Back in February of this year, the management consultancy Ernst & Young published a well-designed report, “Groundbreakers,” that synthesized and summarized the growing body of evidence that investing in the empowerment and inclusion of women can reap economic rewards. Focusing largely on women in corporate settings, the report made the point that diversity is “an equation for success” and pointed out the need to get beyond token inclusion to the adoption of diversity as a central tenet of leadership development and team-building.

In their latest report in what they are now calling their “Groundbreakers” series, Ernst & Young turns their attention to women’s entrepreneurship. “Scaling up: Why women-owned businesses can recharge the global economy” gathers up many sources familiar to we womenablers and again compiles an easy-on-the-eyes summary of key points, such as:

• legal and cultural barriers currently set many women business owners on a lower growth trajectory,
• access to markets, networks and capital are all challenges, and
• education and business support often does not get women past the ABC’s of starting a business and on a path to thinking bigger.

What does the report suggest in the way of possible solutions to these challenges? More mentoring and roles models, programs to expand professional networks for women, and nurturing high-potential women business owners with coaching and other forms of personalized support – such as those offered by the ATHENA PowerLink mentoring program, Count Me In’s Make Mine a Million $ Business initiative, Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women initiative and Ernst & Young’s own “Winning Women” program launched last year.

The report ends with this call to arms:

“As it is used in sociology, the term ‘tipping point’ — popularized
by author Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book of that name —
describes the transformation that results when a movement
for change reaches the point where it becomes an inexorable
force. Gladwell calls it ‘the moment of critical mass, the threshold,
the boiling point.’ Women are at the threshold. As we emerge
from a historic economic downturn, a vital push is needed
to make women’s enterprises an unstoppable force for
positive transformation.”

Hear, hear!

It’s not a total surprise when you think about it. When you’re dealing with the biggest ponzie scheme in history involving billions of dollars and thousands of lives affected is it that inconceivable to think that Madoff wasn’t doing this on his own? In order to pull off what he did he would have had to have amassed a team of conspirators and collaborators to do the grunt work. So these IT guys just arrested who could no longer remain tight lipped about their involvement may just be part of a large group of folks who have still not come forward or been implicated in this massive crime that Madoff perpetrated.

For all we know, we could be hearing about arrests and convictions for folks in the Madoff scandal for the next two years. We may never know how deep this goes. In scandals like these often times we’re dealing with so many layers of involvement it’s like trying to dig a hole in the sand. For example, Reuters announced earlier of suits by investors against E&Y for their alleged involvement in Madoff feeder funds. Unfortunately at least one of the fund managers committed suicide and let us all hope that E&Y at least made restitution if at all appropriate with his fund and his family. Very sad, I wonder when large firms like Ernst & Young win new auditing and tax clients, after giving themselves high-fives, starting their billing machine, then starting their cross-selling machine to get additional tax and other revenue out of that client, if they ever take even 5 minutes to think about the lives that could be hurt or destroyed if they should short the assignment of good CPAs or allow adequate confirmation/reporting time to chase down all reasonable loose ends.

In my direct experience with E&Y, my opinion was an obvious no (my Downs Syndrome child’s trust fund vanished almost overnight where E&Y had been the auditors of its primary investment for years) — I hope for Thierry’s family above it was a yes or that E&Y at least took care of his family. Dark days.

It looks like the folks on Capitol Hill are trying to help protect American citizens against what has happened in the last couple of years in the financial industry with a new agency that will reportedly act as a safeguard against some of the allegedly disreputable actions reportedly made by folks like AIG, Lehman Brothers and Ernst & Young.

The idea is that a Financial Consumer Protection Agency will be created with, as the legislation proposes, “broad regulatory powers to ensure individual purchasers of financial products are adequately protected.” Sounds like a good idea right? Well yes and no. Some people think it might make a difference in preventing future financial misdeeds while there are others who believe that all this does is add another layer of bureaucracy to an already muddled system. Not surprisingly the folks who this agency will be protecting you against are the ones who most ardently oppose this legislation getting through. The notion that there will be a financial protection agency at a federal level is not something that sits well with the financial conglomerates that up until now have had a fairly unobstructed path in taking advantage of the American consumer. On the flip side some may say that the government isn’t blameless in all this mess and having them regulate something they’ve failed to do so far doesn’t seem like the best plan. Think about it — while this, let’s call it the FCPA, could protect individual consumers on some level, how will it prevent things like the alleged negligence that E&Y was accused and convicted of by a jury this past summer involving a bank that collapsed. Would such legislation have prevented the alleged negligence and many other mishaps they have been accused of (numerous stories cited at www.EYSucks.com)?

For now this Agency exists only on paper and has to jump through some substantially high hoops before it could possibly become a reality. The question is, will an agency like this be like a fox guarding a henhouse or will it really be the kind of safeguard we need to prevent the financial catastrophe that we are just now making our way out of.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has announced plans for a paid-for business version of the service as well as new foreign-language versions, according to reports. Stone said that in exchange for paying a fee, businesses that sign up to the new commercial accounts would get access to Twitter’s marketing machine and other tools, according to Dow Jones. The new foreign language versions of the service in the pipeline include French, German and Spanish, Stone said. The firm also plans to make a syndication platform available, which Stone said would give a useful insight into user behaviours and trends. Speaking at an event held by professional services giant Ernst & Young, Stone said the additions would come soon, but would not give any further release details. Enterprises may appreciate a business specific account, but will be hoping that it comes with more protection that Twitter’s Verified accounts for celebrity users. Earlier this week, the firm announced that it had suspended a limited trial of its retweet service after being plagued by technical problems – just days after it went live.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2253153/stone-talks-twitter-additions

This week I was lucky enough to attend the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Desert, CA. As you may recall, last year Red Hat Chairman Matthew Szulik was the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and later this week, he’ll hand over his title to the next entrepreneur in waiting. One of the most exciting things about the Strategic Growth Forum is that it brings together some of the smartest entrepreneurial minds in the world in one place, and this morning, I had an opportunity to hear from one of the best.

Howard Schultz: Chairmain, CEO, and President of Starbucks

Howard Schultz, Chairman, President, and CEO of Starbucks, who won an Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1993, spoke about his experience leading Starbucks through the economic crisis. As Starbucks began going through hard times, Schultz, who had given up the CEO role in 2001 (while remaining Chariman), decided it was time to take back the CEO responsibilities himself in early 2008.

Why? He was worried that the distinct culture, mission, and values that had brought the company great success were eroding.

According to Schultz, he came back into an operational role because he felt that the way out of crisis was not a simple change in business strategy, but instead– in his words– “love and nurturing.” His key to turning things around was revitalizing the investment in his people, recommitting to the core purpose of the organization and providing employees with hope and inspiration.

He says the transformation of Starbucks since this revitalization has been key to a tremendous amount of new innovation happening inside the company. People have even commented to him that it reminds them of what the early days at Starbucks must have been like.

Schultz took 10,000 of his best people and brought them together in New Orleans in late 2008 for a leadership conference where they spent 50,000 volunteer hours helping communities re-build after Hurricane Katrina. Below is a documentary that was filmed about this event.

According to Schultz, this event was one of the most important things that galvanized the culture of Starbucks again– and he made the enormous investment despite opposition from angry shareholders who didn’t understand how the expense of the event would benefit the company.

As for lessons learned about preparing the company for the future, Schultz says that great brands provide an ongoing emotional connection and sense of discovery, and this comes from building the brand from the inside.

Which is why, while he has good things to say about his CEO predecessor Jim Donald, he admits that his weakness was not having a successor ready from within the company. According to Schultz, it is a steep challenge for someone from the outside to continue to stay true to the culture and values when things go awry. He does not plan to make this mistake again– his successor at Starbucks will come from within.

Schultz summed up his thoughts about the company culture this way:

When you love something, when you care so much, when you feel the responsibility… you find another gear.

And from hearing him today, it sure sounds Starbucks has once again found that gear. I’ll end with a quote from Schultz that appears at the end of the documentary above, describing the experience of bringing his team back together in New Orleans:

There is a word I think of when I think of Starbucks. And it’s love. We love what we have built here. We love the experience we have created for our people. Somehow, along the way, the level of that feeling got somewhat blurred by success. That is one of the things I think will be very apparent in this week about what it means to love something… and then the responsibility that goes with that.

A survey, which canvassed nearly 1,900 senior executives in more than 60 countries, shows that 75% of respondents are concerned with the possible reprisal from employees who have left their organizations.

The 12th annual Ernst & Young Global Information Security Survey also reveals that lack of adequate security budgets and resources are becoming major concerns for senior IT professionals.

The survey finds that 42% of respondents are already trying to understand the potential risks related to this issue and 26% are already taking steps to mitigate them.

It says allocating adequate budget to information security continues to be a challenge in 2009, with 50% of respondents ranking this as a high or significant challenge — a notable increase of 17 percentage points over 2008. 

Despite this level of concern, the survey says, less than half (40%) of respondents plan to increase their annual investment in information security as a percentage of total expenditures, while 52% plan to maintain the same level of spending.

The survey also reveals that regulatory compliance is a top priority for information security leaders and continues to be an important driver of information security improvements.

When the survey asked how much their companies were spending on compliance efforts, 55% of respondents indicate that regulatory compliance costs account for moderate to significant increases in their overall information security costs. 

Only five percent of respondents plan on spending less over the next 12 months on regulatory compliance.

Due to a heightening occurrence of data breaches, data protection is at the forefront of many information security leaders’ minds. Implementing or improving Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) technologies — the combination of tools and processes for identifying, monitoring, and protecting sensitive data or information — is the second-highest security priority in the coming 12 months.

Forty percent of respondents rank this as one of their top three priorities.   

According to the survey, one of the most startling findings is how few companies encrypt their laptops. Only 41% of respondents currently encrypt them, with 17% planning to do so in the next year.

This is surprising, says the survey, given the number of breaches that have occurred due to loss or theft of laptops, that encryption technology is readily available and affordable and that the impact to users during deployment is relatively low.

The survey fieldwork was conducted between June and August 2009 and findings were revealed Tuesday, Nov. 10. The results were primarily collected through interviews held with executives from organizations across major industries.

Last year’s estate visit was an awesome one. It was a vacation-like as we had fun while working on the different environment despite the rural and secluded whereabouts. The fun had accumulates when it was my first time stepping into Borneo.
Well, will this year’s be as fun? We’ll be going into deep Pahang…

  Internet search giant Google has emerged as the most sought after company for business as well as engineering graduates, according to two surveys, which term the company as the world’s “most attractive employer” followed closely by rival, Microsoft.

According to the surveys compiled by global employer branding firm Universum, Google has been ranked at the top spot in the list of top 50 global businesses and engineering companies.

About Google, the surveys said, “Google’s number one position is no surprise. Due to its remarkable brand image, students worldwide see it as a company they would like to work for.”

The search giant is followed by Pricewaterhouse where most B-Schools students want to work, while engineering graduates preferred Microsoft as their second choice.

For business students, Microsoft is the third choice, financial services major Goldman Sachs Group is fourth, Ernst & Young (fifth), Procter & Gamble (sixth), J P Morgan (seventh), KPMG (eighth), McKinsey & Company (ninth) and Deloitte (10th).

“The employers that feature in this Top 50 all have one thing in common: they successfully appeal to current and future talent, and they are aware of how scarce talent is,” Universum said.

Soft drink major Coca-Cola has been placed at the 13th position, while Citigroup has cornered the 21st place for itself among the list for business students.

However, irrespective of ranks, the top 50 global employers for business and engineering students are very similar, showing strong employer brands transcend many skill and industry groups.

Conversely, Oracle and Philip Morris make it to the top 50 for business students, but not for engineering students. GlaxoSmithKline and Alcatel-Lucent appear in the engineering ranking, yet not in the business ranking.

Meanwhile, in the list of top 50 employers for engineering students Microsoft is followed by IBM at the third spot, BMW (fourth), Intel (fifth), General Electric (sixth), Sony (seventh), Siemens (eighth), Shell (ninth) and Procter & Gamble (10th).

However, despite it being one of the toughest years for car manufactures, BMW and Daimler appear in the global top 50 ranking in both lists.

The global rankings based on the survey of about 1,20,000 students highlights the world’s most powerful employer brands and those companies that are “the most successful in talent attraction and retention.”

Students from the US, Japan, China, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Canada and India’s top academic institutions took part in the survey.

Vi er glade for at meddele at Bellevue Tours A/S er blevet udvalgt til konkurrencen “Entrepeneur Of The Year”.

Den 27. oktober har vores virksomhed deltaget i det nordjyske afdeling af kåringen. Entrepeneur Of The Year er en årlig kåring og udvælgelse blandt vækstfirmaer, arrangeret af revisionsfirmaet Ernst & Young.

I alt 130 nordjyske virksomheder lever op til kravene om at kunne deltage.

Bellevue Tours var med helt til finalen for region Nordjylland. Her deltog 21 firmaer i alt, som alle opfyldte krav som vækst i antal ansatte, minimum 15% vækst i omsætning, positiv egenkapital og resultat.

Deltagerne i Entrepreneur Of The Year bliver inviteret til at deltage gennem en prækvalifikations-proces. Læs mere om deltagelseskriterierne ved Entrepeneur Of The Year hos Ernest & Young.

Vinderen i år blev Logimatic som går videre til konkurrencens nationale finale, der finder sted i København 27. November 2009.

Læs artikler om Entrepeneur Of The Year 2009 hos Nordjyske.

21 firmaer i spil om pris – http://www.nordjyske.dk/erhverv/forside.aspx?ctrl=10&data=4%2C3403489%2C5%2C3

Logimatic nordjysk mester – http://www.nordjyske.dk/erhverv/forside.aspx?ctrl=10&data=4%2C2984354%2C2805%2C3

by J. Robert Brown, for The Race to the Bottom, Ocotber 26, 2009.

The publicity swirling around the Pay Czar’s apparent decision to drastically cut the compensation at seven companies receiving the most bailout money needs to be put into perspective.  First, it is the Pay Czar, not the board of directors, who is ensuring that the compensation is fair.  In other words, the need for a Pay Czar reflects an awareness that the system of relying on the board to determine compensation doesn’t work, at least if setting compensation at a fair amount is the goal.

But this solution relies on one person, the Pay Czar, with his almost unlimited authority, to oversee a mere seven companies.  There are, however, over 10,000 public companies.  The pay issue cannot be so easily constrained.

Is there a permanent role for government review of executive compensation?  Proposals suggesting that the Federal Reserve Board was going to issue rules/guidelines to regulate some practices suggest that at least some think there is.  It looks like from published reports, that Fed guidelines on compensation will become part of the inspection process.  But if the experience at AIG is any indication, this won’t be a particularly successful effort…(continue reading)

by Mondo Visione, October 21, 2009.

The Norwegian Corporate Governance Board – NUES (Norsk Utvalg for Eierstyring og Selskapsledelse) – awards a prize every autumn to the company listed on Oslo Børs that the Board wishes to recognise for the quality its report on corporate governance in the previous year’s annual report. The purpose of the prize is to create a greater awareness of corporate governance in general, and to promote the Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance in particular. NUES also hopes that the award of an annual prize will serve to inspire listed companies that are looking to improve their corporate governance reporting.

NUES is supported in its work on identifying candidates for the prize by the accounting firms Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, BDO Noraudit and PricewaterhouseCoopers, all of which put forward companies for consideration. On the basis of the input provided by these firms, NUES has evaluated which company should receive this year’s prize. The Board was assisted in its evaluation of this year’s candidates by Finn Berg Jacobsen of BA-HR, and Arthur Sletteberg of Ferd AS.

In awarding the prize, the Board has paid particular attention to the following factors:

1. How well the board of directors has complied with the Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance which states at Section 1 that: “The board of directors must provide a report on the company’s corporate governance in the annual report. The report must cover every section of the Code of Practice. If the company does not fully comply with this Code of Practice, this must be explained in the report.”

2. The extent to which the overall presentation of the report helps shareholders and other parties to evaluate the company’s compliance with the principles of good corporate governance…(continue reading)

The analysis conducted with the participation of over 200 investors found that Hungary is the second most popular country in the CEE area for setting up research and development centers while the region overall is still highly sought after for installing industrial production capacities.

Hungary’s high appeal lies in the availably of qualified workforce, reliable telecommunications infrastructure and investors are also happy with the state of logistics and transport, E&Y said.

International firms already active in Hungary are still happy with their decision to come to the country and half of them are planning further investments and expansions, the survey stated.

por Esteban Ramírez, para elfinancierocr.com en Deloitte, Setiembre 19, 2009.

La Bolsa Nacional de Valores (BNV), junto a un grupo de cámaras empresariales y asociaciones profesionales, trabajan en la creación del Instituto de Gobierno Corporativo, en Costa Rica.

El objetivo es que esta institución sirva como punto de enfoque para todas aquellas organizaciones públicas y privadas interesadas en el tema del gobierno corporativo.

Matthew Sullivan, director del Mercado Alternativa para Acciones (Mapa) –de la Bolsa Nacional de Valores–y presidente de la junta directiva de Instituto, comentó que los estatutos de la entidad fueron aprobados la semana pasada .

Se espera que en los próximos días quede formalizado el registro de la institución. En el marco de su lanzamiento se tiene prevista la primera charla abierta al público, el próximo 3 de setiembre , sobre los 10 retos principales de las empresas familiares…(continúe leyendo)

My first day with EY, I fully intended to start this blog. Same holds for the second. And the third. I suppose that’s another good intention of mine turned into a paver on the path south.

Yet, here I am, three weeks into a new role, company, and cube, creating my first entry. 

It’s apparent to me that I’m inculcating myself to my new environ. Willingly. Enthusiastically, even. And it isn’t apparent just inside the office, but outside – right now as I scribe – as well.

Take, for instance, this entry’s spacing. Those who write, edit, or proof understand the importance of details – spacing between sentences being one of them. Before becoming copy editor for the Southeast Sub-Area, I had my style of spacing: two spaces after end punctuation. Mind you, I had my reasons. Namely, I saw it as a manifestation of a communicator’s cardinal rule: remember your audience.

How’s that?

When we read – on screen or on wood-pulp-based medium – our eyes and brain work hard.  Our eyes scan symbols; our brain gives them meaning.  The reader, registering not one but two spaces after a period, has more of a visual break, allowing your brain to register, “Hey, there’s a longer space there than there is between words.  That must mean a new thought is coming.”  And this eases comprehension.  Hopefully, this paragraph’s double-spacing made the sentences easier to digest than the single-spaced paragraphs.

To illustrate the importance of spacing, doyoureyesfindthiseasytoread, or do you prefer this? It’s a matter of making our content easy for our readers.

Alas, the collective EY “we” does not use the double-space. And, insofar as I am an EY employee – more so as an editor – I do not use the double-space. Accordingly, I begin to relax my editorial stance, both inside and outside the firewall.

But long live the serial comma.

Jeudi 26 novembre 2009

de 9 h00 à 12 h 00

Panorama de jurisprudence bancaire 2008-2009

Alors que le secteur bancaire est largement perturbé par la crise financière, la jurisprudence est observée avec une attention toute particulière. Quant au législateur, il redouble d’efforts ces derniers mois : les textes se multiplient dans tous les domaines. L’année 2008-2009 a été marquée par un grand nombre d’arrêts en matière bancaire et financière dont certains sont très importants pour les professionnels du droit. De nombreuses décisions marquantes ont en effet été rendues pendant la période sous revue, principalement par la Chambre commerciale de la Cour de cassation, concernant notamment le taux effectif global, le devoir d’information ou de mise en garde du banquier, le crédit à la consommation et le crédit immobilier ainsi que le droit des garanties ou des sûretés. La présente matinée, organisée par Revue Banque en partenariat avec l’ANJB, a pour objet de faire le point sur cette jurisprudence qu’il est indispensable de connaître.

>>> En savoir plus

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Mardi 01 décembre 2009

de 9 h00 à 16 h 00

Clôture des comptes 2009 : un arrêté dans un contexte de réforme IAS

Pour la septième année consécutive, La Revue Banque en partenariat avec Ernst & Young propose une journée réservée aux établissements bancaires. Ce séminaire a pour objectif de les aider à appréhender les principaux thèmes de la clôture des comptes 2009 dans un contexte de refonte significative des normes IFRS.

>>> En savoir plus

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Mardi 8 décembre 2009

de 8 h30 à 09 h 30

La réforme des « Covered Bonds » : ce qui va changer

Dans un contexte où la titrisation essuie de nombreuses critiques, la BCE, qui a récemment procédé au rachat direct de 60 milliards d’euros de “Covered Bonds”, a favorisé de cette manière le soutien aux banques, qui ont su profiter des conditions de prix attractives de ce marché pour se refinancer. Alors que les textes législatifs et réglementaires sont bientôt disponibles, quelles solutions et nouveautés sont envisagées?

>>> En savoir plus

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Mardi 08 décembre 2009

de 11 h00 à 13 h 00

Titrisation : comment utiliser cet outil de relance ?

ALa redynamisation du marché de la titrisation induit des changements substantiels, seuls susceptibles d’attirer de nouveaux investisseurs : voici la conclusion du dernier rapport de la Banque des Règlements Internationaux sur le thème : « the future of securitisation : how to align incentives ? ». Ainsi, bien que la titrisation pâtisse d’une image ternie, ce marché tente de retrouver
son rôle dans le financement de l’économie : les politiques de soutien de l’Eurosystème vont dans ce sens. Ces mesures impliquent inévitablement la mise en place de nouvelles garanties et une refonte du cadre légal et réglementaire.
Quels sont donc les impacts d’une telle relance sur le marché et les investisseurs ?

>>> En savoir plus

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September 29, 2009

The Big Four audit firms in the United Kingdom are worried that they could be facing huge payouts for negligence claims in the wake of the financial crisis and even the potential collapse of some firms.

The U.K. member firms of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been pushing for a cap on payouts from negligence lawsuits, but did not receive the legal change they wanted from the U.K. government. They had been making their case to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, according to Times Online.

Under current law, the audit firms can be held liable for the entire amount of losses when one of their business clients suffers a financial collapse, even if they’re only partially at fault. The firms are worried that lawsuits arising from audits of the Madoff feeder funds and companies like New Century Financial could even bankrupt them.

While Lord Mandelson is reportedly sympathetic to their concerns, his department apparently already considers a recent legal change to be enough of a help to the firms. The 2006 Companies Act gives company directors the ability to limit the liability of auditors if they get the approval of shareholders. However, this law does not go far enough from the audit firms’ perspective as no major companies to date have been willing to limit their audit firms’ liability.

Go to Article

Video game and virtual worlds aren’t always included in discussions of social media, but they should be.  Video games, are, in fact,  among the earliest forms of online social media. As I wrote in the article “Second Life: Why Should You Care” in the latest Center For Innovation Management Studies Technology Technology Report,

“The early 1970s brought us the first video game, Pong, as well as the first role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons.  The earliest computer role-playing games, which were text-only, soon followed. By the 1990s, multi-player computer games were introduced, including Everquest, and World of Warcraft. These games are now called MMORPGs, an acronym for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game coined by Richard Garriott, creator of another multi-player game, UltimaOnline. MMORPGs are computer role-playing games where large numbers of players interact with one another in a virtual world. Games such as World of Warcraft continue to experience significant success, with many millions of players across the globe.. ..”

MMORPGs  are highly social experiences where some of the earliest instant messaging activities took hold.  We owe video gaming a great deal when it comes to our current technology activities.  And the video gaming industry is HUGE – by some counts, bigger than the movie industry and definitely growing faster.

MUVEs, or multiuser virtual environments such as Second Life evolved from MMORPG’s as communities without the game-like characteristics. As you can see if you follow the SLURL to our still developing  College of Management presence and our work with Ernst & Young, businesses are operating in virtual worlds.

And for those who believe all the bad things stated about video games, check out this pbs.org essay called “Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked. Another interesting and related topic is “games with a purpose” and “serious games.” Here is a link to a Google talk about this topic that is worth the time and to ESP games directly.

How do YOU think of video games, muves and games with a purpose fit into the world of new/social media?  How might you use one or more of these in your projects?

Andy Sale, Mieke Velghe and John Nendick of Ernst & Young on the red carpet

Last Sunday, Ernst & Young’s Andy Sale and John Nendick delivered the winning results of the 58^th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in tuxedos and silver briefcases. Ernst & Young, who has been entrusted with safeguarding the Annual Primetime Emmy Awards tabulations for 18 years, oversees the Emmy ballot process from beginning to end, starting with the nomination phase in June and finishing with the hand delivery of each winner’s envelope to the award presenter right before they go on stage. Sale, head of Ernst & Young’s Pacific Southwest media and entertainment team, says, “Our job is to make sure the right information is confidential and secure. It’s the same skill set as what we always do.” John Nendick is the head of Ernst & Young’s global media and entertainment practice. Mieke Velghe is a senior manager at Ernst & Young.