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Congratulations Meredith and Brad
8/29/2010

Congratulations to Meredith and Brad! They were officially married on August 28th. The beautiful ceremony took place at Haywood Hall with a reception immediately following.

The family and I had the honor of attending. We enjoyed Raleigh -- grabbing some North Carolina style BBQ, enjoying the farmer's market, and touring Raleigh's vibrant downtown. We really enjoyed the rickshaw service available -- completely unique - a delightful way to get around.

For those of you who don't know Brad Barbour, he runs our Raleigh office. Meredith works for BB&T.

Congratulations to you both!

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HBS says:
9/5/2010
Congrats Brad and Meredith!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The 8th dimension of corporate culture in a non-profit
8/22/2010

Last Thursday I presented at the Southeastern Accounting Show. My topic was "Leveraging Today's Employment Market." The speech focused on hiring best practices as documented in my forthcoming book (MATCH). I also outlined some of the staffing strategies that companies are utilizing to combat these economic times.

 

During the presentation I got many questions from members of the audience. I tried to answer all the questions thoughtfully with a genuine desire to bring value to those in attendance. But after some self-evaluation I believe I could have been more thorough in three cases. I thought the blog would be a format to delve deeper into this trio. The first of these questions concerned Corporate Culture.

The MATCH process is built upon the concept that understanding Corporate Culture is critical in setting the foundation of a hire. In helping companies to establish this best practice I’ve identified 8 Dimensions of Corporate Culture. During my presentation I got no argument that this was the case in a “for profit” environment. Where the questions arose was in regards to non-profit organizations.

As a reminder, I’ve listed the 8 dimensions of Corporate Culture and the guiding questions as noted in the scorecard:

 

1. Decision-Making

Guiding question: How are decisions generally made – by consensus or by leadership?

 

2. Communicating

Guiding question: How do people relate to each other: in a formal and detached way, or in a more infor­mal, personable way?

 

3. Procedures

Guiding question: Do you value consistency of procedures (i.e., are you organized around roles) or flexibility (i.e., are you organized around talents and skills)?

 

4. Innovation

Guiding question: Does your company innovate and develop revolutionary products, or does it stick to its core offerings, progressing in steady stages?

5. Employee Makeup

Guiding question: Are employees people who seek meaning in their work or are they a resource hired to do what the company wants them to do?

 

6. Teaming

Guiding question: Do you reward individuals for what they contribute to groups, or do you reward groups for how they nurture individual development and initiative?

 

7. Winning

Guiding question: Is your company a world of competing rivals, or a world of cooperation and partnerships?

 

8. Profits

Guiding question: How much emphasis does your company put on short-term shareholder value versus long-term economic value for all stakeholders?

 

It was this 8th dimension of Corporate Culture that was asked about in my seminar. Since non-profit organizations do not concern themselves with profit, what is the 8th dimension of Corporate Culture to be replaced with? What takes the place of profit orientation when profit isn’t a factor? After all, a non-profit by definition doesn’t focus on the bottom line. They are mission driven vs. profit driven.

 

I have been thinking about this question ever since my presentation. In all honesty, I am not sure I still have the best answer. However, I think that my thinking is approaching the truth.

 

My answer is based upon my 13 years on the board of TECH CORPS Georgia -- a non-profit dedicated to bridging the digital divide and keeping computers out of land-fills. Referring back to that experience I believe that the 8th dimension of Corporate Culture in non- profit is capital resources – with the guiding question ranging across a spectrum of direct vs. indirect focus upon those resources.

 

So, on the score card of a non-profit the 8th dimension of Corporate Culture would be evaluated as follows:

 

8) Capital Resources

Guiding question: How much emphasis does your non-profit organization put on the direct need for capital versus a non-direct focus on capital?

 

In other words, is the non-profit organization one where all shareholders are asked to focus directly on fundraising, or is the organization one where fundraising is not a concern for those working for the non-profit.

 

I welcome any thoughts you’d like to share on this matter. I plan on continuing my thoughts on this matter – researching and asking my friends within the non-profit world what they believe. In the meantime I will provisionally replace “profit” with “capital resources” when it comes to evaluating the corporate culture of non-profits. After further investigation we will decide if it is indeed the 8th dimension.

Comments Untitled Document
Dan Erling says:
9/5/2010
r.j. -- you are right. I thought of this. However, I think that the concept of profit rings so true in the for-profit world, that characterizing under "capital resources" takes away the needed emphasis. Likewise, the focus on "capital resources" is more in-line with the thinking around the non-profit world.
r.j. says:
9/5/2010
I think you are correct. my question though is how does capital resources differ from profit? could you just not call it "capital resources" and have that speak to both for - and not-for profit?
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Presentation for the SE Accounting Show
8/17/2010

Just got back from a speakers dinner at the River Room Restaurant. It was great to get to know some of the other presenters. I enjoyed all the topics floating around the table: social media, Peachtree, Quickbooks, and the best Italian food in the city. I even had the pleasure of meeting the Singing CPA who will be presenting at the cocktail hour.

I present tomorrow -- Wednesday, August 18 during the 3:20 -5:00 pm session. The topic is Leveraging Today's Employment Market. You can access the Power Point presentation by clicking on the title.

My goal is to provide those who attend with 6 hiring strategies that can immediately impact their organization -- a method for finding the silver lining in these economic clouds. I look forward to delivering on this goal.

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d.h. says:
8/19/2010
nice job Dan. you gave us plenty to think about.
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60% of young male executives want to punch their co-workers in the face?
8/13/2010

How about that for a headline to catch your attention? I heard it on the radio today and had to validate. Sadly, it seems that there is legitimacy to the statistic.

According to the Harvard Business Review 60% of young male executives would punch a co-worker in the face if they could get away with it. When asked about their superiors, 40% would also punch their bosses in the face if there were no repercussions.

The study did show that these violent tendencies decrease with age.  Only 20% of male readers ages 50+ share these violent desires.

Read the whole story from mint.com here.

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lisa@cox says:
8/16/2010
gross picture!!!
Gigi Hall says:
8/14/2010
I think this is another example of an ever increasing degree of frustration, angst and stress brought on by our economic and political climate. We must work together to overcome these elements or our society is in big trouble.
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So, how is the market?
8/12/2010

While all the pundits argue over whether we are in a recovery, or a stalling recovery, or a stalling recovery that is recovering, the job market plods on. Yes, from my vantage point in a 40-year-old Recruiting Firm things continue to improve.  

Since the calendar turned over to 2010, every week has shown a bit more demand for talent. Sales have trended upward, and continue to do so. We are still not back to “normal” (as gauged by 12 years in this business); however, I can’t complain about business.

The Accounting Industry usually sidesteps economic dips, but the Great Recession did not leave the accounting profession unscathed. While unemployment rose to over 10% nationally (maxing at 10.8% in Georgia in February, 2010), accountants fared a bit better. According to our data the Accounting / Finance market topped out with a 6% unemployment rate.

Two areas have been hit especially hard:

1.     Entry level accountants – it has been a tough few years for grads with little to no accounting experience. With the sliding economy, many companies either froze hiring initiatives or went through layoffs. This produced extreme competition and allowed companies to hire experienced talent at the same cost as an unproven accountant. The result is a lot of highly qualified waiters and waitresses living at home and trying to stay positive.

2.      Accounting / Finance Executives – The turmoil of the economy resulted in an extremely cautious business environment. Business owners, Presidents and CEOs became risk adverse, resisting any temptation to change out C - level talent – fearful of the impact of any more disruption.

 

This cautious hiring market can be seen most dramatically by observing our internal statistics for Controller searches. In 2009 requests for Controller searches were down from previous years by 23%. The good news is that right now we are 53% ahead of last year. This is an optimistic sign for the accounting hiring market.

In a nutshell, the economy is improving very slowly. You can see this trend in the accounting / finance hiring market. Companies see continued improvement in the stock market to indicate the end of the economic doldrums. If this could combine with decrease in unemployment, you’d see hiring at record rates versus the slow and steady we’ve come to grow used to over the past several years.

Comments Untitled Document
Tennis Champion says:
8/23/2010
thought your comments in the chronicle were right on. i agree with you more then the rose colored glasses guy. my guess is that this will take many years to dig out of.
David Katz says:
8/19/2010
saw your comments in the ABC today.
out of work CPA says:
8/16/2010
Been on the market for 1.5 years -- fear that I am now unemployable. Before this I had 3 jobs, CPA, a really nice career. So, in essence, you are spot on. I see exactly what you describe.
Dan Erling says:
8/14/2010
Free, Great point. Unfortunately many companies are so tight with their budgets that internal controls have continued to suffer. I do believe that you are correct, it is just that we haven't seen it start to happen.
Dan Erling says:
8/14/2010
Lisa, Stay positive. These times are like no other. It sounds like you have taken all the right steps. Keep treading water until the market turns. Don't worry about those looks and comments.
Lisa says:
8/13/2010
You have described my situation perfectly. I am waitressing to support myself and pay for the CPA exam and review materials out of pocket. And also trying to stay positive! You can imagine the looks and comments from peers... "So you're still working at Chilis?"
Free Polazzo says:
8/13/2010
Since much of the economic downturn was, in my opinion, a result of the failure of internal controls inside many of our key institutions, I would hope that any recovery will be LED by the hiring of accountants to shore up business processes that help maintain the integrity of the information needed by investors at all levels.
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We lost a really cool kid
8/12/2010
My son, Nelson, met Blake Kuller in the third grade. They became fast friends. They shared birthday parties, movies, and slumber parties. They worked on school projects together, and occasionally got into trouble together.

Blake had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), and maybe the reason that Nelson and Blake had such a great friendship was because Nelson never seemed to notice. Sure, he loved escorting Blake on the only elevator in the school, and he loved riding on the back of Blake's scooter, but most of all he simply loved Blake.

Sadly, on the day before the boys would have entered high-school together we lost Blake.  Blake Kuller (14) son of Whalen and Allison Kuller and brother to Jackson (10) Lauren (8) and Ansley (6) passed away early Monday morning at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Scottish Rite hospital, where he had been admitted after suffering a fall. 

The memorial service honoring Blake will be held on Friday, August 13 at 11:00am in the Dunwoody Baptist Church Worship Center (near the Prayer Garden). 

Donations can be made in Blake's name to: Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (
www.parentprojectmd.org) an organization dedicated to funding medical research aimed at finding a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

We will all miss you Blake, but I think Nelson will miss you a bit more.
Comments Untitled Document
Dan Erling says:
8/31/2010
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo0W8HHnktI -- "Blake Kuller "A Celebration of Life"
qbot says:
8/17/2010
just get good vibes from the pic -- smiles that transcend my computer screen. nice kids - I can tell.
Greg says:
8/14/2010
Nice posting
Dan Erling says:
8/13/2010
Gill, That is an understatement. Dan
Gill M says:
8/13/2010
Nice work Dan. You must be proud of your son.
Dan Erling says:
8/13/2010
Blake loved being in the Boy Scouts and the Band. In this picture, Nelson and Blake are getting ready for a band performance at Peachtree Middle School under the awesome direction of Terry Shores and Walter Hickman.
Sarah says:
8/13/2010
What are Nelson and Blake dressed for?
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