Industry News
By Raha Naddaf, Staff Writer
2003 Projected Pay Increases
2003 salary increases are predicted to outpace inflation by 1 to
3.5 percent in most countries, according to a survey conducted by
Mercer Global Compensation Planning. The survey indicates that inflation
rates are to be highest in Argentina at 40 percent, while Japan
has the lowest inflation rate at 0.2 percent. Pay increases in the
U.S. and U.K. are predicted to be slightly higher than annual inflation
rate. Safarina Kardany, senior researcher at Mercer Human Resource
Consulting contends, "Despite some optimism about economic
recovery, companies remain cautious in setting their salary budgets
and are reluctant to commit to high increases in the current uncertain
times." (more...)
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Top Global Companies to Improve Online Annual Report Disclosure
Public companies are putting more effort into online annual reports,
according to a survey of 100 of the world's largest companies by
Blunn & Company Inc. Survey indicates that companies are making
efforts to increase the readability of their online formats by making
MD&A and financials easier to use and engaging investors with
online graphics. Findings illustrate that companies are trying to
improve the ease with which investors can locate pertinent information,
especially in the wake of corporate scandals. The research also
demonstrates that many annual reports still suffer from usability
problems that make them difficult to read, such as large PDF file
use and an inability to copy information for file sheets. (more...)
Source: Blunn & Company
90 percent of countries to convergence to International Financial
Reporting Standards
A majority of countries surveyed intend to converge with International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The findings, taken from GAAP
Convergence 2002, found that 72 percent of countries intending to
move towards IFRS have a formal policy in place to achieve this,
and in most cases, these policies are to initially aim at listed
companies. Results indicate that progress is being made to achieve
a single worldwide language of financial reporting. More than half
the countries surveyed report that the complex nature of international
standards, such as those relating to financial instruments, is an
impediment to convergence in their country. (more...)
Source: Deloitte & Touche
Study on Global Views of Financial Media Outlets
Most countries rely primarily on their own domestic news outlets
for financial and company news, however US-based The Wall Street
Journal and UK-based Financial Times ranked in the top
ten most important media, according to survey conducted by Global
Financial Communications Network. Results also indicate that print
publication prevails as the news medium considered most knowledgeable,
and most European countries rely on English-language media to reach
target groups. Martin Mosbacher, Managing Partner and Chairman of
Trimedia states, "This research has found that even in an environment
of continually evolving news media, most companies still depend
on traditional newspapers for communication." (more...)
Source: Global Financial Communications Network
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