Articles by Theodore F. di Stefano

As so many of us are aware, India has become a technological powerhouse, and this has all happened in a relatively short span of time. How does a country go from being a developing and economically challenged nation to a formidable technological competitor? What alchemy was at work here? Converging Forces...

Have you been to Europe lately? If so, when you've crossed borders you've noticed that you no longer have to go through passport control and get your passport examined, then stamped. You can travel throughout the European Union just as you can travel throughout the United States, unimpeded by border control This, in my opinion, is part of a worldwi...

It's interesting to observe, over time, the changing business fortunes of various countries. If we look back a couple of hundred years, we see that the dominant country worldwide, politically and economically, was Great Britain. In fact, it maintained its dominance until shortly after World War I Some time after World War I, as Great Britain's econ...

Most Americans think that the U.S. dollar is the dominant world currency, and in many ways, it is. In fact, the dollar has been the currency of choice since not too long after World War I However, in the last 20 years or so, Japan has emerged as an economic powerhouse, and its currency, the yen, has gained prestige and power. Furthermore, the Europ...

So much has been written of late about emerging foreign markets. Most of us realize that, by and large, these markets are located in the Far East. For example, Japan has been an economic powerhouse for quite a while now, followed in time by South Korea and China Recently, India has been making great economic strides to join its Eastern neighbors as...

Has it occurred to you that more and more foreign-made products are sold in the U.S.? The fact is, it has become almost impossible to avoid purchasing products that are made in China, Japan, Taiwan or other Far Eastern countries Even when it comes to services rendered, many of those emanate from outside the U.S. You may think you are calling an Ame...

The world economic landscape is rapidly changing. Assuming that you regard the European Union as one economic entity, as of this writing, there are two economic superpowers. Those two superpowers are the U.S. and the E.U., which have roughly equivalent gross domestic products If your definition limits the term "superpower" to one specific country, ...

Economic forces at work today seem to be favoring the consolidation of currencies. With the creation of the Euro, 11 disparate currencies were merged into one monetary unit. With such forces driving monetary consolidation, will there be one world currency some day? Some of the factors that are influencing currency combination include: Troubled Curr...

Since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act in 2002, there has been a great deal of confusion and fear in corporate boardrooms. Many of my peers are now reluctant to serve on boards, and some have actually resigned In my opinion, much of this fear and confusion is unfounded. The fact of the matter is, if you are an ethical, active board mem...

This past April, I wrote an article entitled WiFi Will Change the World. When I was writing that article, I wondered whether I was being overly optimistic about WiFi. Since then, I have come to realize that the world of WiFi, its amazing applications, and its revolutionary possibilities are only just beginning to emerge WiFi Gambling...

Hedge funds are investment vehicles that use alternative or non-traditional investment strategies to manage investors' money. These strategies are broad-ranged and include the use of short sales, arbitrage, leverage, or derivatives. Have I lost you? If so, you probably shouldn't be investing in these funds Hedge funds have become popular investment...

Inevitably, even the best companies do, from time-to-time, suffer a catastrophic event that can change not only the course of the company, but also its very survivability. Unfortunately, many companies do not have a Crisis Action Plan. This lack of a plan can have profoundly negative affects on the business when a disaster strikes Possible crises i...

Are you or your company considering a business acquisition? If so, there is no escaping the need to perform thorough and competent due diligence on your acquisition target Due diligence, in the context of this article, can be defined as a complete investigation of an intended acquisition. This investigation of the prospect must include all of its i...

Corporate governance scandals, like Enron and WorldCom, have made boardrooms jittery. In fact, these types of scandals have frightened off otherwise qualified board members from serving on boards of publicly held corporations. To further inflame this situation, many insurers are either not issuing new Director's and Officer's (D&O) coverage or are severely limiting the coverage on new policies that they write. What's a board member, or a prospective board member, to do?...

Corporate governance scandals, like Enron and WorldCom, have made boardrooms jittery. In fact, these types of scandals have frightened off otherwise qualified board members from serving on boards of publicly held corporations. To further inflame this situation, many insurers are either not issuing new Director's and Officer's (D&O) coverage or are severely limiting the coverage on new policies that they write. What's a board member, or a prospective board member, to do?...

Corporate governance scandals, like Enron and WorldCom, have made boardrooms jittery. In fact, these types of scandals have frightened off otherwise qualified board members from serving on boards of publicly held corporations. To further inflame this situation, many insurers are either not issuing new Director's and Officer's (D&O) coverage or are severely limiting the coverage on new policies that they write. What's a board member, or a prospective board member, to do?...

Even before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the gulf coast, the United States had serious long-term problems with oil availability and pricing. But, nobody was willing to take a hard look at how we were going to overcome our oil dependency. The ramifications of the destruction caused by the hurricanes serve as a stunning reminder that we have no alternative but to immediately start discussing and planning ways by which the U.S. can avoid even more serious oil shortages in the future...

Each e-mail that you send makes a statement. Every recipient of your e-mails forms an impression of you -- either a good one or a bad one -- and, in some cases, all without even having met you. Since this is the reality, why not make sure that your e-mails, especially business e-mails, are professional and articulate? There are some major errors th...

When WorldCom, the telecommunications giant, failed and was put into bankruptcy, the U.S. witnessed one of the largest accounting frauds in history. Former CEO, Bernie Ebbers, 63, was convicted of orchestrating this US$11 billion accounting fraud and was sentenced to 25 years in prison on July 13, 2005 How could a loss of this magnitude have occure...

Lately, so much has been written about ever-increasing real estate prices. Can these prices just go on increasing? Or will they abruptly stop, and then fall precipitously? The experts are divided on whether or not the bubble will burst. However, one thing is certain: the price rise can't go on forever This article will look at the forces that drive...