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Fragile days ahead as economies climb out of recession: Ernst & Young Lessons from change report outlines eight key performance goals to assess now TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The economic recovery will be gradual for most companies, fragile for many, and largely dependent on the ability to learn from past mistakes, Ernst & Young says in a new report, Lessons from change. "The challenges of recovery will vary by industry. The recession shattered business models for asset management, insurance and some areas of banking. But it only accelerated changes already underway in power and utilities, and media and entertainment," explains Jeff Charriere, Partner, Ernst & Young. "Regardless of how hard a sector was hit, all companies should build their new strategy by first assessing what they've learned." Lessons from change pulls together insight from conversations more than 500 Ernst & Young partners around the world have had with their international clients in the last few months. The report finds the most important lesson businesses can master is the ability to learn. "We may be back from the economic brink, but we're certainly not back to normal," says Charriere. "Not all of the lessons learned from change will be new, but they are taking on new importance. Integrating those lessons into strategies now can make the difference between just surviving the recession, and actually thriving in the upturn." In Lessons from change, Ernst & Young identifies eight primary performance goals that companies are, or should be, adopting to prepare for the rebound and to succeed in the new economy: Re-evaluate your business model. Embed innovation and constantly challenge your existing business models against the new business environment. Optimize the flexibility of your operations. Improve the responsiveness and flexibility of the organization to drive down cost, improve efficiency and adapt more quickly to changes in the market. Maximize capital availability and deployment. Reflect the continued importance of cash and constricted funding by optimizing the availability and deployment of capital for a more flexible and robust balance sheet. Examine your market reach. Optimize your global market reach and product/service mix to exploit opportunities, achieve optimum returns and mitigate risk. Accelerate your decision-making and execution. Make and execute decisions more quickly to take advantage of shorter windows of opportunity and respond more quickly to adverse developments. Revitalize the way you manage risk. Identify the full risk complexity of the market and develop and align a strong control framework for your business. Strengthen your management talent. Gain, retain and deploy a management team that is capable of addressing the complex market and organizational environment. Rebuild your stakeholders' confidence. Regain and retain stakeholder confidence through transparency and better communication on financial and nonfinancial performance. "Even as the economy improves, it's still not business as usual. Companies need to push new ideas further than ever before," underlines Charriere. "Cash is still critical, but it's not the only factor. Businesses that focus on learning from the past and establishing a new agenda are most likely to succeed. Thriving in this challenging business climate requires flexibility, creativity and imagination - qualities that can be nurtured only by a diversity of ideas and viewpoints." About Ernst & Young Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential. For more information, please visit ey.com/ca.

US set to pay Taliban members to switch sides http://www.southasianobserver.com/world_news.php?mid=18&cid=5809 Oct 29 2009 Washington: US President Barack Obama has signed a $680 billion defence appropriations bill with one provision giving commanders the ability to pay Taliban members to switch sides, but some experts feel the programme may buy only temporary loyalty. The payments to Taliban would be made under a Taliban reintegration provision under the Commander's Emergency Response Programme (CERP), which is now receiving $1.3 billion in the bill pay for military operations in the 2010 fiscal year, signed by Obama Wednesday. CERP funding is also intended for humanitarian relief and reconstruction projects at commanders' discretion. The buyout idea, according to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is to separate local Taliban from their leaders, replicating a programme used to neutralise the insurgency against Americans in Iraq. "Afghan leaders and our military say that local Taliban fighters are motivated largely by the need for a job or loyalty to the local leader who pays them and not by ideology or religious zeal," Levin said in a Senate floor speech Sep 11. "They believe an effort to attract these fighters to the government's side could succeed, if they are offered security for themselves and their families, and if there is no penalty for previous activity against us." The top commander in Afghanistan has backed the plan for the Taliban. "Most of the fighters we see in Afghanistan are Afghans, some with (a) foreign cadre with them," said Gen. Stanley McChrystal in a July 28 Los Angeles Times interview. Most are not ideologically or even politically motivated, he said in the interview. "Most are operating for pay; some are under a commanders charismatic leadership; some are frustrated with local leaders." But Nicholas Schmidle, an expert on the Afghanistan-Pakistan region for the non-partisan New America Foundation, cited by CNN said that while the plan has a "reasonable chance for some success", the old Afghan saying - "You can rent an Afghan, but you can't buy him" - will eventually be borne out. "So long as the Americans are keenly aware of this, you're buying a very, very, very temporary allegiance," he said. "If that's the foundation for moving forward, it's a shaky foundation." CNN security analyst Peter Bergen said the idea of paying off Taliban members to quit is nothing new. "There's been an amnesty programme for low-level Taliban in place for many years now and thousands of people have taken advantage of it," he said. (IANS)