Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/48330
Elearning! News Depreciation for Knowledge Loss? Determining the value of human capital as it relates to accumulated knowledge has always been a challenge for corporate financial officers, some of whom are now appar- ently trying to claim knowledge loss as depreciation on their tax returns. Until recently, no company has been willing to put on its annual report a veri- fiable number that is recognized as knowledge capital, because nobody knows how to com- pute it. But Elliott Masie of the Masie Center tells us that several cases related to knowledge management and the tax implications of outdated skills and information are making their way through tax court this year. "Three Fortune 500 companies have taken the bold move of attempting to declare an accelerated depreciation deduction for loss of knowledge in their workforce," Masie wrote in his recent newsletter. "For example, one technology company has calculated that its system changes almost 34 percent each year. Therefore, its balance sheet of workforce knowledge should reflect a 34 percent depreciation or loss each year." The fate of knowledge loss as a tax deductible, it appears, is soon to be determined. Conference Calls for Papers Elearning! Media Group (E.M.G.) is seeking conference papers for the Enterprise Learning! Conference & Expo (E.L.C.E.), whose overriding theme will be "Engage-Empower-Evolve." The event is being held Sept. 27-29 in Anaheim, Calif. E.M.G. is looking for innovative, creative, solutions-orient- ed sessions that move the performance needle. Each ses- sion will be 60 minutes long and presented to a live, and possibly virtual, audience. You are encouraged to submit your papers regardless of format: case study, panel, or untraditional format. All Vendor sales pitches will be exclud- ed from consideration. All session leaders are able to register for E.L.C.E. at no cost, but are responsible for all their related travel expenses. Proposals must be submitted on or before May 15th. You will be notified in June on the status of your submission. For more information, visit www.elceshow.com. View call for proposals section. Intranet Collaboration Benefits? Employee availability, coupled with presence tracking, is the most popular intranet collaboration benefit, accord- ing to a survey by Bitrix, Inc., a business communica- tions solutions company. Based on analysis of more than 1,000 real-life installa- tions of Bitrix Intranet among small and medium-sized businesses, the company has short-listed the most pop- ular collaboration features. 1) Employee availability and presence tracking 2) Instant messaging and video conferencing 3) Meetings/conference room management 4) Virtual workgroups 5) Shared documents 6) Workflow management 7) Routine processes automation 8) Information and expert discovery 9) Idea management and social networking 10) Task management Bitrix predicts that in the next year this list may under- go a major shift. Many organizations will be one step ahead in the intranet adoption and proceed with imple- menting more comprehensive collaboration features. People on the Move KIM LAMOUREUX has been promoted to vice president of Research at Bersin & Associates, suc- ceeding company co- founder Chris Howard, who is now senior vice president of Product Strategy. SARAH WHITE has been named principal analyst of Talent Acquisition. STEVE GOLDBERG Recently joined Bersin as principal analyst and H.R. Technology Industry advi- sor. BARB ARTH has been named senior analyst of Leadership Development. Mzinga has appointed ALAN (AL) F. NUGENT chief executive officer. He brings more than 30 years of experience in strategic management and innova- tion to the company. Prior to joining Mzinga, Nugent served as executive vice president and C.T.O. at C.A. Technologies, and senior vice president and C.T.O. of Novell. Nugent will be based in Mzinga's corporate headquarters in Waltham, Mass. Serebra Learning Corp. has added four new exec- utive team members: DEREK LEUNG as C.O.O., ASLAM NATHOO as vice president of Product Strategy, CHRIS STAIRS as vice president of Sales, and JENÉE ELBORNE as director of Communi - cations and Investor Relations. BRIAN TAYLOR, who has been with the company for more than 20 years, assumes the role of vice president of Professional Services. May / June 2011 9