ナレッジ・エコノミーの終わり

クリエイティビティー・エコノミーの時代（ビジネス・ウィーク誌）

Get Creative!

How to build innovative companies

　モノ作りから知識産業へ、といわれてきましたが、今や創造性経済（クリエイティビティー・エコノミー）に移っているそうです。

Listen closely. There's a new conversation under way across America that may well change your future. If you work for Procter & Gamble Co. (PG ) or General Electric Co. (GE ), you already know what's going on. If you don't, you might want to stop what you're doing and consider this:

The Knowledge Economy as we know it is being eclipsed by something new -- call it the Creativity Economy. Even as policymakers and pundits wring their hands over the outsourcing of engineering, software writing, accounting, and myriad other high-tech, high-end service jobs -- not to mention the move of manufacturing to Asia -- U.S. companies are evolving to the next level of economic activity.

What was once central to corporations -- price, quality, and much of the left-brain, digitized analytical work associated with knowledge -- is fast being shipped off to lower-paid, highly trained Chinese and Indians, as well as Hungarians, Czechs, and Russians. Increasingly, the new core competence is creativity -- the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line growth. The game is changing. It isn't just about math and science anymore. It's about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation.

What is unfolding is the commoditization of knowledge. We have seen global forces undermine autos, electronics, and other manufacturing, but the Knowledge Economy was expected to last forever and play to America's strengths: great universities, terrific labs, smart immigrants, an entrepreneurial business culture.

Oops. It turns out there are a growing number of really smart engineers and scientists "out there," too. They've learned to make assembly lines run efficiently, whether they turn out cars or code, refrigerators or legal briefs. So U.S. companies are moving on to creating consumer experiences, not just products; reconceiving entire brand categories, not merely adding a few more colors; and, above all, innovating in new and surprising arenas.

独断的コメント：

　製造業から知識産業へ、知価社会の到来、ナレッジ・マネジメント、SECI（提唱者は“セコイ”とも呼んでいましたが）等々のビジネス・ジャーゴンがブームとなっていましたが、そろそろ賞味期限が切れだし、中身の胡散臭さが見えてきました。

　知識自体にさほどの価値があるわけではなく、この記事が指摘するように知識労働も簡単にオフショアリングされてしまいます。

　そこで、米国経済が今後とも勝ち続けるためには、知識を超える創造性、想像力、なかんずく革新が必須ということになります。

　記事は、パイオニアとして、P&GとGEを取り上げ、創造性経済の何たるかを示そうとしています。

　例示は十分説得力あるものとは言いがたいですが、一読の価値ある記事といえます。

　ところで、創造性を否定し続ける教育システムしか持たないこの国の経済は、どうなっていくのでしょう？

時間があれば、

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945401.htm  

Fair use notice

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

国境を越えない資本主義

俺の庭には入ってくるな！（エコノミスト誌）
Overreacting? Moi?

The French are in a tizzy(狼狽状態) over rumours of an American bid for Danone

　エビアン水で有名なダノン社は、企業ブランドとしてはフランスの至宝のようです。正式の買収提案があったわけではないのに、噂だけで政界まで騒がしくなるのは、ご都合主義のグローバル資本主義だからでしょうか？

TALK about paranoid. Suddenly, all of France is defending a national champion against a non-existent attack. This week, French politicians on all sides have been talking gravely about the dangers of Danone, a big French food firm, falling into American hands. Even Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, has promised to “defend the interests of France” amid rumours of a pending bid by PepsiCo, one of the world's biggest food firms, for Danone, whose shares jumped as a result by over 13% on July 19th. No matter that Pepsi has denied building a stake in Danone and declines to comment on reports of takeover talks.

Speculation about a bid for Danone has ebbed and flowed frequently in the past three years. Danone is focused on bottled water, dairy products and biscuits. It is the world's largest yogurt maker. Its Evian water dominates one of the fastest-growing segments in the food industry. On July 21st, it reported healthy net profits of €347m ($446m) in the first half of this year.

Yet this is the first time that the rumours of a bid for Danone have prompted such a political mobilisation—evidence of the extreme defensiveness of the country's leaders since its voters said no to Europe's new constitution in May. Patrick Ollier, head of the economic affairs committee in the National Assembly, vowed to enlist the aid of French institutional investors to defend Danone. On July 19th, Laurent Fabius, a prominent Socialist politician, appealed to Jacques Chirac, France's president, to fight to keep Danone a Europe-based French group. Le Figaro said that the rumours about a takeover of Danone were reviving memories of the “traumatism” of the takeover of Pechiney, a French aluminium maker, by Canada's Alcan.

独断的コメント：

　つい先日も中国のCNOOCがユノカル社へ買収提案を行い、米国のナショナリズムを刺激しました。未だ半鎖国状態の我が国ですが、自分たちで処理できない破綻企業ですら、ハゲタカ達に食い荒らされてしまうと大騒ぎしていました。

　とはいえ、EUの拡大や経済ブロック圏の形成など国境を越える動きは着実に進んでいます。

経済合理性を欠く行動はいずれ歴史の潮流に流されるしかありません。

　今や亡霊としても世界の辺境でしか現れないマルクスですが、「下部構造（経済）は上部構造（政治・社会）を規定する」という彼の命題は真理でしょう。

時間があれば、

　http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=4199171

Fair use notice 

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

軍を持つウォールマート！

July 24, 2005

Who's Afraid of China Inc.?

中国の国策石油会社CNOOCのユノカル社買収問題は、中国の野心とともに、米国の困難な立場も浮き彫りにしました・・・・・

・・・・・・Oil is the ultimate geopolitical commodity - it is "The Prize," as Daniel Yergin titled his epic history of petroleum and international politics. And even if Cnooc fails to grab Unocal, the pursuit has pushed the two sides of the Chinese challenge together and into the spotlight of public debate. For China is both an engine of economic globalization and an emerging military power. In symbolic shorthand, it is Wal-Mart with an army.

The two sides aren't neatly divided. But those who focus on economics tend to see partnership, cooperation and reasons for optimism despite tensions, while security experts are more pessimistic and anticipate strategic conflict as the likely future for two political systems that are so different.

In China, there are also two camps - the security hawks and the economic modernists, according to China analysts. The modernists see China joining the United States as the second great economic power of the 21st century, and the two nations sharing the gains from increased trade ties and global growth. The hawks regard that view as naïve, and fret that American policy is to remain the world's only superpower and to curb China's rise. So China's response, the hawks say, is to try to erode United States hegemony and reduce America's power to hold China down.

Both faces of China have been evident recently. Two weeks ago, a senior Chinese military official, Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, said China should use nuclear weapons against the United States if the American military intervenes in any conflict over Taiwan. Then, bowing to pressure from the United States and other trading partners, China announced last Thursday that it would no longer peg its currency tightly to the dollar. It is a measured step, and it will not do much to moderate China's huge trade surplus with the United States anytime soon. But the move is a sign of flexibility and accommodation.

独断的コメント：

　 共産主義を建前とする家産制封建国家と、市場経済という２つの顔を持つ中国は、急速な経済のグローバル化によって、この２つを合わせ、覇権国から中華大帝国への野望が見えてきたと考える人が増えてきているようです。

　記事からは、この現実に戸惑っている米国が伺えますが、戸惑い、躊躇している間に気が付けば遅すぎたということになりかねないほど、中国の動きは凄まじいものです。

「兵」と同じく、経済も拙速を尊ぶのでしょう。

時間があれば、

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2005/tc20050722_8445.htm

Fair use notice 

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

ガラスの天井

Too slow but steadyな女性の登用（エコノミスト誌）

Women in business

The conundrum（難問） of the glass ceiling

Why are women so persistently absent from top corporate jobs?

IT IS 20 years since the term “glass ceiling” was coined（創作する） by the Wall Street Journal to describe the apparent barriers that prevent women from reaching the top of the corporate hierarchy; and it is ten years since the American government's specially appointed Glass Ceiling Commission published its recommendations. In 1995 the commission said that the barrier was continuing “to deny untold numbers of qualified people the opportunity to compete for and hold executive level positions in the private sector.” It found that women had 45.7% of America's jobs and more than half of master's degrees being awarded. Yet 95% of senior managers were men, and female managers' earnings were on average a mere 68% of their male counterparts'.

Ten years on, women account for 46.5% of America's workforce and for less than 8% of its top managers, although at big Fortune 500 companies the figure is a bit higher. Female managers' earnings now average 72% of their male colleagues'. Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that monitors departing chief executives in America, found that 0.7% of them were women in 1998, and 0.7% of them were women in 2004. In between, the figure fluctuated. But the firm says that one thing is clear: the number is “very low and not getting higher”.

　　　　　（中略）

It is even farther off in Japan where, until 20-30 years ago, it was generally unacceptable for women to stay in the office after 5pm. One ambitious employee of a foreign multinational dared to hide in the ladies' room until the men had left before returning to her desk to finish her work. There has been some progress since. This year two women have been appointed to head big Japanese companies. Fumiko Hayashi is now chairman and CEO of Daiei, a troubled supermarket chain; and Tomoyo Nonaka, a former newscaster, has been appointed boss of Sanyo Electric. Nissan has a general manager for “diversity development” who, when asked recently what has changed least in Japanese business in the past 20 years, replied: “The mindset of Japanese gentlemen.”

（注）：本文にもあるように、”glass ceiling”という言葉は、２０年前ウォール・ストリート・ジャーナルが創作し、女性の経営レベルへの参画の難しさを表すものですが、政府機関の“Glass Ceiling Commission”も含め、少数民族も含めて使われるケースが増えているようです。

時間があれば、

http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=4197626

さらに時間があれば、

　経営陣に女性が増えれば効率が上がるという記述がこの後半に出てきますが、“The mindset of gentlemen”という発言もあるように、国民性に深く根付いているものなので、革命的変化は期待できないのでしょう。

　経営層が男女平等になるには、米国ですら今後４半世紀を要するのではないかと思わせる内容ですが、それでもトレンドは不可逆でしょう。

　わが国での女性経営者登用として、２人挙げられていますが、いずれも危機にある企業というのも皮肉なものです。

Fair use notice 

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

「税率アービトラージ」とは？

結婚するなら、離婚コストを考えて（MSNBCニュース）

Mergers' New Twist: Divorce Insurance

Ameritrade is paying $20,000 for the possibility of saving $1 billion.

M&Aの成功率は５０％を割り込んでいるといわれています。要するに、買った会社の半分がいずれ再び売却されるということなので、買収の税効果のみならず、再売却の際の税効果も同時に考えるのが企業戦略として必要ということになります。

・・・・・・・・・Let's start with the Waterhouse deal. Last month Ameritrade and TD Bank Financial Corp., owner of Canada's huge Toronto Dominion Bank, announced that TD will swap Waterhouse for a 32 percent stake in the combined company. It all looks pretty straightforward. But if you read Ameritrade's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, you see that something wasn't mentioned in the news releases: $20,000 in cash, to be exact. So TD is swapping Waterhouse for 193.6 million Ameritrade shares plus the soupcon（ごく僅かの） of cash. Why the cash, which isn't even enough to be a rounding error? To make this a taxable transaction, rather than a tax-deferred swap of Ameritrade shares for TD's stock in its Waterhouse subsidiary.

This way, Ameritrade says, if it sells Waterhouse, its cost for tax purposes will be about $2.5 billion. Otherwise, it would be much lower. Given Ameritrade's tax bracket, the difference could approach $1 billion. That's well worth a $20,000 investment.

TD will have a taxable gain on the sale to Ameritrade—it wouldn't say how much, but did say that it will be offset by its losses elsewhere. Because TD will own about 40 percent of the combined company after some final papers are shuffled, it benefits by about 40 percent of any future tax benefit. Nice.

時間があれば、

　http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8598299/site/newsweek/

さらに時間があれば、

　この商品は、僅か２万ドルの出費で、将来払わなければならないかもしれない税負担を１０億ドルも節約できるのだそうです。

　税制のプロはこれを「税率アービトラージ」と呼んでいますが、離婚可能性を考えて、結婚するのは、企業に限らず個人レベルでもリスク管理上必要な時代なのでしょう。

　取り分け離婚率が５割を超え、若い女性たちの希望商品の上位に離婚保険が上げられる時代には！

Fair use notice 

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

CIOは最早"career is over"どころではない

経営者の報酬は高騰し続ける！（フォーブス誌）

Randy Mott's Pot Of Gold
ランディー・モットはデルのCIOからヒューレット・パッカードのCIOに引き抜かれた人物です。移籍条件は以下のとおり盛り沢山ですが、その合計は１５．３百万ドルに達します。

・・・・・・According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, HP will pay Mott a base salary of $690,000 per year, the option to buy 500,000 shares of HP common stock, and a targeted short-term bonus opportunity of 100% of base salary guaranteed at target for the remainder of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006. To replace benefits Mott had at Dell, the company will give him a $2.2 million signing bonus（ゴールデン・シェイクハンドともいいます） and a $1 million relocation bonus. He'll get 285,000 shares of restricted stock, vesting at 20% per year for five years, which would be worth more than $7.1 million at the stock's current price. And he'll receive targeted long-term performance cash of $7 million for the 2005-2008 performance cycle, of which $5 million is guaranteed.

As generous as the base salary is, Mott's new base salary isn't out of line for the industry, says Victor Janulaitis, CEO of management consulting firm Janco Associates, which tracks IT salaries. A CIO at a company the size of HP should expect to receive between $250,000 and $750,000, he says.
　　（中略）
HP's new chief executive, Mark Hurd , is expected this week to announce a restructuring that may include layoffs up to 15,000 employees, or 10% of HP's workforce.

Hurd was brought in partly to get HP's costs in line with the rest of the industry. Mott, groomed（仕込まれる） at two of the leanest-run companies in the world, Wal-Mart and Dell, will surely have ideas on how to bring HP's infrastructure costs in line and improve efficiencies.

時間があれば、

　http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/18/hp-cio-pay-cx_de_0718hp_print.html

さらに時間があれば、

　ヒューレット・パッカードは業績を低迷させたカーリー・フィオリーナに辞めてもらうのに４２百万ドルを支払いました。

そして２０百万ドルを超える報酬でNCRから引き抜かれたマーク・ハード新CEOは、HPの取り敢えずのリストラ策として、１５千人の解雇を発表しています。

　"career is over"の略称と称されていたCIO職ですが、苦境にある会社の取締役会は金に糸目をつけません。これも所詮他人の金だからでしょうか？

Fair use notice

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

税務署は金持ちには勝てない！

猫の手も借りたいIRS（ビジネス・ウィーク誌）

Cracks In The IRS Crack Down

IRS(米国内国歳入庁)は、節税スキームを乱用した富裕層１４００人から４５億ドルを徴収したそうですが・・・・・

・・・・・・・・Great numbers -- for now. But Everson's crackdown could soon hit its limits. The assault on abusive shelters marketed by big accounting and financial firms has driven the shelter biz underground, making the next generation of schemers much tougher to root out. With an $85 billion surge in federal revenues, pressure for tougher enforcement could ease. And the agency remains haunted by its own history. Congress, which traded on lurid（ショッキングな） tales of jack-booted（好戦的な） and incompetent auditors in the 1990s, is slashing President Bush's request for an 8% boost in IRS enforcement funds in half.

Everson, who has headed the agency since 2003, says he's "disappointed that Congress has not fully funded the enforcement we've asked for in recent years." Yet he insists his tactics are working. The IRS has boosted its enforcement ranks（メンバー） by 800 since 2003, bringing the total to 9,800. "We've got a lot more resources than we had," Everson says.

Maybe, but a decade ago the IRS had 14,000 agents looking for abuses. Its diminished force of tax cops（マルサ） is another sign that there's less than meets the eye to this crackdown. While audit counts have risen from rock-bottom, they're still far below '90s rates. According to the Government Accountability Office, only about 1% of individuals are audited -- half the rate of a decade ago. Also falling short: audits of partnerships and Subchapter S corporations（注）, structures that are popular with shelter creators. In 2004, the IRS audited only 2.2 of every 1,000 returns filed by these outfits, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which follows IRS enforcement. "The IRS is always going to be behind the eight ball," says Ronald A. Pearlman, a former Assistant Treasury Secretary for tax policy. "They don't have the numbers, and they never will."
（注）株式会社の一種ですが、小企業の多くは内国歳入庁に対しsubchapter Sを選択することによって一般の法人課税が免除されます。

時間があれば、

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_30/c3944066_mz013.htm

さらに時間があれば、

　米国議会は、IRSやSECのような法執行機関の経費をケチるので有名ですが、この記事は米国の徴税能力が事実上マヒしていることを示しています。

　米国では納税申告所の僅か１％、脱税の温床であるＳコーポにいたっては、０．２％しかチェックされないということで、まともに申告するものが馬鹿を見るようなシステムになっています。

　特に、税務署員より高給取りで、狡猾な会計士や弁護士がさまざまな節税スキームを考案するので、金持ちはますます金持ちになって行きます。

　我が国では、巧緻に長けた国税が源泉徴収制度を使って、サラリーマンを収奪し続けている上、財政破綻を先送りするために、御用学者たちを使って控除の廃止や消費税アップを提言させています。

　税務署の能力に大差はない上、経済・金融がグローバル化していますので、我が国の貧富も米国並みの格差に拡大するのは時間の問題でしょう。

Fair use notice

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

and discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

会計事務所の暗躍

ピッカブーの試練（ファイナンシャル・タイムス紙）

Accounting firms complain to watchdog

The big four accounting firms are trying to water down（骨抜きにする） plans by the US regulator to hold their staff responsible for violations of securities laws.

Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC are pressing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to abandon its proposal to discipline individual accountants who through negligence cause their firms to breach laws.

The proposal by the PCAOB（ピッカブーと発音します）, set up under the Sarbanes-Oxley law of 2002, is central to the regulator's efforts to guard against wrongdoing by accountants in the wake of recent scandals（注）.

In letters to the PCAOB, the firms said that the negligence proposal presented too low a threshold to justify disciplinary action by the regulator.

The PCAOB may hold a meeting this month to try and finalise the plans, which are included in a rule that would crack down on（取り締まる、厳罰に処する） the ability of accounting firms to carry out lucrative tax work for audit clients.

The plans are essential if the PCAOB is adequately to police its auditor independence rules, which seek to ensure that accountants do not develop cosy relationships with clients.

（注）　recent scandals：これは、エンロンやワールドコムのことではありません。デロイトの会計士達が仕組み、売りつけた脱税商品のことです。

時間があれば、

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0d75b460-f6ff-11d9-aeff-00000e2511c8.html

さらに時間があれば、

　収益追求の意欲が強い業者があるところに、監視機能が弱ければ、商品が詐欺的なものに向かっていくのは、自然な流れでしょう。

わが国では、最近のリフォーム詐欺がそうですが、米国ではデロイトによる富裕者向け脱税商品です。

わが国でも貧富の差が拡大した結果、銀行などがプライベート・バンキングに力を入れ、さまざまな節税対策を勧めるようになりましたが、米国では昔から節税が奨励されてきました。

不正会計問題から大急ぎで立法化されたSarbanes-Oxley法（SOX法と呼ばれています）で

すが、その規定に基づいて設立されたPCAOBの最初の試練がこの証取法改正です。

　業界の圧力が強く、富裕者よりの政策を採るブッシュ政権では最近も改革志向のSEC理事長が辞任に追い込まれています。

　法案骨抜きは役人と政治家の得意技なので、この改正案にも暗雲が漂っています。そして、将来一層深刻な問題が生じることになるのでしょう。

Fair use notice

This Blog News contains copyrighted material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright

owner.

The material is being made available for purposes of education

And discussion in order to better understand the complex

nature of businesses in today's world.

We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in relevant national laws.

The material is distributed without profit to those who have

expressed an interest in receiving the included information for

research and educational purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes

of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission

from the copyright owner.

We cannot guarantee that the information contained in this Blog

News is complete and correct or be liable for any loss incurred

as a result of its use.

Nor can we be responsible for any subsequent use of the material.

環境問題と代替エネルギー・ビジネス

原子力産業の復活（エコノミスト誌）

Nuclear power
The shape of things to come?

Climate change is helping a revival of the nuclear industry, though its economics still look dodgy（危なっかしい）

THINGS have not gone well for the nuclear industry over the past quarter century or so. First came the Three Mile Island accident in America in 1979, then the disaster at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine in 1986. In Japan, Tokyo Electric Power, the world's largest private electricity company, shut its 17 nuclear reactors after it was caught falsifying safety records to hide cracks（亀裂） at some of its plants in 2002. And the attacks on September 11th 2001 were a sharp reminder that the risks of nuclear power generation were not only those inherent（固有の） in the technology.

Nor was safety the only worry: there were financial problems too. British Energy, Britain's nuclear-energy operator, required successive government bail-outs（救済）. Britain also recently finalised a £50 billion ($90 billion) scheme to deal with the nuclear-waste liabilities of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), an inept（能力に欠ける） re-processor of nuclear waste that is itself bust.

But lately, things have brightened for the nuclear industry. In Asia, which never turned against it in the way the West did, the prospects are excellent. China already has nine nuclear reactors, and is planning to commission a further 30. New capacity is being built or considered in India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Russia has several plants under construction.

時間があれば、

http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=4149623&CFID=58821363&CFTOKEN=46413b7-4328cb14-7544-4327-af44-b050a9619e27

さらに時間があれば、

　クボタが公表して以来、アスベスト問題が急浮上していますが、米国では20年も前にその深刻な被害が問題にされ、多くの企業が集団訴訟に耐えられず倒産にいたっています。

　官業癒着の激しいわが国では、労働者や周辺住民、顧客等の犠牲やコストといった「外部不経済」が目先見えなければ、企業利益の追求が優先され続けます。

　イタイイタイ病、薬害エイズ同様、アスベスト問題も被害者がいなくなるまで続く4半期闘争となるでしょう。

環境問題は欧州の陰謀という説もありますが、その世界的な流行で、化石燃料が悪役となり、代替エネルギーへの注目が顕著となっています。

この結果、衰退を続けてきた原子力産業が復活しつつあり、環境運動の中にも、原子力反対を撤回するところも出てきているようです。

「外部不経済」をリスク（被害可能性）まで織り込んで考えれば、原子力がクリーン・エネルギーであるはずはありません。

ましてわが国のように、現場のプロセス管理が弱体化し、事故隠蔽が常態化している電力会社のリスク管理能力を考えれば、化石燃料の無公害化や他の代替エネルギーの開発を優先すべきでしょう。

財務監査保険！？

ビーン・カウンターの将来（ニューヨーク・タイムス誌）

How to Be a Better Bean Counter

世界中で不良経営者と不正会計が明らかになるたびに、会計士の責任と必要性が問われます。

会計事務所を交代制にするとか、会計士を監督する公的機関を設けるとか（米国ではピッカブーという組織が出来ました）、会計事務所の監査とその他の業務を分離するといった種々の予防策が提案されたり、試みられたりしています。

　いずれも一長一短あり、究極の解決策とは程遠いものです。

　そこで、この記事は次のようなアイデアを大当たり！というのです。

HERE'S an oversimplified version: If a company wanted audit insurance-for that's what it would be-the insurer would hire an independent firm to do a thorough investigation in order to gauge（計測する） the risk of issuing the insurance. "It would look at internal controls, internal auditing, management, past history of negative earnings surprises, and so on," said Professor Ronen. Only after this inspection would the insurer decide that the company was, in effect, insurance-worthy. That alone, of course, would give shareholders some comfort.

Then the shareholders would vote on whether to buy the insurance-and the auditor would report directly to the insurer. The insurance would never be enough to cover an Enron-like debacle（崩壊、混乱）, but it would be more than enough to cover the inevitable lawsuits that come after a restatement or other bad auditing news. And, of course, it would presumably decrease the number of restatements（決算修正）-which is the best outcome of all.

There is so much to like about this idea, and not just the fact that, as Professor Ronen put it, "The auditor is no longer beholden（世話になる） to the company manager." For instance, insurance would also allow shareholders to evaluate companies on the basis of how clean their books are. If two companies had the same coverage, but Company A was paying a lower premium, then that would clearly suggest that Company A was a safer risk for investors. It would be the accounting equivalent of bond ratings. Professor Ronen thinks it would not even be necessary to make such insurance mandatory. Companies would want it because it would lower their cost of capital, and send a good message to shareholders. Eventually, companies that didn't insure their audits would be stigmatized（白い目で見られる）.

Bean Counter：（やや軽蔑的に）財務屋、経理屋、会計士

時間があれば、

　http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/business/16nocera.html?pagewanted=print

さらに時間があれば、

　株式会社の経営者は株主やその他のステークホルダーの代理人（エージェント）に過ぎません。それにもかかわらず、権力を一手に握るので、自己の利益を図ろうとすることが避けられませ

ん。

　営利企業の最大・最終の目的は利益追求ですので、無能・不良経営者が財務成績を誤魔化す動機は強いものがあります。

　一方で、近年の金融工学の発展が恣意性の強い会計をますます不透明なものとしてきました。

両者あいまって、クリエイティブ・アカウンティングがはびこり、会計不信が払拭できずにいます。

　一生の職業としてビーン・カウンター（会計屋）を望む人は少なく、コンサルティングやM＆Aのアドバイザーのような派手で高収益の仕事に魅力を感じるのは避けられません。

　この結果、会計事務所と顧客企業との間には、利害相反（conflict of interest）が常に付き纏うことになります。

　この財務保険というアイデアは、保険会社という別の営利組織が間に入ることで、利害相反を回避、或いは軽減しようという点で優れたものかもしれません。

　問題は、保険会社と顧客企業の関係が多岐にわたり、財務保険のような単一商品だけの採算でビジネスが決まらないことが多いこと、会計事務所も保険会社との関係以上に顧客企業との関係を重視するかもしれないという利害相反が依然付き纏うことでしょう。

　可能性のある解決策かもしれませんが、まだ足りない部分があるように思えます。