Deloitte Insights Podcast

April has been a troublesome month for the energy industry in recent years. Both natural and manmade disasters have caused businesses to examine their responsivness and proactive risk management strategies and tactics.

Energy consumption is one of the first things that come to mind when consumers are trying to save money, but for business and government, energy management is a new operational imperative, one of the last frontier opportunities to address operations in a strategic way. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Rebecca Ranich, director, and David Fornari, principal, both with Deloitte Consulting LLPs Federal Energy and Resources Management practice. Tune in to learn how an energy strategy can create value and reduce risks.

Tax benefits can differ from year to year, even when there is not an election to consider. For high income individuals, it is important to have a multiyear perspective and conduct what if scenario planning while working towards tax and financial planning objectives. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Clint Stretch, managing principal, Tax Policy, and Eddie Gershman, partner, Private Company Services, both with Deloitte Tax LLP. Tune in to learn about the benefits of year round planning.

A recent survey of more than 130 Fortune 1000 senior executives found that roughly 90 percent of respondents expect their revenues to either grow or remain flat over the next 24 months, and of those same respondents, about 80 percent expect to pursue cost improvements. The simultaneous expression of optimism and cost control signals a new normal driven by economic and regulatory challenges. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Omar Aguilar and Faisal Shaikh, both principals with Deloitte Consulting LLP in a conversation with Sean OGrady, moderator. Tune in to learn about cost cutting practices in todays business environment.

Approximately 2 billion people, about 30 percent of the worlds population, are using the Internet for communication, information and commerce. There are also about 500 million people signed up for Facebook; if the social networking site were a country, it would be the third most populous country in the world. All of these statistics beg the question: What is next for the Internet and technology? In the latest episode of Deloitte Insights, Suketu Gandhi and Stephen Redwood, both principals with Deloitte Consulting LLP, discuss the disruptive technologies shaping our lives and businesses with moderator Sean OGrady. Tune in to learn more.

From restaurant reservations to bank statements, consumers today have all kinds of information at the tips of their touch pads. As patients and doctors, they expect the same kind of access when it comes to health care data, and chief information officers, CIOs, are tasked with providing those resources. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Deloitte LLPs Harry Greenspun, M.D., senior advisor, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Andrew Wiesenthal, M.D., S.M., director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Sean OGrady, moderator. Tune in to learn more about the role of todays CIO in elevating health information technology.

The financial crisis shot risk management to the top of board agendas. Todays boards are struggling with how to define and fulfill their governance roles in light of changing regulations. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Henry Ristuccia, partner with Deloitte and Touche LLP and co-leader of the Governance and Risk Management Services practice, Maureen Errity, director of Deloitte LLPs Center for Corporate Governance, and Sean OGrady, moderator. Tune in to catch up on the latest trends in risk oversight.

It takes a lot to rattle the chief financial officers of North Americas largest and most influential companies, but according to the latest CFO Signals survey, they are rattled. CFOs who identify themselves as increasingly optimistic are now outweighed by the number of CFOs who are increasingly pessimistic. What is driving this mood shift, and what does it tell us about the economic recovery? The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Deloitte LLPs Sandy Cockrell, national managing partner, U.S. CFO Program, Deloitte LLP, Global CFO Program Leader, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, and Greg Dickinson, director, North American CFO Signals Survey, Deloitte LLP. Tune in to get their take on the CFO Signals survey findings, including their perspectives on the end of 2011 and projections for 2012.

Congress has enacted legislation that requires 1.2 trillion in budget cuts before January 2013, but where these cuts are made and how they will be implemented is up for debate. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Robin Lineberger, chief executive officer of Federal Government Services, Deloitte LLP, John Powers, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and JoAnn Boutelle, partner, Deloitte and Touche LLP. Tune in to learn how Federal agencies, through merging, integrating, consolidating, and divesting, can reduce inefficiencies and redundancies without significantly impacting their core missions.

While there is a lot of focus on what the Volcker Rule prohibits banking entities from doing, it does permit a number of activities such as market making, underwriting, engaging in risk-reducing hedging and transacting in government trading. It is also a challenge to the status quo, which may highlight merger and acquisition opportunities in the financial services industry. Tune into this episode of Deloitte Insights to learn more.

Faced with limited opportunities for natural growth, leading chief financial officers, CFOs, are investing in analytics to take market share away from competitors and optimize spending. Analytics can enable experimentation CFOs can quickly learn from and then scale rapidly around efforts that really work. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Sean OGrady, moderator, Tom Davenport, a senior advisor within Deloitte Analytics, and Ajit Kambil, Global Research director of Deloitte LLPs CFO Program. Tune in to learn more about the role of the CFO in an analytics driven organization.

Increased regulatory scrutiny, international expansion and speed to market could create a perfect storm for technology, media and telecommunications, TMT, companies. Regulators recently announced they are examining the actions of tech companies doing business in Asia and may hold those companies liable for the actions of third parties they are working with. Tune into this episode of Deloitte Insights to learn how companies can increase transparency and mitigate risk.

Before any health care organization can commit to restructuring, it must first admit it is in distress. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Louis Robichaux, Principal, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, LLP, and Deryck Palmer, Partner and Co-Chairman of Financial Restructuring, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft LLP. Tune in to learn how health care companies can not only better diagnose their organizational well-being, but also prepare a regimen for recovery.

By 2050, the global population is expected to grow by 50 percent, primarily driven by India and China. Yet 70 percent of the worlds corporate management is currently located in Europe and North America, according to Global Business Driven HR: The Journey Continues, a new book published by Deloitte Consulting LLPs Human Resources Transformation practice. The latest episode of Deloitte Insights features Jason Geller, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Global and U.S. Human Resources Transformation practice leader. Tune in to learn how HR capabilities can help organizations realign their workforces with their changing global footprints.

A short while ago the concept of cloud computing was at the fringe of the information technology camp. Now, it seems everyone has the ability to access a cloud. Much like the Internet, the cloud has become fundamental to business innovation, and it is not going away. The latest episode of Insights features a conversation among Sean OGrady, moderator of Insights, Paul Clemmons, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP and leader of the Cloud Computing practice, and Irfan Saif, principal, Security and Privacy, Deloitte and Touche LLP. Tune in to learn how cloud computing can enable both incremental improvements and transformation in your organization.