| CIOs still excluded from the boardroom
A seat in the boardroom remains elusive for most CIOs as businesses continue to exclude IT chiefs from high-level strategic planning, according to new research. The picture is even bleaker for European companies who lag behind organisations headquartered in north America and Asia-Pacific when it comes to putting an IT executive at the top table. The research, A Missing Competency: Boardroom IT Deficit, by public relations company Burson-Marsteller reviewed Fortune Global 500 organisations to determine those with a technology expert - either a current or former CIO - on their boards. It is the second time the research has been carried out and, compared to the earlier 2003 findings, it showed an increase from five per cent to eight per cent in the number of organisations globally with a CIO on the board.
SCI FI Channel Names Howe President
NEW YORK, January 17: Dave Howe, currently the general manager and executive VP of SCI FI Channel, has been named president of the NBC Universal-owned network. Howe will oversee original development, programming and marketing, global brand strategy and market development, strategic planning, media relations and SCI FIs recently launched public affairs initiative, Visions for Tomorrow. He will also oversee SCI FI Magazine and SCI FI Digital, the division that operates SCIFI.COM, SCI FI Pulse and DVICE.com. Additionally, Howe is tasked with launching a new global brand identity for SCI FI and driving the brands expansion and diversification strategy beyond broadcast and digital media. The company has plans to expand into new areas such as video gaming, mobile, licensing and merchandising and the youth market.
JCPenney store in downtown Coudersport slated for closure
COUDERSPORT — Downtown Coudersport could be facing a tough blow in February with the closing of the JCPenney store, an anchor tenant in the business district.Tim Lyons, public relations officer for the merchandising giant, confirmed plans by JCPenney corporate offices to close the store, eliminating 12 jobs. He described the closing as a "difficult business decision." Several efforts are under way by business leaders and government officials in Coudersport to save the store, but local leaders concede that the prospects are dim."Losing JCPenney could really hurt Coudersport," said Stan Swank, a vice-president with the Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. "People come to Coudersport to shop at JCPenney and then they stop at other businesses, which helps our economy."The Coudersport store has been at the same location since opening in 1930.
The Skico view on the big issues
How does the Aspen Skiing Co. gauge its performance over the last decade? How does it view the coming season? Is its role as an environmental activist in the ski industry worth the criticism that comes with the territory?
David Perry, Skicos senior vice president-mountain division, provided answers to 10 questions posed by The Aspen Times in an e-mail interview to kick off the coming season. (He couldnt tell us when this balmy weather will give way to the white stuff.)
Perry is the Skicos second in command. One of the first actions taken by Skico President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Kaplan last November when he took the helm of the company was to promote Perry as his right-hand man.
Perry is in charge of all ski operations and also oversees marketing, sales, events, ticketing, guest services and public relations.
Effects of lax lending standards settling in
There are increasing signs that the subprime home mortgage pain is spreading to other forms of consumer credit, economic observers say.
On Thursday, the American Bankers Association released data showing that for many types of consumer loans, delinquency has reached the highest rate since mid-2001, when the nation was in the embrace of recession. Delinquency is defined as payments that are 30 days or more overdue.
"There has been an increase in certain categories of delinquencies," said Carol Kaplan, senior manager of public relations for the American Bankers Association. "We are seeing stress in housing-related loans and we anticipate that trend continuing."
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