There are treasurers who win kudos when theeconomy is strong and the markets are surging.Well, that's not so hard. There are treasurerswho manage to excel when simply tough timeswould be a relief. Then, there are treasurers likeEdward M. Dwyer. As treasurer of AT&T Corp. since1997, Dwyer has seen it all with the telecommunica-tions giant. When he first took charge of the company'streasury, AT&T was a darling of Wall Street, with astrong credit rating and a fabled CEO on an acquisi-tions spree. C. Michael Armstrong was gobbling up astring of mammoth cable TV properties that were to re-define AT&T as a broadband supplier of everythingfrom local phone service to Internet. When that strate-gy failed and the binge left the long-distance carrierstrapped with debt and teetering, Dwyer was chargedwith keeping AT&T solvent as it sold off non-core as-sets and returned to offering long distance service.Dwyer entered a new world of credit down-grades and a jittery–and sometimes outrighthostile–Wall Street.

Now, after having toiled for three years help-ing to transform the Bedminster, N.J.-basedtelecom into a leaner, albeit far smaller, finan-cial performer with an unburdened balancesheet, he has a new mission: Cut down the company's re-liance on the capital markets. "The most important jobthat I can do for AT&T, given the uncertainty [in thetelecom sector and the economy], is ensure that we havefinancial flexibility so we don't have to make sub-optimaldecisions," the treasurer says. "The credo around here isliquidity and financial flexibility. Without it, you are atthe mercy of the market."

But Dwyer realized treasury couldn't accomplish thatalone. He and his treasury staff of 36 set out to re-educateAT&T employees on the need to consider the cash flowimplications of every decision they make. It also meanttaking a hard look at treasury's own efficiency level."Over the last three years, AT&T's treasury has been sofocused on transactions and restructuring that wehaven't focused on the blocking and tackling," Dwyersays. "We are now in the process of looking at processeslike cash management, foreign exchange and derivativesto make sure we haven't missed anything."