (Especially During the Holidays)
The holiday season is certainly cause for joy and celebration. It's also a season of high stress. How many people reading this wish they could teleport themselves to a remote island and return home in early January? Psychologist Shawn Achor found that practicing this one activity every day is a game changer during instances of high stress.
4. CFOs: Recession Possible in 2019
Almost half (49 percent) of US CFOs think the United States will be in recession by the end of 2019, with 82 percent believing a recession will start by the end of 2020, according to the latest quarterly Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook survey.
5. 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends To Watch Out For In 2019
During 2018, we witnessed a dramatic rise in the platforms, tools, and applications based on Machine learning and artificial intelligence. These technologies not only impacted software and the Internet industry but also other verticals such as healthcare, legal, manufacturing, automobile and agriculture.
6. Top global business risks and how to tackle them
Technological innovation, geopolitical upheaval, and environmental challenges threaten businesses at a clip that is likely to speed up in coming years, and business leaders are carefully monitoring the risks. Three surveys explore the risks board members and executives in the US and globally expect to be of most concern in 2019.
7. How to Follow Up with People After a Conference
Attending a conference is a whir of activity – flying to a destination, engaging in several days of nonstop networking, and coming home to an inbox that has spiraled out of control in your absence. Back at work, most of us immediately go into catch-up mode; the last thing on your mind is following up with the people you just met. That’s especially true if you’re an introvert and feel overtaxed by the whole process.
8. Algorithms to Decode an Organisation’s Culture (At Last)
Everybody agrees organisational culture is extremely important for managers to understand and shape. Few are satisfied with the tools we have to do it today. It’s not the absence of solid theories about culture that’s the problem; the challenge has been reliable measurement. That’s a cue for machine learning and big data to enter the fray. These techniques mine large volumes of free-form text data to infer relatively simple attributes (e.g. employee sentiment), as well as more complex constructs, such as the strength and uniqueness of an organisation’s culture.
9. Leadership is about coaching. Here’s how to do it well.
If you’re a leader or a manager, you probably wear a lot of hats. You’re a project manager, delegator, spokesperson, and most importantly, a coach. But the problem is that no one ever tells you how to be an effective coach, or even what that means. Are you supposed to act like a sports coach? A therapist? Perform some bizarre (and arcane) HR ritual? The answer is none of the above.
10. DS Smith CFO on driving an innovative business model
When packaging group DS Smith approached Adrian Marsh to become its CFO in 2013, he could immediately see the potential the packaging group could offer. Marsh’s experience in key finance roles at pharma giant AstraZeneca and grocer Tesco could provide chief executive Miles Roberts with a co-pilot skilled acquainted with building scale to challenging the sector leaders.