This month marked two important diary dates, starting with International Women’s Day. In our main interview, Cathriona Hallahan FCCA, who had a stellar career with Microsoft culminating in a global leadership position, explains how she’s helping others blaze a trail to the top, emphasising the importance for the next generation of ‘bringing their whole self’ to work.
Creating a management structure that reflects diversity is part of this. Irish companies are in the process of implementing a new EU directive setting out gender representation targets for the boards of certain listed companies. AB takes a look at how accountants are helping clients meet the compliance challenges of gender diversity reporting.
March’s second notable event is, of course St Patrick’s Day, now celebrated enthusiastically the world over. This year, the government has been using the occasion as an opportunity to give a boost to Irish exports, and we have a feature on Ireland’s top ten business achievements.
Elsewhere, columnist Ian Guider looks under the bonnet to examine how companies are driving share prices higher through corporate buybacks, asking whether this comes at the expense of stifling growth plans.
And we report on an EU roundtable hosted by ACCA, which considered the case for greater EU funding to help small and medium-sized practices in training for the rapid expansion of AI, amid concerns that they risk being left behind by global competitors and the largest accounting networks.
If you are seeking to expand your own knowledge, for lighter reading we have a feature looking at whether Shakespeare was a talented bookkeeper, as well as a wide-ranging set of CPD articles.
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