@Risk

In its January 2010 “Citizens United” decision, the Supreme Court lifted all but a handful of restraints on corporate spending on politics.

How have companies responded? Are they spending on politics? And, if they are, how are they navigating disclosure, board oversight and the associated risks?

A new study from the Center for Political Accountability, in conjunction with the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, gives us some intriguing insights.

I found the results encouraging. The research, which is the first of its kind since Citizens United, revealed that many leading companies are taking steps to increase corporate political transparency and accountability. They are disclosing political spending and working to safeguard shareholders from its potential risk.

In fact, based on seven key indicators, the CPA-Zicklin Index identified the following S&P 100 companies as the top 10 for political transparency and accountability: Colgate-Palmolive Co., Exelon Corp., International Business Machines, Merck & Co. Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., United Parcel Service Inc., Dell Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and EMC Corp.

Here’s a look at a few additional findings: (more…)

Despite growing awareness and appreciation of the risks of non-compliance, only about one in four companies feel ready to meet the requirements of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act (UKBA), according to new survey results from Kroll Business Intelligence and Investigations.

The study, which polled more than 1,200 senior executives from a broad range of industries worldwide, found that:

• Just 27 percent of survey respondents said they are well-prepared to comply with FCPA and UKBA.
• Of those companies subject to these two laws, just  43 percent have trained senior management, agents, vendors and foreign employees to be compliant with one of these laws. Even less (39 percent) have assessed the risks arising from them.
• More than one-third (37 percent) believe their due diligence provides a sufficient understanding of a potential partner’s of investment target’s compliance with these acts.

Clearly, companies need to step up their game. Not only are the risks of non-compliance quite serious (and getting more so), but fraud is on the rise. Knoll’s new research also showed that: (more…)

Given the unpredictable economy and sluggish unemployment rates, it probably comes as no surprise, but the latest online shopping poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Offers.com shows that nearly half of US adults (45 percent) plan to spend less this coming holiday season than they did last year.

42 percent of those surveyed said they intend to spend about the same amount as they did last year. Only 11 percent plan to spend more.

The study, which polled 1,001 US adults aged 18+, also revealed intriguing insights about current preferences for online vs. offline shopping. For example: (more…)

Losses from shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors (also known as “shrink”) increased last year, rising to their highest levels since Checkpoint Systems, Inc. began tracking global retail theft in 2007.

Overall, Checkpoint Systems found that shrink in 2011 cost the retail industry 1.45 percent of sales –which translates into a whopping $119 billion.

Here are a few more highlights from this year’s Global Retail Theft Barometer : (more…)

New research from PwC reveals some disturbing details which suggest that most companies aren’t necessarily providing investors with a complete view of the strategic opportunities and threats to the business.

Even though there’s considerable uncertainty in global markets these days, PwC’s new study showed that less than half (45 percent) of the 350 largest listed UK companies clearly explain the potential impact of the risks they have identified or how they intend to buffer their effects.

What’s more:

• Only 16 percent of the FTSE 350 clearly based their reporting on their strategy throughout their accounts,
• Just 35 percent clearly align their key performance indicators with strategic priorities and
• Two-thirds are failing to clearly define their business models in their annual reports.

Although these statistics may seem concerning, the study also uncovered a bright side: In many ways, reporting has improved from last year. For instance, back then, a mere 18 percent of the companies studied were clear about the impact of their risks.

In other positive developments: (more…)