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The cloud is one of the largest drivers of emerging technology solutions, and for many organizations, it has become one of their most valuable information technology (IT) tools. It enhances data storage capabilities, security and agility to both scale up as well as scale down, while also reducing costs, in part due to its inherent flexibility and the number of potential options. Forward-thinking organizations should be analyzing and making decisions about using the cloud by prioritizing capability, performance, total cost and availability against other solutions.

Since the issuance of the original ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, there has been several changes to that guidance, and additional limited changes are in process. The degree to which a particular entity’s revenue will be affected depends on its own facts and circumstances.

Owner-managed and family-owned businesses are often faced with the quandary of how to effectively motivate their teams to build and maintain value for the enterprise. Incentivizing employees for the long haul can be confusing territory, and owners should know that options are available in the gray area between cash bonuses and equity ownership. Offering creative packages that link employees to the growth of the company can have an immediate, positive impact on a company's cultural and financial future.

The combination of improving economic data, stronger corporate earnings, and, particularly, potential policies from the Trump administration has created a heady brew for domestic equity markets. Even stocks abroad are posting robust returns. While President Trump’s plans for infrastructure spending, tax cuts, deregulation, and generally growth-focused policies are a key factor in the current U.S. stock rally, these policies are also a main source of uncertainty, and therefore risk, for investors.

Last year, the Western world experienced the twin surprises of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. Elsewhere, geopolitics will play out in 2017 through numerous elections, the possibility of succession in several countries, continued economic polarization, and more. Multinational organizations must be aware of, and prepare for, such political and economic risks in both developed and developing markets.

The social and political volatility witnessed last year is rooted in trends and phenomena that have been building up for more than a decade. It has altered the political agenda in advanced economies and emerging markets alike. Companies need to think hard about the structural shifts that may confront them in five specific areas: security of company property, ease of doing business, viability of strategic investments, strength of corporate reputation, and cohesiveness of their workforce.

Many families of wealth struggle with a fundamental question: Can our wealth be sustained across generations and have a positive impact on those who use it? Through experience and research, a series of best practices for the successful transfer of multi-generational wealth has been identified to help reduce the likelihood of families succumbing to the paradigm of “shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves in three generations.” Families who devote time and effort to adopt the best practices will be better able to increase the 1 in 3 chance of maintaining wealth through multiple

Few problems are as vexing and seemingly impossible to resolve for families, advisors and trustees as the active alcoholic or addict, particularly those who continue to use after treatment. While low recovery rates for treatment and subsequent relapse may be understandable in the aggregate, on the individual level the experience is frustrating and unnerving for all concerned. Often the response is “treatment,” yet few family members and advisors are familiar with the success rates for treatment or what leads to sustained recovery.

How and when should wealthy parents educate their children about their assets and potential trusts? Having “The Talk” about wealth is a topic that provokes uncertainty and delay. Avoiding the exchange, however, only compounds the difficulties. Anxiety and reluctance about this conversation are understandable given the many risks associated with inherited wealth. This paper provides a few central guidelines to making "The Talk" an effective and positive experience for both generations.

Political events in 2016 gave rise to increasing nationalism and populism globally. Combined with a global slowdown in economic and trade growth, international integration may already have plateaued and could begin to reverse over the coming decade. Multinational organizations should prepare for potentially significant implications by carefully considering the political threats in the countries in which they operate.