Information wants to be free, but the unfettered flow of company information can pose problems. One of the challenges companies face as social media becomes more integrated into their operations is how to manage the use of various social platforms in a sensible way. Some companies, like Xerox, are well aware of the need to strike a sensible, risk-intelligent approach to managing social media. Xerox uses new social media program ideas that crop up throughout the organization as an opportunity to hold candid discussions about the business value of these programs, the risk implications and how these ideas might also serve as opportunities to educate the workforce about social media.

To get a better read on the risk management challenges social media pose, I chatted with Scott Oppliger, CEO of SocialVolt. more

Earlier this month, a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means focused on the tax treatment of financial products. The goals: to consider how Congress should respond to the potentially inconsistent tax treatment of economically similar financial products, and to determine how well the tax code has responded to the evolving financial products market, according to the Hearing Advisory.

Among those testifying was Thomas Barthold, chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. Barthold provided some context to the discussion, describing the astronomical growth in some derivative products. For instance, over the past twelve years, the notional amount outstanding of swaps (not including credit derivatives) jumped tenfold, from $14.3 trillion in 1998 to $149 trillion in 2010. Barthold also discussed several issues that arise when determining how to tax financial products. One issue: some instruments have characteristics of both debt and equity, which generally are taxed differently. more

January 1st, New Year Day, is a chance for proposing changes. The tradition is to make resolutions such as to lose weight or exercise more. Typically they are personal ones made by the individuals, but I have a new twist by making a resolution for CEOs, heads of government agencies and executive teams of all organizations.

I propose these types of managers enlist in a yoga class. My reasoning is that they need to periodically detach themselves from the hustle and bustle of the flurry of daily distractions and have some solitude and be introspective. I was inspired by this idea by reading a lecture by William Deresiewicz that was delivered to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October, 2009. more

The IRS celebrates the holiday season a bit differently than the rest of us. Rather than spreading joy, the Government Grinch has presented taxpayers with a stocking full of coal in the form of Revenue Ruling 2012-1.

The ruling deals with the timing of certain deductions for expenses that recur eternally, concluding that the deductions can only be taken ratably over time, rather than when the expenses are paid. Two situations are posited: more

In a recent Forbes‘ blog entry, LRN CEO Dov Seidman shares a concern he heard from a fellow CEO: “There are times I wonder, ‘Will I be the next Mubarak?’”

The worry seems a bit overblown on first glance; after some deeper consideration, however, it seems right on the mark. After all, the era of the social organization is upon us. Social media, mobile technology and ubiquitous connectivity are knocking down previous hierarchical structures and boundaries that separated different “levels” of employees and also employees from customers and other external stakeholders. more