The entire nature of the service offered by the company, and in turn, helped put elements
of TQM into the hospitals it serves.
Claflin also needed to build cash flow by attracting new customers.
Unfortunately, some of them had money problems.
So Claflin quickly reexamined its customer expansion strategy.
The turnaround of the company really came when we started to consolidate our customer
base and focus on our core customers and try to sell more goods and services to fewer customers.
And ultimately that was successful and we were able to really focus and be more efficient.
By adopting the total quality management system and adding value to the services it offers
customers, and by focusing on a core group of customers, Claflin's sales volume went
up, profits improved, and they could hire more employees.
And Claflin demonstrated that its relationship with hospital customers could be an asset
rather than a liability in inventory management.
It created an opportunity that revitalized the company.
This is Everett Banning, First Business, East Providence, Rhode Island.
Now focusing on today's weather forecast, look for very heavy rain this morning from
Jackson, Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia as the remnants of Hurricane Andrew move toward
the south.
Flooding and tornadoes are likely.
It's also rainy in the Midwest.
A dip in the jet stream will bring cool weather to the Midwest, warmer weather to the east
and west.
This afternoon the rain from Andrew spreads through the Tennessee Valley, bringing thunderstorms
and flooding.
Also look for showers in the Great Lakes.
Highs today hitting the 90s in the south, the 80s in the northwest to the plains, and
the 70s in the plains and northwest.
Tomorrow we'll bring wet weather from Andrew into the Appalachian Mountains and rain to
the northern plains.
It will be sunny in the southwest and the west.
And still on the menu for this First Business Thursday, how new legislation could turn accountants
into whistleblowers when they spot fraud.
And the car of the future.
Just what is it anyway?
It's the most beautiful soft rock collection ever.
The New Zealand Music presents Always.
Forty unforgettable hits.
Classic love songs.
Forty of the hits you love.
Forty of the hits you love.
Always is not sold in any store.
Please stay tuned to order.
To order call toll free 1-800-848-9000.
To save all COD charges and pay only $19.98 for records or cassettes or $24.98 for CDs
plus $4 shipping.
Use your credit card or send check or money order to always PO Box 4200 Omaha Nebraska.
Remember save COD charges by sending check or money order or use your credit card.
The TLC Group.
Oil technology.
You may not realize it, but Connecticut Mutual is a highly diversified company.
Just take a look.
Whether your small business is manufacturing or marketing, we're prepared to help it grow
with tested and proven financial solutions that will benefit your employees, your company
and you.
If you'd like a list of credentials, we're happy to oblige.
The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Blue chip resources for small business success.
Welcome to the modern American family.
Fathers here.
Authority figures.
Both of us.
My two dads on USA Today at Five.
Here are some of the business stories making headlines today, Thursday, August 27th.
The Commerce Department releases its first revised estimate of a nation's gross domestic
product for the second quarter.
The Department also releases preliminary corporate profits for the second quarter.
And the Labor Department reports on new claims for unemployment benefits.
The House will soon consider legislation that would require accountants to blow the whistle
on fraud they uncover in the course of routine corporate audits.
First business correspondent Dan Kush has this report on legislation that could have
a heavy impact on the accounting profession.
The bill awaiting House floor action would codify and greatly expand the self-imposed
standards of the accounting profession aimed at disclosing fraud.
The legislation would require accountants to inform corporate officers of any illegal
act they uncover in the course of an audit.
Corporate officials would then be required to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission
within one business day of any illegal act uncovered by accountants.
The bill permits the SEC to seek civil fines against accountants who fail to comply.
The bill's sponsor, Oregon Congressman Ron Wyden, says that 40 percent of the half a
billion dollar savings and loan bailout crisis was caused by fraud.
And that this legislation is badly needed.
What we've seen is again and again after the accountants issue a clean audit, one of
these companies, an SNL firm, a health care firm, an insurance firm goes belly up.
The United States Supreme Court said that accountants owe their primary responsibility
to the public and to investors.
And that's why I think that fraud ought to be reported.
It's especially important given the fact that financial marketplaces so deregulated to recognize
that the auditors are the first line of defense.
If you don't root out fraud there, then government and others have to play catch up ball after
a lot of people have been hurt.
But former New York Congressman Joseph Diagardi, an accountant, says that the Wyden bill is
not the answer to the problem.
Well I think it's a bad idea because in effect what you're doing is you're making the accounting
profession a policeman or watchdog now for these governmental agencies.
And if nothing else it will undermine the professional trust between the clients and
the accounting firms, the accounting profession.
It seems to me that it's a bad idea and what we ought to do is continue to rely on the
accounting profession to come up with a solution and they've done it so well over the past
hundred years, let them go on and do that.
In spite of some opposition, the accounting whistleblower bill has a good chance of passing
both the House and the Senate before Congress adjourns in October.
Dan Cush, First Business.
Now looking into the First Business crystal ball for the car of the future.
How about this baby from Renault?
It looks like a turtle or a snail but it's an electric car from the French automaker.
It's called Zoom and it is a battery powered two-seater.
The idea is for it to be used in congested metro areas.
It's easy to park.
It can actually make itself shorter by moving the front wheels forward or backward and raising
the back end.
It has a range of 94 miles on a charge and can hit 75 miles an hour.
Its high tech interior has a satellite navigation system and it has a hands-free telephone.
And that is it for First Business Thursday.
I'm Barton Eckert.
Have a great day and join us again first thing tomorrow morning for First Business Friday
right here on the USA television network.
First Business Thursday has been brought to you by Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance,
the blue chip company, and by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.