Author: Michelle Causton, FCPA, FCGA, MBA
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How will they learn?
We all wish that new employees had better soft skills. Employers agree that they can screen for the prerequisite technical knowledge. But soft skills, people skills, problem solving skills – those are tough. I know we agree because I have done research. You know because you see it every day. You hired that promising new employee…
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Ten in computer years
I wrote this way back in 2004. When you are talking about computers – that is really a long time ago. But I think it holds up. You will have to forgive the reference to the dial-up modem internet connection but if you’ve lived with that you will appreciate the problem. On the other hand –…
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Data held hostage
In common parlance, governance is the responsibility to take care of things – the ownership of which lies elsewhere. It is all about taking care of other people’s stuff. So when an employee’s responsibilities include protecting a city’s computer system and its data – to whom does that employee owe the duty of trust? According to…
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Customer service anyone?
If you think you are not in customer service you might want to think again. Whatever you do – you do for someone. And that person is your customer. We get so caught up in what we do –clean sewers, enter data into a system, reconcile accounts, make widgets – that we forget that there…
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Joy of travel
I wrote the following in 2011 and – for some reason – I never posted it. I just reread it and found it mildly interesting. So I hope you enjoy it. I have been on vacation – enjoying a cruise. I was quite pleased to find that I couldn’t use my Blackberry on board the ship.…
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IMNSHO
A few years ago I made an observation. Feel free to disagree with me. My observations are often not very scientific and sometimes dead wrong but I suspect this one might ring a bell with you. The catalyst for this observation was a series of classes in which students were reluctant to share their answers to…
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Exercise in mindless procedures
It is important that businesses have policies and procedures. And as an accountant I believe in controls. But here is a story of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. I seldom use the library services at the college where I work (as this story will show). But yesterday I came across a reference to an article that I…
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Jazz the rocker cat
Since it is the holiday season I thought I would post a story about a cat. It is a bit long and outside of the Blog’s mandate but if I really stretch I could say it is about attitude. The truth is, I thought you might enjoy it.
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There is still time
As 2012 draws to a close I’ve been thinking about what the future holds and I remember a conversation I had with my friend Dianne. We were talking about success and she announced, with a small frisson of pleasure, that she would know she had “made it” when she was a guest on the Oprah…
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One small step
As an accountant, writer and presenter – I use and am comfortable with technology. As a professor – it seems to be a whole new world. Partly because academia is constrained by “old thinking” – partly because we misunderstand the constraints. When I worked in public accounting I got involved in computer consulting for clients.…
BZMind 