Description: In today’s increasingly competitive environment, one key to success is understanding, measuring, and managing the factors that drive one’s business. Most traditional financial measures, such as net income or return on equity, are myopic lag indicators that tell us where we have been while saying little about where we are headed. How do we know whether our current actions are creating future value? This article discusses 'the balanced scorecard,' a tool created by Robert Kaplan and David Norton which seeks to identify and measure key business drivers by supplementing financial data with measurements from three additional perspectives: customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth.

Description: The editorial shares observations and lessons learned from the process of implementing the Affordable Care Act.

Description: The December2012/January 2013 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: This article summarizes the October 11, 1973 meeting of the Actuaries’ Club of Boston devoted to a discussion on the education of actuaries. George L. Hogeman,Pesident of Paul Revere Life, noted that while insurance industry management was generally satisfied with the work of the actuary, there were a number of shortcomings of actuaries, including a reluctance to utilize new techniques and a lack of much needed communication skills. In a very articulate presentation, Denis W. Loring, Actuarial Associate at John Hancock [representing the actuarial students], expressed the consensus he had reached with his fellow students. They felt that management development training and an awareness of EDP constraints and opportunities were missing from the syllabus. He stressed the need to gear exam preparation toward problem solving and felt that the actuary should be much more in the forefront in developing research techniques. The E and E Committee members, rather than defending the existing educational system, added to the number of problem areas pointed out by prior speakers. Deficiencies in the syllabus were noted for underwriting, investment and finance, and marketing and advanced underwriting. It was felt that the effect of the insurance industry involvement in providing broader financial services should be considered in future syllabus changes.

Description: The article summarizes what it takes to be a good leader and coach in a business organization.

Description: Among the most outspoken of the life insurance industry’s authorities is Ronald Butkiewicz, president and CEO, Irish Life of North America ILONA. In speeches to industry groups, including a 1995 presentation to the Actuarial Society of Greater New York, Butkiewicz makes the challenging statement, 'American society doesn’t need the life insurance industry. I am also quick to add that I don’t think American society needs banks, either.' However, said Butkiewicz in an interview for this article, 'It does need our products.' The article goes on to explain how Butkiewicz sees life insurance becoming part of one, big financial services industry.

Description: This article is about actuaries developing skills for corporate management. From The Actuary Vol. 24, No. 2

Description: In this article, the author recommends the book, 'Stop Managing, Start Coaching!' by Jerry W. Gilley and Nathaniel W. Boughton, to managers who believes in the potential of human capital and are willing to make some investment. The book emphasizes the importance of using coaching to achieve 'buy-in' from employees on managerial decisions. In this process, manager and employee develop a collegial relationship, which ultimately increases the self-esteem of the employee and his or her commitment to the job and the organization.

Description: Book Review of Management And Machiavelli by Antony Jay, in which the premise is that the study of history can do more for managers than the study of management science.

Description: Reengineering has become a corporate buzzword of the 1990s. This article addresses why companies decide to reengineer and explores the risks, as well as the benefits.