Submit Feedback

Letter from the Editor—Issue 1, October 2005

TO: CFO Pulse Panel Members
FR: David Suk, CFO Pulse Membership Manager 

Welcome to the CFO Pulse Newsletter, brought to you by CFO Research Services, the sponsored research arm of CFO magazine.

Previously, you agreed to become a member of CFO Pulse. That simply means you have agreed to fill out the occasional survey for us. As a reminder: our surveys are always conducted on a confidential basis – your individual responses will only be seen by the editors at CFO Research Services. And, we understand the time pressures you face. So, you will only see surveys that can be completed in less than 10 minutes.

In return for your time, you'll receive the results of each study you participate in along with summaries of new research programs sent prior to public release,  and other valuable incentives.

Chances are, like other readers of CFO magazine, you will find the greatest benefit of your CFO Pulse community membership lies in the quick and easy access to peer-group insights, benchmarks, and trend indicators – data and analysis you can build into presentations to other executives, decision-makers, and company finance teams.  

As a CFO Pulse community member, you will receive this newsletter on a regular basis. In it you will find:

• Feature articles from CFO.com that resonate with our latest survey results
• Brief summaries of our latest research findings, with direct links to the full reports
• Access to the CFO Research Director, Sam Knox, who is happy to answer any questions you may have about his team’s published observations or survey data.

Ultimately, the success of the CFO Pulse community and this newsletter depends on active participation and feedback. So, tell us what you like or do not like, and make suggestions for future research topics you’d like us to tackle. Simply write to cfopulse@cfo.com. We’ll do our best to make sure each member’s questions are answered.

• Companies overlook and under-manage the business risks of IT project and service delivery.
  Read more.
  
• Sarbanes-Oxley and the Boardroom.
  Read more.
  
• The Broad Implications of Section 965 Repatriation.
  Read more.
• Finance’s View on the Cost of Remote Access.
  Read more.
  
  

Q:  How you do prepare the pulse surveys of finance executives?
A:  Pulse surveys are underwritten by vendors of technology and services for the corporate finance function.  The CFO Research staff develops hypotheses for each study in collaboration with our research sponsors.  The questionnaires are prepared by the CFO Research team, which also tabulates the data and writes the final report.

Q:  Who sees my responses to the questionnaire?
A:  In accordance with Economist Group policy, only the research staff at CFO has access to individual survey responses.  Analyzed and aggregated survey data is used in writing reports, but neither your identity nor your individual responses to questions is ever released outside the CFO Research team.

Q:  What topics will you study in the next few months?
A:  We’re working on studies of corporate performance management technology, regulation and ERP software, indirect expense management, and human capital management for the finance team.  Keep in mind in most cases the participant of any research study will have access to the results.