Hope that everyone did well on exams.
Here are some links to other benefits blogs that may interest you.
Benefit Blog
Employee Benefits Legal Blog
Precept Employee Benefit BlogThe Delaware Employment Law Blog's List of top benefits blogs
The Retirement Plan Blog
12/1/09
A proposal to end the executive bonus system
A proposal to end executive bonuses will not go over in C-suites and among benefits attorneys. Read the article here.
Author Henry Mintzberg makes an interesting argument about the importannce of goodwill, which is not easily measured, but likewise not easily manipulated like financial measures.
Excerpt:
"A company's health is represented by its financial measures alone—even better, by just the price of its stock.
Come on. Companies are a lot more complicated than that. Their health is significantly represented by what accountants call goodwill, which in its basic sense means a company's intrinsic value beyond its tangible assets: the quality of its brands, its overall reputation in the marketplace, the depth of its culture, the commitment of its people, and so on.
But how to measure such things? Accountants have always had trouble when they have tried, as have stock-market analysts, investors and even potential purchasers of the company. (That's one of the reasons so many mergers fail.) No board of directors is going to have much luck finding that elusive measure, either.
This flawed assumption, though, does far more damage than simply distorting CEO compensation. All too often, financial measures are a convenient substitute used by disconnected executives who don't know what else to do—including how to manage more deeply.
Or worse, such measures encourage abuse from impatient CEOs, who can have a field day cashing in that goodwill by cutting back on maintenance and customer service, "downsizing" experienced employees while others are left to "burn out," trashing valued brands, and so on. Quickly the measured costs are reduced while slowly the institution deteriorates."
Author Henry Mintzberg makes an interesting argument about the importannce of goodwill, which is not easily measured, but likewise not easily manipulated like financial measures.
Excerpt:
"A company's health is represented by its financial measures alone—even better, by just the price of its stock.
Come on. Companies are a lot more complicated than that. Their health is significantly represented by what accountants call goodwill, which in its basic sense means a company's intrinsic value beyond its tangible assets: the quality of its brands, its overall reputation in the marketplace, the depth of its culture, the commitment of its people, and so on.
But how to measure such things? Accountants have always had trouble when they have tried, as have stock-market analysts, investors and even potential purchasers of the company. (That's one of the reasons so many mergers fail.) No board of directors is going to have much luck finding that elusive measure, either.
This flawed assumption, though, does far more damage than simply distorting CEO compensation. All too often, financial measures are a convenient substitute used by disconnected executives who don't know what else to do—including how to manage more deeply.
Or worse, such measures encourage abuse from impatient CEOs, who can have a field day cashing in that goodwill by cutting back on maintenance and customer service, "downsizing" experienced employees while others are left to "burn out," trashing valued brands, and so on. Quickly the measured costs are reduced while slowly the institution deteriorates."
Pittsburgh taxes college students to fund pensions
The Wall Street Journal reports:
"Facing big unfunded pension liabilities for city workers, Pittsburgh is proposing what appears to be a one-of-a-kind 1% tuition tax on local university and college students, who claim the tax is illegal and unfair...
The tuition tax, which would raise an estimated $16 million, threatens to drive a wedge between the city and its universities, which have been credited with fueling much of Pittsburgh's economic transformation from an industrial city to an education and medical-services center.
The cash-strapped city, which has 85,000 students at its 10 universities and colleges, including top-ranked engineering school Carnegie Mellon University, says it needs the tax to help cover a $600 million pension-fund shortfall and keep several branches of the Carnegie Library system open.
The "Post Secondary Education Privilege Tax" or "Fair Share Tax" is justified, the city argues, because the students use city services -- roads, police and fire protection -- and should pay for them. Moreover, the city contends that the tuition tax, which would range from $27 for students attending Community College of Allegheny County to $400 for those attending Carnegie Mellon, amounts to a small charge for services."
Read the article.
"Facing big unfunded pension liabilities for city workers, Pittsburgh is proposing what appears to be a one-of-a-kind 1% tuition tax on local university and college students, who claim the tax is illegal and unfair...
The tuition tax, which would raise an estimated $16 million, threatens to drive a wedge between the city and its universities, which have been credited with fueling much of Pittsburgh's economic transformation from an industrial city to an education and medical-services center.
The cash-strapped city, which has 85,000 students at its 10 universities and colleges, including top-ranked engineering school Carnegie Mellon University, says it needs the tax to help cover a $600 million pension-fund shortfall and keep several branches of the Carnegie Library system open.
The "Post Secondary Education Privilege Tax" or "Fair Share Tax" is justified, the city argues, because the students use city services -- roads, police and fire protection -- and should pay for them. Moreover, the city contends that the tuition tax, which would range from $27 for students attending Community College of Allegheny County to $400 for those attending Carnegie Mellon, amounts to a small charge for services."
Read the article.
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