Specialist software firms continue to make a strong case for selective investments. Survivors of the tech freeze will be around for some time to come as the economy thaws.

At John Deere, the company creates an ethical culture by not only focusing on tone at the top but also on actions, which it calls the "the how," John Deere chairman Bob Lane said in a recent column.

Patricia Cochran, CFO of Vision Service Plan, Randy Guba CFO of IES and Tim Carmack, CFO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital trace their finance career roots as part of Steve Player's 2009 interview series.

Our interviewer Steve Player speaks with Joe Householder, SVP, controller, and chief accounting officer of Sempra Energy about his finance career and how the energy company develops its talent.

New surveys suggest that many CFOs are not quite ready to join the "green shoots" chorus.

Regardless of whether you reside near the top of the financial career ladder or near the bottom, you'll need additional leadership skills before reaching the next rung.

With the globalization of business opportunities, more and more executives are stepping outside of U.S. borders. An understanding of the potential threats and how to respond to them could literally be the difference between life and death. That is why corporate executives are signing up for self-defense seminars.

One big work risk has been receiving little attention: falling employee engagement levels. A new survey found that employee engagement levels for U.S. workers has fallen by 9 percent overall since last year and has dropped even more dramatically for top performing workers, plummeting 25 percent.

The health care bill, which was unveiled this week, won't affect corporate taxes as much as many anticipated. The two big proposals: small companies that offer health insurance could get tax credits and companies with more than 50 employees that don't provide insurance could end up paying the government up to $400 per employee.