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The RECONNAISSANCE Report

Inside Information from Aurora WDC
Wednesday 20 January 2010

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.

~ Frederick Wilcox


Intelligence for Corporate Governance Part II: How the Board & C-Suite Can Avoid the 15 Bad Habits of Poorly Governed Companies

Wednesday 27 January 10:00 - 11:00 AM Central Time
(11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific)

Join us one week from today for our next free webinar, featuring Walter Smiechewicz, Chief Consultant at Audit Integrity. The second of a two-part series from Aurora WDC, moderated by founder and chairman Arik Johnson, on Intelligence for Corporate Governance, co-presenter Ronald Kral, Managing Partner at Candela Solutions LLC, will join Mr. Smiechewicz for the January 27th event following his January 6th presentation of Part 1 of the series, "Risk Intelligence in the Boardroom" - a PDF of the Slides as well as MOV of the Video from Part 1 are also available. Register Today!


Does your Board understand the risks that can cause your enterprise to sink below the waves of today's competitive tides? How does the C-Suite aggressively compete by taking on new risks profitably in today's globally competitive marketplace?

Learn about the Risk Factors that can submerge a company and what you need to be aware of in the decade ahead. Walter Smiechewicz, Chief Governance & Risk Consultant at Audit Integrity, will address the role of the board and how specifically they should be identifying and avoiding risks together with executive management.

Find out what your board is and should be worried about and how to help them prepare to avoid the icebergs that can submerge your company. Learn about the 15 bad habits of poorly governed companies and arm yourself with actionable ideas that have shown statistically to have an impact on improving your governance based on exhaustive research of 8,000 publicly traded companies. And please also invite your colleagues in the C-Suite and board members as they will leave the webinar better equipped to know what they should be asking in the board room. Also, senior internal audit executives will learn the 15 audits they must complete during 2010.

For more information and a briefing on Risk Identification and Avoidance, please review the document available at the following address:

http://www.candelasolutions.com/ace-files/Vantage_Point_of_Risk_and_Governance.pdf

Walter Smiechewicz is Audit Integrity’s Chief Governance & Risk Consultant. He is a specialist in the design and implementation of internal audit, governance and risk protocols for U.S. and international companies. His work in enterprise risk assessment is recognized as “best in class” in the top selling case study Four Approaches to Enterprise Risk, published in 2006 and reprinted in 2009 by the Institute of Internal Auditors. He has been published in IIA’s Internal Auditor Magazine, the Journal of Banking and Finance, NACD’s Directors Monthly, Fraud Magazine, Financial Executive, Directorship Magazine and interviewed by Bloomberg News and Best’s Review. Walter’s professional background includes seven years with Deloitte & Touche and over 15 years with U.S. corporations as General Auditor and Senior Managing Director of Risk Assessment. A frequent guest speaker on risk and internal audit, he is a member of the IIA; Financial Executives International; Professional Risk Managers International; AACSB Professionally Qualified Faculty; and the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is a CPA (non-practicing) and holds a BBA Accounting from Cleveland State University, as well as an M. Divinity from Columbia International University.Mr. Smiechewicz is based in Audit Integrity’s Los Angeles office and may be reached by email at wsmiechewicz@auditintegrity.com.


 

Ronald Kral is the Managing Partner of Candela Solutions LLC, a public accounting firm with a national focus on governance, risk and compliance. He works extensively with executive management teams and boards, especially those of public companies registered with the SEC, to build governance awareness through in-house training, streamline regulatory compliance efforts, and devise risk assessment tools to empower success. Prior to forming Candela Solutions in 2003, he was a Principal Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where he led performance auditing, internal control, and governance projects. He began his public accounting and consulting career with a California-based CPA firm as a Financial and Compliance Auditor, where he worked extensively with Ernst & Young on joint projects. Ronald is a nationally recognized speaker on regulatory accountability, business ethics, internal controls, boardroom leadership, and SEC rules & regulations. Mr. Kral was a member of FEI’s Task Force on the COSO Monitoring Guidance Project and has authored numerous articles on governance, risk and compliance. Ronald is a member of the AICPA, FEI, IIA, IMA, and WICPA. He is a licensed CPA in Wisconsin and California, and holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a BBA from the University of Wisconsin. Based in Madison, Mr. Kral can be reached at rkral@candelasolutions.com.


 

Arik Johnson is founder and chairman of Aurora WDC. As managing director and architect of Aurora’s consulting business, he works with organizations of all kinds to develop their intelligence apparatus to anticipate, monitor, detect and interpret change in their business environment. Aurora WDC's competitive intelligence, market research and business planning services empower the most respected enterprises in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. He is a Fellow of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals and speaks and writes widely on topics related to competitive intelligence. Mr. Johnson can be reached by email at arik.johnson@aurorawdc.com.

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