CFOs Meet and Declare Environmental Performance a Top Priority
New York. March 26, 2008. — Chief financial officers say that "green business" has reached an inflection point. It's no longer simply a brand building or risk management tool. It has become a source of business innovation, operational improvement, and new sources of revenue, said senior finance executives at the first-ever executive conference on sustainable and environmentally sound business practices for finance executives.
"Sustainability has moved from risk mitigation to a business and revenue opportunity," said Mark Newton of Dell Computer. He and other executives from large U.S. companies—including Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Office Depot, and Jones Lang LaSalle—argued for environmentally sustainable business practices as a source of business value and presented both their progress and their aspirations at "CFO2: Bottom Line Impacts and Stakeholder Buy-in," an interactive session attended by more than 60 finance leaders in New York City. The conference was produced by CFO Conferences, the executive education arm of CFO Publishing, which produces CFO magazine.
Through the day-long session of discussion among finance executives and sustainability experts, two broad themes emerged:
- Companies that embrace green business practices realize business benefits quickly—but the corporate finance function must contribute both to decision making and to integrating the information flowing from sustainability initiatives into their broader reporting and regulatory compliance activities.
Michael Monahan, CFO of Pitney Bowes, said "Our environmental stewardship is integral to the way we do business. It is not an aside, or an add-on; it is core to the way we behave," and he cited examples of how the company's sustainability efforts have improved its product and service offerings to customers, the profitability of core business operations, and its leadership position in its industry.
David Burritt, CFO of Caterpillar, said his company's focus on sustainability efforts—which include redesigning its product lines to become more energy efficient, expansion of its remanufacturing business, and broad adoption of new technology in both its internal processes and within its products—have delivered measurable improvements in business operations for the company and its customers. He called on his peers in the finance function to understand sustainability as a business opportunity, not as an inconvenience or a drag on the bottom line. But doing so requires the finance function to develop consistent measurements for sustainability across its operations and to "find the value in sustainable business and then drive action across the business."
Lauralee Martin, CFO of Jones Lang LaSalle, cited data from CFO Research Services showing that customers and senior operating executives are attuned to the benefits to be gained from green business initiatives. Finance executives and investors, however, are only now coming to understand the value implications of rigorous environmental performance management.
- A formal cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions in the U.S. is all but inevitable in the next two years, said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund and author of Earth: the Sequel — The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming. Each of the three leading presidential candidates endorses such a system and several carbon trading exchanges have emerged in anticipation of new regulatory requirements. And forward-looking finance organizations in the U.S. are participating in voluntary carbon trading markets in an effort to gain experience in this embryonic market, to influence the details of the regulatory regimen, and to bring market discipline to their own operations.
Krupp argued that a cap-and-trade system for carbon offers an efficient system to address greenhouse gases, largely because it chooses a broad structure for limiting emissions without heavy handed, micromanagement of business processes. A cap-and-trade system will unleash technological and commercial innovation of a broad market without "choosing the winners."
Mary Driscoll, president and editorial director of CFO Conferences and Research, said, "This conference has identified a watershed for both the green business movement and for the corporate finance function. Customers, investors, and regulators are calling for companies to strengthen their environmental stewardship and to do so openly, candidly, and transparently. Clearly the finance function is embracing this mandate and adding environmental oversight to its broader agenda of ensuring high performance and generating shareholder value. We're delighted to help lead this dialogue among finance executives, companies, and other stakeholders."
NANCY J. FOSTER, CHIEF RISK OFFICER OF CIT,
TO SPEAK AT CFO RISING CONFERENCE
Boston, February 2008 -
CFO Conferences announced today that Nancy J. Foster, Chief Risk Officer of CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), a leading global commercial finance company, will deliver remarks at the 15th Annual CFO Rising Conference, on March 10, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. CFO Rising, an annual networking and learning event for senior-level corporate finance executives, will take place in Orlando, FL from March 9 - 12. It is produced by CFO Conferences, the events unit of CFO Magazine.
Foster's address, "Leading through Challenging Times: Five Key Principles," will focus on executive management during challenging economic times.
"We're pleased to have Nancy join our Rising speaker faculty," said Mary Driscoll, President and Editorial Director, CFO Conferences and CFO Research. "She brings an important additional perspective to this conference, which is the largest and most important one we produce each year.
"Because CFO Rising reflects the entire CFO Magazine universe - readers, advertisers, and the CFOs of large corporations - it serves as a public face for our publication each spring," Driscoll continued. "It's a destination event, both for finance executives from companies of all sizes, and for exhibiting companies who want to reach CFOs as potential new clients. All the facets of the magazine's staff - print and online editorial, marketing and sales - participate in the event."
Other speakers at CFO Rising will include:
- Kurt Kuehn, CFO of UPS
- John Richardson, CFO of Qwest Communications
- David Elkins, CFO of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals (US)
- John Zdanowski, CFO of Linden Lab (developers of Second Life)
- Jerry York, former CFO of IBM; former CFO of Chrysler; CEO, Harwinton Capital
- Vijay Govindarajan ("VG"), 2008 Professor-in-Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant, GE; and Professor, Tuck School of Business
- Robert Pozen, Chairman, MFS Investment Management; Head of SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting
- Marvin Zonis, Global Political Economist and Author
CIT is a Conference Partner at the 15th Annual CFO Rising. More information about CFO Rising can be found at www.cforising.com
About CFO Conferences:
CFO Conferences is the events unit of CFO Magazine. The unit produces CFO Rising, CFO Rising West, and other conferences for corporate finance executives. CFO Conferences, CFO.com and CFO Magazine are part of CFO Publishing Corp., an Economist Group business.
About CIT:
CIT (NYSE: CIT) is a global commercial finance company that provides financial products and advisory services to more than one million customers in over 50 countries across 30 industries. A leader in middle market financing, CIT has more than $80 billion in managed assets and provides financial solutions for more than half of the Fortune 1000. A member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 500, it maintains leading positions in asset-based, cash flow and Small Business Administration lending, equipment leasing, vendor financing and factoring. The CIT brand platform, Capital Redefined, articulates its value proposition of providing its customers with the relationship, intellectual and financial capital to yield infinite possibilities. Founded in 1908, CIT is celebrating its Centennial throughout 2008. www.cit.com
CIT MEDIA RELATIONS:
C. Curtis Ritter
Director of External Communications & Media Relations
(212) 461-7711
curt.ritter at cit.com
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Leading Finance Officers to Headline CFO Green Conference:
Costs, regulations, stakeholder expectations to be addressed
New York, January 2008 —
CFO Conferences has announced the speaker and topic line-up for CFO2: The CFO Green Conference, a new event on environmental issues and strategies as they affect corporations. The conference is scheduled for March 26, 2008, at Intercontinental The Barclay New York hotel in New York City.
"Although there have been a number of events with a 'green' theme, this is the first to be designed especially for CFOs and to concentrate specifically on the implications for corporate finance," said Mary Driscoll, president and editorial director of CFO Conferences, a unit of CFO Publishing Corp., which also publishes the award-winning CFO Magazine and CFO.com Web site. "Companies will experiment with a range of environmental and sustainability policies - some sensible, some silly - before they get it right. The CFO, the voice of reason, will need to be very involved, helping to guide the process and helping the CEO to forge a sound environmental performance management model."
The announced speakers and panelists for CFO2: The CFO Green Conference include chief financial officers as well as sustainability and environmental policy officers of a number of major corporations. In addition, the conference will feature several well-known experts on environmental business and legal issues. The speakers confirmed by CFO Conferences include:
- Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense; Author, Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming
- Dave Burritt, VP and CFO, Caterpillar Inc.
- Lauralee Martin, CFO and Director, Jones Lang LaSalle
- Patricia McKay, EVP and CFO, Office Depot
- Bruce Nolop, CFO, Pitney Bowes
- Karen Flanders, Director, Sustainability, The Coca-Cola Company
- Mark Newton, Environmental Policy Manager, Dell
- Ronald Wolfsheimer, SVP, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Calvert Group, Ltd.; Treasurer, Calvert Funds
- C. Gregory Rogers, JD, CPA; President, Advanced Environmental Dimensions; Author of Financial Reporting of Environmental Liabilities and Risks after Sarbanes Oxley
- Rick Adcock, SVP for Origination & Investment, Climate Leaders Fund
- Andrea Moffat, Director, Corporate Programs, Ceres
Driscoll continued: "The call for 'green business practices' is a legitimate wake-up call for CEOs and CFOs alike. With influencers like Wal-Mart and Dell setting the pace, companies' best customers will soon be demanding reliable audits of energy consumption patterns in supply chains, in factories and offices, and in fleets. That's just for starters.
"Stricter SEC regulations on calculation and disclosure of environmental performance loom large. Congress will, no doubt about it, pass new laws to force the business community to step up. And the pressure from investors and employees will just get stronger. Sticky issues range from climate change risk, to valuing carbon credits, to the tangible economic benefits of going green. These are real issues, with implications that have very serious business and financial consequences if not immediately addressed. And we hope our conference will help provide authoritative and practical information for CFOs looking for answers to such questions as:
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What's real and what's merely 'greenwashing'?
With shareholders, customers, employees and regulators clamoring for greater transparency, what must CFOs understand and consider when creating environmental performance measurement, management and disclosure protocols?
In strictly financial terms, how can you save money by reducing energy consumption? And where are the opportunities for green-related investment profits? How can you find out everything you need to know about carbon trading?"
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"We're looking to provide a forum for networking, learning, and benchmarking among senior corporate executives," said Driscoll. "We know the CFO audience very well, and they have come to expect quality events from us."
More information about the conference can be found at www.thegreencfo.com.
About CFO Conferences:
CFO Conferences is the events unit of CFO Magazine. The unit produces CFO Rising, CFO Rising West, and other conferences for corporate finance executives. CFO Conferences, CFO Magazine and CFO.com are part of CFO Publishing Corp., an Economist Group business.
Professor Robert Kaplan to Headline CFO Conferences Event on Analytics
Boston, Dec. 2007 -
CFO Conferences has announced that Harvard Business School Professor Robert S. Kaplan—the co-developer of the Balanced Scorecard system for linking a company's current operations to its long-term strategy—will give the keynote address at the Performance Management Analytics conference. The conference will be held February 3-5, 2008, at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco.
Professor Kaplan will discuss issues drawn from an upcoming article in the Harvard Business Review, "Mastering the Management System," and from the forthcoming book, The Execution Premium, both co-authored with David Norton. Kaplan and Norton introduced the Balanced Scorecard method in their 1992 Harvard Business Review article, "The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that Drive Performance."
"The balancing act between near-term operational concerns and long—term strategic priorities is something you cannot avoid as a manager," said Professor Kaplan. "It's difficult, and it never goes away. The best processes in the world still require governance, direction, course correction-or success is only a matter of luck. Similarly, the best strategy in the world must be translated into operational plans and then successfully executed-or it remains only an idea."
"The Theory of Everything" is what Professor Kaplan calls the latest work that he and David Norton have been doing on the linking of strategy and operations. The new research describes a "closed-loop" management system designed to balance the inherent tension between near-term operational concerns and long-term strategic priorities. This system can help set clear strategic goals, allocate resources consistent with those goals, set priorities for operational action, quickly recognize the operational and strategic impact of those decisions, and update goals as necessary.
CFO Conferences, a unit of CFO Publishing Corp.—which also publishes the award-winning magazine and Web site, CFO and CFO.com, respectively, has produced eight national conferences during the last four years on the subject of corporate performance management. According to CFO Conferences president and editorial director Mary Driscoll, "This has been our most popular conference topic ever. CFOs are under incredible pressure to enable strong, sustainable, and profitable growth at their companies. Corporate performance management methods and systems have become essential tools for them. And now the most exciting breakthroughs in strategy execution are coming from companies that know how to use analytics-the sophisticated interpretation of real-time, quantitative, and statistical data that can lead to crucial, data-driven insights. This analytics component allows us to take our performance management conferences to a whole new level.
"We are thrilled," Driscoll explained, "to have Bob Kaplan, one of our most popular speakers ever, back on the program. We're giving him two full hours to talk about the latest research he and David Norton have been doing. Then following him on the program are solid case studies of analytics in action, from Jim Campbell of Capital One, Glenn Wegryn of Procter & Gamble, Tim Stanley of Harrah's, and Daniel Thorpe of Wachovia. Plus we have another of our all-time audience favorites, Bennett Stewart, the "EVA evangelist" who will talk about economic value added performance metrics. It's a solid program and we're very proud of it."
More information about the conference can be found at www.cfo-analytics.com.
About CFO Conferences:
CFO Conferences is the events unit of CFO Magazine. The unit produces CFO Rising, CFO Rising West, and other conferences for corporate finance executives. CFO Conferences and CFO Magazine are part of CFO Publishing Corp., an Economist Group business.
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