Jack Alexander is a former CFO turned consultant, author and business professor. He is the CEO of Value Advisory Group, LLC a consulting firm with a focus on driving performance and shareholder value. Prior to founding the consulting practice, Jack held a number of senior financial and operational management positions at EG&G Inc., a global $2.5B technology and services Company. He served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and as Vice President and Corporate Controller. Jack is a lecturer at Babson College, where he teaches managerial finance and advanced finance electives in the MBA program, including valuation, strategic investments and M&A. Alexander is a frequent speaker on shareholder value and business performance management. He is the author of Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation, published by Wiley in fall 2006.

Mike Anderson is a Director with PwC in Chicago assisting companies translate strategy into successful execution in the areas of M&A (diligence, day-one planning, merger integration, and synergy realization), sustainable cost reduction, and operations and finance effectiveness across an organization including supply chain, sales and marketing, finance, and other back-office functions. Formerly employed with Motorola, Mike supported the company's needs in strategic planning, brand management, and systems engineering. Mike holds a Masters in Business Administration from Kellogg and an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois.

Lori A. Calabro is Editorial Director for CFO Conferences. In that capacity, she is responsible for content development and all related editorial functions for CFO’s event offerings. Prior to joining the conference division this year, she served as deputy editor of the CFO magazine, a publication of The Economist Group. Its mission since 1985 has been to chronicle the evolving role of the CFO and to identify companies and practices that exemplify the best in finance. For those efforts, CFO has been recognized with multiple editorial awards including the first Magazine of the Year Award from the American Society of Business Press Editors and several Folio/Eddie awards as the best financial trade publication. As part of that award-winning team, Ms. Calabro has written on topics ranging from lowering the corporate tax rate to best practices in cost management; she has developed some of CFO’s most recognized feature stories, including its “Women in Finance” series; and she has championed the popular “On the Record” series, which features Q&As with noteworthy CFOs. She started her career in the newspaper industry and for many years was managing editor of Bostonia Magazine, the alumni publication at Boston University. She holds both a BS in Journalism and an MBA from Boston University.

Jonathan Chadwick is the senior vice president, corporate controller, and principal accounting officer at Cisco. In this capacity he is responsible for a team of over 1000, managing external reporting, compliance, procurement, shared services, and global process, systems and controls. For the five years prior to 2006, Chadwick ran the Corporate Finance and Planning group at Cisco. In this company-wide role, he designed and implemented the company’s strategic planning process and was heavily involved in Cisco’s mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he managed the company’s performance to both long-term and short-term financial goals, and he led teams responsible for Cisco’s data management and business intelligence services. Prior to 2001, Chadwick was senior director, Corporate Finance and Accounting, responsible for Cisco’s worldwide close process and all domestic accounting functions. He also spent much of his time supporting the business development group in merger, acquisition, and investment activities (including structuring and due diligence). Chadwick joined Cisco in September 1997 from Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Chadwick is a Chartered Accountant in England, has passed the CPA exam in California, and holds an honors degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Bath, England. He is currently a board member of a local non-profit organization, Family & Children Services.

Carlos Chu leads TCS' Finance & Performance Management Practice in North America. He has worked with Fortune 500 clients in the design and roll-out of enterprise performance management solutions as well as large scale system implementations. He has also worked with finance organizations to bring about transformational change through the implementation of finance and accounting shared services centers and business process outsourcing solutions. Carlos is an experienced finance professional with a background in compliance, financial planning and analysis and post-merger integration. He has delivered transformation projects to the Automotive, Hi-Tech, Energy, Healthcare Services, Chemicals and Process Manufacturing industry sectors.

Prior to his consulting work, Carlos held roles in internal audits and business development for a Fortune 200 company. He has an MBA from Thunderbird and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo.

Alan G. Dunn is President of GDI Consulting & Training Company and Chairman of Gerald E. Dunn, Inc. (GDI). Before founding the GDI companies, Mr. Dunn was a Vice President at Gemini Management Consulting and a Partner at Coopers & Lybrand. For the ten years prior to joining Coopers & Lybrand, Mr. Dunn was President, (and Founder) of ADI, a successful consulting and training company that Mr. Dunn sold to Coopers & Lybrand in 1990. In addition to his consulting experience, Mr. Dunn has many years of line management experience in manufacturing and distribution environments. He has extensive background in most functions within a manufacturing company and participated heavily in many significant projects. Mr. Dunn has successfully performed numerous consulting and training assignments for over 28 years. His clients include, Allied Signal, American Cyanamid, Amgen, AON, Applied Materials, AT&T, Balboa Instruments, Ballard Power Systems, Banner Pharmacaps, Baxter, Boeing, Borg-Warner Industrial Pumps, Chamberlain Group, Chiron-Cetus, DePuy Medical, Ernst & Young, General Instrument, General Motors, Hoffinger Industries, Hughes Aircraft, Hyland Labs, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Klune Industries, Lockheed-Martin Idaho Technology Company, Loral, Monier Lifetile, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, North American Produce, Phelps Dodge Mining Company, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, R.W. Lyall Company, Siemens Solar Industries, Siemens Applied Automation, SmithKline Beckman, Sony Corporation, Sybron Dental Specialties, Technicolor Video Corporation, Tellabs, Thornwood Furniture, Toshiba Corporation, Tropitone Furniture, United Technologies, U.S. Borax, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Department of Energy (DoE)-Idaho National Energy & Environmental Labs (INEEL), U.S. Department of Energy (DoE)-National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL), U.S. Justice Department (DoJ), Verizon, Warner Bros Home Video and Western Data Systems.

Michael has more than 21 years of combined industry and consulting experience specializing in operations performance enhancement, supply chain optimization, pre-transaction due diligence, and post-merger integration. He is experienced in a broad range of operational areas with emphasis on today's most pressing issue: cost management. He has helped clients in the industrial products industry on operational analysis and benchmarking, sourcing, procurement, inventory management, forecasting, demand planning, shop floor scheduling, distribution, and logistics. Michael has re-engineered procurement policies and processes to identify and resolve supply chain disconnects, which reduced working capital requirements and lowered overall procurement costs for multiple clients.

Appointed as president and chief executive officer in July 2001, Dan previously served as the company’s CFO. He’s seen Interface through two recessions, 50+ acquisitions, and a half dozen divestitures. Most recently, he steered the company through a three-year (2001-2004), 35% percent industry decline, weathering a $2 stock price and a volatile core market. His discipline allowed the company to maintain its vision for 2020 while at the same time executing on a survival and turnaround strategy that gained the respect of customers and Wall Street. Today, the Interface family of companies is headquartered in Atlanta and includes InterfaceFLOR, the world’s largest commercial modular carpet company, as well as FLOR, offering carpet tile for the residential market. Bentley Prince Street in City of Industry, California, offers broadloom carpet to the commercial market and BPS Rugs to residential customers. Dan joined Interface, Inc. in 1983, shortly after the company’s initial public offering. He was quickly elevated from financial manager to treasurer and then to chief financial officer in 1985. Prior to joining Interface, Dan was employed by a multinational public accounting firm as an audit manager for six years. Dan is a native of Florida, and graduated with honors from Florida State University with a B.S. in accounting in 1977. He and his wife Betsy live with their two children, Lauren and John, in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.

Stephanie K. Kushner, 51, is senior vice president and chief financial officer of Federal Signal Corporation. In this role, Kushner is responsible for all aspects of Federal Signal’s financial operations, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, tax, mergers and acquisitions, leasing and treasury. Prior to joining Federal Signal in 2002, Kushner served as treasurer of FMC Corporation. Previously, she served as director of financial planning, and held various senior finance positions, including director of financial planning and group financial director for FMC’s businesses in the U.K. She also served as division controller for the global process additives division, based in Manchester, England. Kushner joined FMC in 1989 as vice president of finance and chief financial officer of FMC Gold Company. Prior to joining FMC, Kushner served as director of financial planning and analysis for Homestake Gold Company, a San Francisco-based gold mining company. She began her career with Amoco Corporation and held positions of increasing responsibility in their chemicals, international oil and minerals divisions. Kushner serves as a director of Wabash National Corporation and chairs their audit committee. Kushner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and French literature magna cum laude from Douglass College — the women’s college at Rutgers University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a concentration in corporate and international finance.

Dr. George Manners is Professor of Accounting and Management at Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University. He is a professor with industry experience that includes 10 years at James River Corporation where he held the positions of Director of Organization Development and Director of Technology Services. An industry speaker and published author , Dr. Manners was the recipient of the Institute of Management Accounting 2007 Articles of Merit Competition for his Six Levels of Financial Knowledge featured in Strategic Finance magazine. Dr. Manners has also served as a consultant to corporations such as General Electric¸ IBM¸ American Cyanamid¸ General Tire¸ Procter & Gamble¸ Bank of America¸ International Paper¸ Weyerhaeuser¸ Cox Communications¸ Georgia Pacific¸ WellStar, and McKee Foods.

Steve Player serves as North American Program Director for the Beyond Budgeting Round Table. He has over 20 years experience in implementing performance management, strategic planning and process improvements. He is the Managing Director of The Player Group and founder of the Activity-Based Management Advanced Implementation Group. He is the co-author/editor of four books on Activity-Based Management and has a dynamic speaking style that will engage and challenge your existing paradigms.

Mark is a Director with PwC in Chicago and specializes in planning and executing initiatives designed to reduce cost, increase productivity, and accommodate growth. As a leader in PwC's Financial Management & Analysis team, Mark helps clients to simplify and standardize financial processes, better define and understand operations and financial business drivers, reduce cost, and stabilize cost management and controls in both pre or post-merger and steady state environments. Mark's experience includes three years working in Western Europe while based in PwC's office in London, UK.

Sam Rovit is a Partner and leader of Bain Corporate Renewal Group (CRG), which provides integrated, rapid turnaround services for equity owners of financially stressed mid-market businesses. CRG unites Bain’s deep industry operations and strategic expertise with financial and restructuring capabilities. Mr. Rovit joined the firm in 1988 and worked at a number of offices before settling in Chicago. He left the firm between 2005-2007 to serve as President and CEO of Swift & Company, a $10B meat processor headquartered in Greeley, CO with operations across the U.S. and Australia. Swift was a portfolio company of Hicks Muse and carried over $1B in debt. Mr. Rovit led a rebuilding of the senior team, an overhaul of the corporate office, and a complete re-engineering of the $5B U.S. beef business, while maintaining liquidity in the face of rapidly deteriorating market conditions. He also led an auction of the business that resulted in a $1.4B sale and doubled payback to investors. As former head of the firm’s Global M&A Practice, Mr. Rovit has advised clients across virtually all sectors of the economy, including industrial distribution, commodity manufacturing, consumer products, retail, restaurants and telecommunications and has lead over 100 diligence assignments and dozens of merger integrations. He is co-author of Mastering the Merger (Harvard Business Press, 2004), and has authored numerous articles that have appeared in Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal (all editions). He has also been quoted in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal (all editions), Dow Jones, Reuters, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and The Chicago Tribune. Mr. Rovit earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.

Mr. Tennant is the global head of analysis and conversion, as well as the head of The Hackett Group’s REL Consultancy practice. Prior to joining REL 11 years ago, he worked as a general manager at various companies within the consumer goods production and distribution sector. He has led a large number of major client engagements that have delivered billions of dollars in working capital benefits, as well as cost and customer-service improvements, for clients including Chase Manhattan, Cookson, Cooper Industries, Exxon Mobil, ICI, Ingram Micro, ITT, Sears Roebuck, Visteon and Xerox. Mr. Tennant holds a bachelor's degree in environmental health from Aston University in Birmingham, England, and a masters degree in business administration from Cranfield University in Cranford, England.

Dr. Stephen Timme is President of FinListics® Solutions and is an Adjunct Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There he teaches in the Executive Masters in International Logistics and at The Logistics Institute. FinListics Solutions helps clients identify potential areas of opportunities utilizing the FinListics ValueMANAGER ON-LINE and links the impact of business process change on specific financial metrics and overall financial performance. FinListics Solutions services have been provided throughout the world for clients like Citigroup, Coca-Cola Co., Colgate Palmolive, Disney, FedEx, Georgia-Pacific, Hershey Foods, IBM, Lowe's, Microsoft, United Parcel Service, Wal-Mart, and YRC. He has authored numerous articles in publications like Financial Management, Journal of Banking and Finance, Supply Chain Management Review, and CSCMP Logistics Comment. Dr. Timme recently authored the chapter “Financial Management,” in Handbook of Global Supply Chain Management, Sage Publications, 2007