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PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL TO SHUTTER STOCK RESEARCH UNITLife insurance and money management conglomerate Prudential Financial Inc. said that it would shut down its institutional stock research and trading business - Prudential Equity Group - after 26 years of operation. Prudential will close its offices and trading operations in nine U.S. cities, as well as in London, Zurich, Paris and Tokyo. Some 400 employees will be terminated.

Attendees at the American Institute of CPAs' recent Tech+ Technology Conference were not here to gamble, but, instead, to learn about the latest trends and learn how to harness technology to improve their bottom lines.The three-day confab's sessions were intended to provide the roughly 500 attendees with a "cookbook" of information, according to conference chairman David Cieslak, a partner at Arxis Technology Inc. in Simi Valley, Calif.

CPA2BIZ DEBUTS REVAMPED SITECPA2Biz, the marketing and services portal of the American Institute of CPAs, has unveiled its next-generation Web site, a revamp that includes enhanced content organization and navigation tools, as well as less clutter and easier search capabilities.

Though paper may be a security blanket for some firms, digital documents present compelling opportunities and challenges. The accounting profession has been one of the last to adopt digital content management systems, and clients are starting to voice opinions about how firms can improve their service offerings and security.Consumer electronics are driving demands for business technology. In the past, advancements in business technology resulted in a great deal of new technology in the home. Today, search capabilities, portals, social networking and videos are exposing your clients to new ways of utilizing technology. Is your firm a leader, late adopter or resister when it comes to technology?

In an earlier article in Accounting Today, I wrote, "Without clients we wouldn't have a firm - but without employees we wouldn't have clients. So when it comes to answering the question of whether it is more important to have client or employee loyalty, I would have to answer that employee loyalty and satisfaction is more important." ("Whose loyalty is worth more - your clients' or your employees'?" March 19-April 1, 2007, page 27.)Employee loyalty is the foundation for long-term success and exceptional profits. Without employee loyalty, you won't have to worry about client loyalty, since you will spend most of your time worrying about recruitment, poor performance, poor quality and poor profits.

Software & HardwareEASY DYNAMICS

ARIZONAThe Phoenix office of Clifton Gunderson LLP was named a winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, a part of the "When Work Works" project, an ongoing initiative of the Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, and the Twiga Foundation.

July23-24: Accounting Seminar, Gear Up. Disney's Paradise Pier, Anaheim, Calif. Contact: (800) 231-1860 or www.gearup.com.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will state for the record that the human resources portion of my job has been, and remains, my least favorite.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson plans to convene a conference in the coming week that could lead to an overhaul of the corporate tax system and a cut in corporate taxes.