As any exec knows, doing things rights is just part of the battle. You also need to do the right things – that is, the activities that are important, as well as urgent; and can move your organization forward, as well as put out whatever fires are burning at the moment.

A recent report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) reviewed the work of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), which was created by the IRS in 1979 to serve as the primary advocate, within the IRS, for taxpayers. TAS has several primary functions: helping taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS; identify areas in which taxpayers have problems in dealings with the IRS; and to the extent possible, propose changes within the IRS or through legislation that would mitigate the problems identified. more

After a laptop crash earlier this year, I made a genuine effort to move all of my small business’ data – 15 years’ worth of digital interview files, transcriptions, notes, ideas, articles, article edits, press releases and white papers – to the cloud. Among other tools (thank you, Windows 7!), I discovered Drop Box (full disclosure: sadly, I do not get paid to promote any of these tools).

This cloud-storage offering has made my working life so much more secure – in a highly convenient way –that this cloud tool has become a daily business process tool for me – rather than a monthly risk-management measure.

So, when I see cloud positioned as a business continuity management (BCM) and disaster recovery tool, I have two responses: A) “Well, of course;” and B) “Can companies that use a cloud approach in a BCM program apply the approach to improving other business processes?” more

But is it a good time to move?

Starting last week, banks were able to pay interest in corporate checking accounts. That turn of events was a result of Section 627 of the Dodd-Frank Act as this bulletin from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency outlines. This provision removed the prohibition against interest payments on demand deposit accounts, also known as Reg Q. As of July 21, member banks and federal savings associations were able — but not required — to pay interest on demand deposit accounts.

While the change should prompt treasurers to review their bank accounts, it is unlikely to mean a windfall for most companies. For starters, most banks will need to find a way to recoup any money they pay out in interest by instituting higher fees elsewhere. Until now, demand deposits accounted for a healthy chunk — by some estimates, 80 percent — of banks’ profits, this article in Banking Strategies points out. more

The wisdom of a famous Boston politician—I don’t care what they say as long as they are talking about me—certainly does NOT apply to social media and today’s business organizations. To the contrary, according to a recent poll by Symantec, a data protection vendor, the typical enterprise experiences nine social media incidents with 94% suffering negative consequences including damage to their reputations, loss of customer trust, data loss, and lost revenue. What gets said about your organization on social media indeed matters.

According to leading research Gartner: by the end of 2013, half of all companies will have been asked to produce material from social media websites for e-discovery.” That means enterprises need an information risk management governance strategy that specifically includes content created on social media.

The Symantec poll revealed that social media is pervasive within the enterprise, and CFOs have good reason to be worried. At a minimum the organization faces increased litigation costs and risks. And the costs aren’t trivial; the poll found social media incidents cost the typical company $4 million over past 12 months. more

In my previous post, I mentioned the down side of our boom-and-bust cycle and how it often translates to less-than-ideal decision-making atop organizations.

Here’s a Bloomberg BusinessWeek list – “10 Worst Innovation Mistakes in a Recession” — that I bookmarked three years ago and frequently re-read as a reminder to avoid boom-and-bust decision-making atop of my own business. Keep it handy in case 2012 looks like 2008