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News Archives
e•know inc. launches Compliance Express Services
July 10, 2006, Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Journal
e•know, inc., creator of the Compliance Cockpit solution, announces a new service for corporate customers. The e•know Compliance Express Services proposition is straightforward: e•know will roll out the Code of Conduct or any other critical policy to the employee population and certify them in two weeks or less. This new service was created in response to demand from customers who realize that risk mitigation is directly related to implementation time. According to e•know CEO, Alan Croll, “It still takes some companies CEO three months or more to implement a Code of Conduct compliance initiative, a period of time that is unacceptable and unnecessary from e•know’s perspective. We started in the late 1990s with the sole purpose of solving the problems commonly associated with human-intensive processes. Even with existing systems and technology, managers still do not have an easy way to disseminate information, collect data, and track status. And, without a tight process in place, employees often delay or drop out of the process... and no one really knows. The net result is months of effort, delays, and mounting risk.”
e•know, inc, has revolutionized the way some of America’s most admired companies execute complex, high-value, human-intensive processes. Some examples include: Corporate Compliance, M&A Integration, Internal Audit, Forecasting, and Recruiting & Retention. The common thread in these human-intensive processes is that the stakes are high and the cost of failure or even delay is untenable. Executing these processes can typically take months or more, require significant resources, and usually involve large numbers of employees or other stakeholders. By slashing the policy roll-out cycle-time to two weeks, organizations dramatically reduce risk and eliminate costly manual administration.
e•know was a pioneer in "closing the loop" in human-intensive processes. When e•know’s Best Practices are followed, the results have been nothing short of stunning.
e•know solutions partner, the Cabot Advisory Group, is a renowned team of highly experienced, top-level human rsource professionals who advise Boards, CEOs and HR Executives. Cabot CEO, Steve Darien, adds that “the e•know Compliance Express Services are invaluable for any executive who needs to get the word out on important issues and know with certainty that it is understood. I wish these tools were available when I headed up HR at Merck.”
“Chief Compliance Officers, General Counsels, CFOs, and HR Executives are, of course, all very skilled and knowledgeable in their respective fields. e•know provides complimentary skill in creating highly efficient human processes driven by a suite of proven Best Practices. By getting an organization certified in two weeks or less, e•know can significantly mitigate risks while slashing administrative costs. We are very excited to introduce Compliance Express Services because getting the job done faster has another added benefit... peace of mind,” adds Alan Croll.
Founded in 1998, e•know, Inc. is the Arlington, VA-based provider of both services and technology solutions for accelerating and simplifying management initiatives. e•know specializes in Compliance, Internal audit, M&A Integration, Forecasting and Recruiting & Retention. To learn more about e•know, please visit www.eknow.com.
The Cabot Advisory Group provides strategic advisory services to Boards, CEOs and HR Executives. All Cabot principals have headed the human resource function in large, highly regarded, global organizations which have been lauded for exemplary practices and return on human capital. Principals include, Steven M. Darien former Senior Vice President, Human Resources Merck & Co., Inc.; F.E. (Pete) Peterson former Senior Vice President, Human Resources Hewlett-Packard Company; Douglas M. Reid former Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources Colgate-Palmolive Company; and Cliff Ehrlich, former Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Marriott International, Inc. To learn more about Cabot Advisory Group, please visit www.cabotgrp.com.
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The Art of M&A Integration, 2nd edition
hits the book stores
January, 2006
e•know, inc. and M&A Partners, co-developers of the S3 Cockpit Integration solution, are proud to announce the 2nd edition of the best seller from Dr. Alexandra Lajoux, world renowned authority on M&A. The latest book in the Art of M&A series covers a wide variety of vital integration topics for today’s mergers including:
- How mega-mergers have changed the Integration landscape
- Effect of Sarbanes-Oxley and new SEC rulings
- Merging compensation plans
- Latest strategies for merging IT systems and processes
- New GAAP and FASB accounting rules
Dr. Lajoux’s book also introduces the S3 Cockpit Integration solution that is built on the e•know solutions platform. Using M&A Partners best-of-breed methodology, the S3 Cockpit also takes advantage of e•know’s expertise in human engineering focused on simplifying and accelerating complex human-intensive business processes.
e•know solutions are already revolutionizing the way organizations execute complex/high-value, human intensive processes. Examples include: M&A Integration, Compliance, Internal Audit, and much more. e•know customers have discarded the status quo of mind-numbing manual methods or “overkill” industrial technologies in favor of the simple, yet powerful e•know solutions designed to be deployed by non-technical managers.
The common thread in these human-intensive processes is that the stakes are high, and the cost of failure or even significant delay is untenable. Executing these processes can typically take months or more and usually involve large numbers of employees or other stakeholders. Information needs to be disseminated, data collected, then the results need to be made available to management. But the vast majority of these processes still have a significant manual component, are error-prone, take much longer and cost much more than planned. The net result is unmanageable risk and eroding value.
e•know solutions employ the “Software-as-a-Service” model, thus obviating the need for a hardware/software purchase, e•know Solutions start delivering tangible results within days of deployment. e•know solutions then automate the dissemination of information, collection of data, aggregation, archival, and sharing of even the most complex business information, using only email and a browser, and without client IT resources.
About Dr. Alexandra Lajoux
Dr. Lajoux is the author of the perennially best-selling "Art of M&A Series," including The Art of M&A Integration, The Art of M&A Financing and Refinancing, The Art of M&A Structuring, The Art of M&A Due Diligence, and coauthor of the classic The Art of M&A. Over the last 25 years, Dr. Lajoux has worked with hundreds of executives and dozens of organizations including Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Institutional Shareholder Services and many others. Dr. Lajoux is the Chief Knowledge Officer and Editor-in-Chief at the National Association of Corporate Directors. Dr. Lajoux is a member the e•know Advisory Board. An avid music lover, Dr. Lajoux has also just released her new CD entitled, My Country.
About e•know
Founded in 1998, e•know, Inc. is the Arlington, VA-based provider of both services and technology solutions for accelerating and simplifying management initiatives. e•know specializes in M&A, Compliance, Internal audit, Forecasting and Corporate Volunteer management. To learn more about e•know, please visit www.eknow.com, or contact Larry Dell 703-875-0650 or larry.dell@eknow.com.
About M&A Partners
M&A Partners, founded in 1999 is a Dallas, Texas-based firm that assists companies and their internal teams to assure maximum value creation in mergers, acquisitions, corporate consolidation and revitalization. To learn more about M&A Partners, please visit: www.mapartners.net, or contact us at (214) 689-3800.
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e•know Releases Compliance Cockpit
Partner Strategy Also Announced
November 3, 2005
Arlington-based e•know, Inc., is pleased to announce the release of the e•know Compliance Cockpit. This web-based executive command center is the latest addition to e•know's Cockpit Solutions suite. The e•know Cockpit series makes it easy for managers to plan, execute and track complex business initiatives.
The e•know Compliance Cockpit manages large or small compliance activity from the planning phase through implementation and represents a breakthrough in ease-of-use. Now, those responsible for compliance can quickly create and deploy policies across the organization and then easily track progress toward objectives. No engineers or technical specialists are required to pilot the e•know Compliance Cockpit, and client policies and other content can be added in just a few hours.
When it comes to applying technology, most companies tend to leverage common tools and technology such as email, intranets, spreadsheets, etc. However, successful companies realize that today's compliance environment is not "business as usual." These initiatives require speed, transparency, audit trails, automation of workflow, communications, authorizations, policy document management, and metrics. The effective compliance team leader needs real-time access to all ongoing actions and issues in order to assess the status at any given time. Additionally, all team members need ready access to documents, tools, templates, and archives.
"Compliance requirements are not only here to stay but will only increase in the future. To control costs, companies need to reduce the time and effort it takes to execute compliance initiatives. But most importantly, the focus should be on reducing risk and exposure by having a process in place that gets the job done faster and more efficiently," says Alan Croll, CEO of e•know, Inc.
e•know partners focus on providing their customers with domain expertise and a tried-and-true methodology. The e•know Compliance Cockpit is flexible enough to be adapted to automate a partner's methodology, without additional programming. Consulting firms with a Compliance and Internal Audit practice can benefit from a smart solution that helps their customers execute compliance initiatives
"e•know partners and clients appreciate the ease-of-use that is a hallmark of e•know solutions. They also find that e•know's 'software-as-a-service' model fits well with their engagements. Fewer corporate customers want to install, support and maintain complex applications. They just want their problem solved. This model also shortens the sales cycle enabling the partner to deliver results much faster with less administrative overhead," adds Mr. Croll.
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e•know Launches Policy Compliance Solution
Unique Service Slashes Time and Cost of Compliance Efforts
August 25, 2005
e•know, Inc. announces a new service that includes a full range of Compliance solutions designed to help commercial and government customers dramatically reduce the time, expense, and effort required to implement policy compliance initiatives, internal audits, and data calls as well as to manage an organization's overall risk mitigation effort.
e•know Policy Compliance solutions completely automate the outbound communication, response collection, aggregation, analysis, and reporting for compliance efforts related to Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, business ethics policies, finance and administration controls, operating procedures, conflict of interest policies, non-compete/non-disclosure agreements, sexual harassment policies, and unique, client-specific policies.
e•know Policy Compliance solutions are completely maintained by e•know, thereby eliminating the need for additional hardware or software investment and end-user IT resources, maintenance or support. The user-friendly system is accessed via the Web and e-mail, so employees can interact and respond without any training.
"Companies continue to spend huge sums and expend countless hours on compliance-related initiatives, but make little progress for reasons ranging from human nature to technology issues," explains Alan Croll, CEO of e•know. "Part of the problem is the lack of an intuitive process ensuring that employees receive policies and "sign off" in a timely manner. It's as much of a human nature issue as a technology issue. Executing these types of initiatives is not a core skill for most companies. But, it is a critical and often mandatory activity that companies want completed correctly and quickly."
Mr. Croll sites two recent examples: "One of our clients came to e•know after having failed to get employees to visit their self-service intranet resource to complete a critical compliance initiative. While it took the organization weeks to get a handful of employees to comply using traditional methods, we completed the task in five days. Another large publicly traded company needed to meet a tight deadline so it retained e•know to roll out a comprehensive Code of Conduct policy to 10,000 employees. This massive undertaking was completed in less than two weeks."
Customers can contract for a service to fit their unique policy compliance needs. This includes executing one policy for a fixed fee or an umbrella fee that allows customers to execute all their policies within a specified period of time.
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M&A Partners Selects e•know To Build State-Of-The-Art Solution For M&A Integration and Corporate Consolidation
August 19, 2005 - Dallas, Texas
M&A Partners is proud to announce its partnership with Arlington, Virginia-based e•know, inc. M&A Partners has chosen the e•know technology platform to power the s3 Cockpit. This web-based solution manages large or small M&A activity from Announcement through Day-1 to completed integration. The e•know powered s3 Cockpit from M&A Partners represents a breakthrough in ease-of-use. With M&A Partners and e•know, integration management teams quickly create merger plans, define value drivers, deploy actions across the organization, and track progress toward objectives. No engineers or technical specialists are required to pilot the s3 Cockpit, and most customization can be completed in hours or days instead of weeks.
When it comes to applying technology, most merging companies tend to leverage the common tools and technology available through the acquiring company (email, chat rooms, spread sheets, etc). However, successful companies realize that integration and consolidation is not "business as usual". The event requires Speed, Stability, Transparency, through the automation of workflow, communications, authorizations, document management and metrics. The effective team leader needs real time access to all ongoing actions and issues in order to assess the status at any given time. Additionally, all team members need to be able to access documents, tools and templates and don't have time to track them down through email or by telephone.
"One of the unique and most impactfull features of our new Cockpit is the Clean Room which was created by e•know for the secure housing and assessment of sensitive information and over 200 specific tools for rapid consolidation. In the Clean Room one can analyze and compare things like vendor and supplier agreements, legal documents, new products under development, and many other issues prior to transaction closing.without violating DOJ regulations, says Jim Jeffries, CEO of M&A Partners. We are delighted to partner with e•know. Their technology platform combined with our methodology and tools has elevated the s3 Cockpit well beyond anything else I know of in the program management arena."
"Over 70% of mergers and acquisitions fail to meet financial objectives and attain shareholder value" says e•know CEO, Alan Croll. "And, several studies show that slow and poorly executed integrations contribute significantly to the high failure rate. Joining forces with M&A Partners to bring forward the s3 Cockpit will counter the prevailing status quo by dramatically simplifying and accelerating the critical processes and procedures that are integral to a successful transaction. M&A Partners knows Integration and Consolidation and e•know knows how to create and leverage technology for successful execution."
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Noted M&A Expert Joins e•know Advisory Board
June 20, 2005 - Arlington, Va.
e•know is proud to announce that Dr. Alexandra Lajoux, widely published expert and best-selling author in the areas of M&A, Corporate Governance, and Compliance has joined the e•know Advisory Board. Dr. Lajoux is the author of the perennially best-selling "Art of M&A Series," including The Art of M&A Integration, The Art of M&A Financing and Refinancing, The Art of M&A Structuring, The Art of M&A Due Diligence, and coauthor of the classic The Art of M&A. Over the last 25 years, Dr. Lajoux has worked with hundreds of executives and dozens of organizations including Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Institutional Shareholder Services and many others. Dr. Lajoux is the Chief Knowledge Officer and Editor-in-Chief at the National Association of Corporate Directors. Dr. Lajoux will chair the Governance Committee of the e•know Advisory Board
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M&A Partners Joins e•know Team
June 15, 2005
e•know is proud to announce its partnership with M&A Partners of Dallas, Texas. M&A Partners has chosen the e•know technology platform to power their s3 Cockpit for managing post-merger activity from Day-1 to completed integration. The e•know powered s3 Cockpit from M&A Partners represents a breakthrough in ease of use. With M&A Partners and e•know, management teams quickly create merger plans, define value drivers, deploy actions across the organization, and track progress toward objectives. No engineers or technical specialists are required to pilot the s3 Cockpit, and most customization can be completed in hours or days instead of weeks. For more information, contact M&A Partners.
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