Keynote speaker
Don Tapscott, internationally acclaimed co-author of The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business

Facing corporate scandals and an economy that is still recovering, businesses must meet the demand for increased access to information. Shareholders, partners, customers, the government and even employees now require transparency inside businesses. And to stay competitive, companies must transform the way they conduct business.

SAS and CFO.com are pleased to bring you a series of Webcasts that will provide strategies for harnessing the power of transparency and using that power to bolster stakeholder confidence and drive competitive advantage.

The first of these Webcasts, Staying Competitive: Embracing Corporate Transparency, with keynote speaker Don Tapscott, is now available as an archive. Tapscott shares strategies to help your company:

• Strike a balance between demands for transparency and the need to protect proprietary assets.
• Distinguish different types of transparency and measure where your organization currently stands on a transparency continuum.
• Understand the role technology plays in helping you confidently establish transparency.

Tapscott provides real-world examples of companies that have grown their businesses by embracing financial transparency – a new form of power. He explains how the most successful businesses:

• Have adopted leadership practices that strengthen their business approach and enable them to take a clear lead over the competition.
• Understand that investments in transparency and citizenship deliver significant payoffs and improved business performance.
• Build transparency into their business strategy, products and services.
• Establish a more trustworthy brand, reputation and corporate character.

Also participating in the discussion, Greyson Quarles, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of SAS, and Phil Strand, global strategist and program director for SAS corporate governance and financial intelligence solutions, explain the beneficial role of technology in building financial transparency. They describe technologies that can help executives strike the right balance between reporting accurate information and not encumbering their employees with excess data validation and reporting processes.

This is a must-see Webcast for anyone in a finance or IT role in your company!

About the keynote speaker
Don Tapscott is an international authority, consultant and speaker on business strategy and organizational transformation. His clients include top executives of some of the world’s largest corporations and government leaders from many countries.

Tapscott is president of New Paradigm Learning Corporation, which he founded in 1992, and an adjunct professor of management at the University of Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. He regularly contributes articles and opinion pieces to North American newspapers and magazines, including Forbes, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, and is a columnist for enRoute, Intelligent Enterprise and Director magazines.

Tapscott holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and statistics and a master’s degree in research methodology from the University of Alberta.