FEI Weekly

February 28, 2019

What CFOs should be doing to brace for a recession and how to be more present during your next meeting.

What CFOs Should Be Doing to Brace for a Recession

CFO

Whatever the duration of the presumed economic slump, CFOs — especially in such vulnerable industries as manufacturing, retail, construction, technology, and travel/hospitality — have decisions to make in advance. What should they do to get ready?CFOs are mostly blocking and tackling — shoring up balance sheets, locking in credit lines, and shaving costs, while determinedly maintaining investment in key growth initiatives.

AT&T CFO Says 'Finance Bean-Counter' Won't Ruin Time Warner's Culture

Deadline

In a live-streamed appearance at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, John Stephens, Senior EVP and CFO of AT&T shared, “We’ve been really careful to set up a separate operating unit that looks a lot like Time Warner... We wanted to protect the culture. A finance bean-counter from a telephone company doesn’t want to go in and spoil what is a tremendously good asset.”

Businesses Expect Blockchain Change Within 3 Years

Ledger Insights

Nearly half of respondents to a recent survey said blockchain will likely or very likely change the way their companies do business within three years. In terms of whether technology companies are likely to implement blockchain within the next three years, 41% said it was likely or very likely.

Musk Hints at 'Some Tesla News' Today

Market Watch

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk changed his Twitter handle overnight and told his 25 million followers there will be Tesla news on Thursday, without elaborating further. On Monday, the SEC asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt over a tweet about the car maker’s production goals. Musk has until March 11 to tell the court why he shouldn’t be held in contempt.

How to Keep Everyone Mentally Present During Your Next Meeting

Knowledge@Wharton

Steven Rogelberg, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has some techniques to help leaders hold more productive meetings. One tips is to think about how much time is truly needed in the meeting. Parkinson’s law — the concept that work expands to whatever time is allotted to it- tells us that if you schedule something for an hour, magically it takes an hour. If you schedule for 32 minutes, it will take 32 minutes. And if that’s an ambitious amount of time for the particular agenda items, people will be present.