It is critical to proactively prevent change fatigue to maintain your team’s resilience, engagement, and energy. The following three tactics can significantly impact outcomes.

Set Clear Expectations That Change Will Evolve Over Time

The best strategy to avoid change fatigue is to normalise the idea that change is a continuous process rather than a one-time event. Leaders should be open and honest with their teams, explaining that the organisation’s initiatives, resources, and tactics will evolve as the company does.

When this expectation is set early on, teams are less likely to be caught off guard or become frustrated when plans change. It helps people develop an adaptable mindset and mentally prepare for future changes.

Consider it as creating psychological safety: workers are more likely to approach evolution with curiosity rather than resistance when they realise it is a necessary part of the process.

Identify The Work That Team Members Enjoy Doing

Employee disengagement from the work that fulfils them is one of the main causes of burnout during times of transition. Strive to strike a balance between the familiar and the changing during times of transition.

During uncertain times, identifying the kinds of work or responsibilities that team members truly enjoy and allowing them to continue doing so can serve as a strong anchor.

This does not imply complete resistance to change. Instead, it is about purposefully maintaining some consistency to promote mental health and contentment at work.

Celebrate Large And Small Wins Along The Way

Prolonged periods of transformation can lead to the loss of perspective regarding progress, especially when the final goal seems elusive. Celebrating successes, whether substantial or minor, keeps morale high, strengthens positive momentum, and helps teams realise that their efforts are producing results. Acknowledging achievements does not require a formal ceremony; it can be as simple as a shout-out during a meeting, a note of appreciation, or a team meal.

These simple gestures of recognition cultivate a sense of worthiness and gratitude among individuals, thereby enhancing resilience and reducing fatigue.

Although change fatigue is a real concern, it is not inevitable. Setting clear expectations, recognising the work your team enjoys, and regularly celebrating accomplishments will help you create a more flexible and humane workplace. Remember that change does not have to be draining. It can be motivating, empowering, and even inspiring when done correctly.

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You need to know where your business idea will begin, how it should evolve, and how you will measure success. Additionally, you must determine how you will create value for your customers. By following these straightforward steps, you can establish a robust business model.

Understanding Your Target Audience

When it comes to your business, targeting a wide audience won’t allow you to focus on customers who truly need or want your product or service. Instead, it’s better to narrow down your audience to two or three specific buyer personas. For each persona, outline their demographics, common challenges, and how your company can offer solutions. For example, Home Depot may appeal to everyone or carry a product that the average person needs, but the company’s primary target market is homeowners and builders.

Optimise Operational Frameworks

In order for your business to start operating, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the activities that need to be carried out to make your business model work. You can determine the key business activities by first identifying the core aspect of your business’s offering. For instance, if you are responsible for providing a service, shipping a product or offering consulting, you need to identify the activities that are crucial for delivering these offerings. As an example, in the case of Ticketbis, an online ticket exchange marketplace, the key business processes include marketing and product delivery management.

Document Essential Business Assets

It is important for businesses to identify the essential resources required to carry out their daily operations, acquire new customers, and achieve their business goals. These resources may include a website, capital, warehouses, intellectual property, and customer lists. Proper documentation of these resources helps to ensure that the business model is well-prepared to meet the needs of the business and sustain its growth over time.

Craft Compelling Value Proposition

How do you plan to differentiate your company from the competition? Is it by providing an innovative service, a revolutionary product, or a new take on an old favourite? Clearly defining what your business has to offer and why it is superior to your competitors is the foundation of a compelling value proposition. Once you have identified a few value propositions, connect each one to a product or service delivery system to determine how you can continue to provide value to your customers over time.

Identify Strategic Business Collaborators

Every business needs key partners who play an important role in contributing to the success of the business. These partners are crucial to a company’s ability to serve its customers and achieve its goals. When building a business model, it is essential to choose key partners such as suppliers, strategic alliances, or advertising partners. For instance, in the case of Home Depot, some of their key partners may include lumber suppliers, parts wholesalers, and logistics companies.

Formulate Effective Demand Generation Tactics

If you want to launch your company successfully, you need a strategy that generates interest in your business, attracts potential customers, and leads to sales. It’s important to ask yourself how customers will discover your brand and what actions they should take once they become aware of it. Developing a demand generation strategy can help you create a plan that outlines the customer’s journey and identifies the key reasons for taking action.

Leave Room For Innovation

When starting a business and creating a business strategy, there are many assumptions that are made. Until your business begins to attract paying customers, you won’t know if your business model will meet the customers’ ongoing needs. Therefore, it is crucial to make room for future innovations. You should never consider your initial plan to be a static document. Instead, you should review it frequently and make changes as necessary to ensure its effectiveness.

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It was also announced that Saudi Arabia will invest $220 billion to transform Riyadh into a global city by 2030, and through this investment is expected to attract similar levels of investment from the private sector, as announced by the head of the royal commission for the capital. Saudi Arabia also plans to double the population and economy of its capital city in the next ten years. Currently, it has 7 million people.

The Gulf Kingdom is the world’s top oil exporter and it is looking to diversify its economy away from crude revenues by creating new industries and investment opportunities. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that he wants the kingdom’s capital to become one of the world’s biggest 10 cities under his economic reform strategy.

For a long time, Saudi Arabia has been viewed by international bankers and executives as a place to visit for work before going somewhere else to unwind. But that is going to change as the Saudi capital is not only fast transforming into a global and regional hub of business activities, it is also becoming a centre of entertainment facilities that has a lot of attractive festivals.

Since 2019, the number of foreign investors registered at the Tadawul has more than doubled from 6 percent and Saudi Arabia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose during the pandemic. The Regional Headquarters Program also started at the beginning of the year, and it aims to tempt 480 global companies to make Riyadh its home in the region.

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October 27, 2016: By 2020, companies will have shifted the majority of their R&D spending away from product-based offerings to software and service offerings, according to the 2016 Global Innovation 1000 Study from Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business. The need to stay competitive is the top reason why companies cited a shift in their R&D budgets towards software and services, and for good reason – according to the study, companies who reported faster revenue growth relative to key competitors allocated 25 percent more of their R&D budgets to software offerings than companies who reported slower revenue growth.

• The average allocation of R&D spending for software and services increased from 54% to 59% between 2010 and 2015 and is expected to grow to 63% by 2020.
• Meanwhile, the average allocation of R&D spending dedicated to product-based offerings fell to 41 percent (from 46% in 2010), and is expected to fall to 37% by 2020 (an overall decrease of 19% this decade).
• Average allocation of R&D spending on software offerings alone will increase by 43% by the end of this decade and R&D spending on services will gradually overtake investment in product-based innovation (39% vs. 37% by 2020).
• Global R&D spending on software offerings has increased by 65% between 2010-2015, from US $86 billion to $142 billion.

“Many of the world’s major innovators are in the midst of a transformational journey mostly driven by changing – and rising – customer expectations,” says Barry Jaruzelski, innovation and R&D expert for strategy& and principal with PwC US. “The shift is also being driven by the supercharged pace of improvement in what software can do, including the increasing use of embedded software and sensors in products, the ability to reliably and inexpensively connect products, customers and manufacturers via the Internet of Things (IoT), and the availability of cloud-based data storage.

Companies will recruit less mechanical engineers and more data and software engineers to build their capabilities

To support the development of software and services offerings, fewer companies will focus their R&D spending on the electrical and mechanical field. By 2020, the number of companies reporting that electrical engineers are their top employed engineering specialty will fall by 35 percent and the proportion of companies who expect that data engineers will represent their largest group of employed engineers will double from 8% to 16%.

Jaruzelski says, “An increase in software and services, even in more traditional industries has created a shift towards hiring talent that can develop software and provide platforms to collect and analyse product-related data. The shift is already changing the way business schools think about their course offerings, and will have profound effects both on education and, more generally, on the future of employment.”

Regionally, companies in North America are making the strongest shift to software offerings-from 15 percent of total R&D spending in 2010 to 24 percent in 2020. While Asia remains the most product-centric region, with 44 percent of R&D allocated to product offerings in 2010, only falling to 40 percent in 2020. The automotive and industrial sectors are making the most aggressive push towards developing new software offerings.

Among companies that made an acquisition during the past five years, the vast majority – 71% – were made to enhance capabilities in software (33%) or services (38%).

Strategy&’s annual analysis of the world’s 1000 largest R&D spenders also found the following:

• By 2018, the healthcare sector will surpass computing and electronics to become the largest R&D spending industry globally (US$165 billion v. US$159 billion), and the software and internet industry will leap ahead of the automotive sector (US$129 billion v. US$105 billion); Industrials rounds out the Top 5 R&D industries by spend.
• For the first time in the study’s history, the number of Global Innovation 1000 companies headquartered in the US grew, up 9.5% year over year.
• Volkswagen, Samsung, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Intel round out the Top 5 R&D Spenders, with Amazon and Google making bold moves up the list (+4 and +2 positions, respectively).
• Global innovation professionals responding to a 2016 survey have ranked Apple, Alphabet (Google), and 3M as the three Most Innovative Companies in the world.
• The 10 Most Innovative Companies continue to outperform the Top 10 R&D Spenders on key performance metrics, as has been the case for each of the past seven years.

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IFM Correspondent

October 4, 2016: Dutch bank ING, the country’s biggest lender, announced plans to shed 7,000 jobs, mainly in Belgium and The Netherlands. The plan is part of cost cutting measure for the company, which will help it save $1.01 billion by 2021. The rise of online banking competitors is forcing the bank to reshape its digital banking strategy.

ING presented the job losses in Belgium and the Netherlands as being part of its ‘Think Forward’ strategy aimed at digitising more of the group’s operations.

Rik Vandenberghe, chief executive of the bank’s Belgian arm, said on Monday that the decision was “a shock for a lot of people … it was not an easy decision, I have not slept well these last days.”

Ralph Hamers, chief executive of ING Group, said, “You have to announce these programmes and these intentions at a time when you can afford them. We’re strong right now, we have good results, we are growing and then you have to do the repairs, and not when you don’t have any choice anymore.”

He also highlighted that ING had been hit — like other European banks — by low interest rates in the eurozone and tough regulation.

Belgian and Dutch unions reacted angrily, but analysts said the job losses were the result of the online transformation of the banking industry.

The move is the third financial sector restructuring announced in Belgium in recent weeks. Earlier, Axa Belgium and P&V also announced planned job cuts.

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Sophie Brackenbury

September 19, 2016: Our commercial dispute resolution team was recently instructed to advise on the enforcement of a debt owed to a German business (our client) by a UK company, as part of our debt recovery service.  The outcome was that we were able to enforce the debt effectively in the UK courts on behalf of our German client.

The process involved obtaining a European Order for Payment (EOP) in the creditor’s domestic court (in this case Germany), which could then be enforced in other European courts (in this case the English courts). This is possible owing to Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 (‘the Regulation’), which provides a streamlined process for enforcing debts against parties in other EU member states where the amount is not disputed. In such circumstances, a creditor can file a standardised form with the courts in the relevant member state, wait for the courts to approve the application and issue the EOP, and then pursue enforcement of the debt. This means that the UK currently has favourable terms for enforcing debts compared with countries outside of the EU.

This process does, of course, now give rise to the question of whether – when Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been triggered and the UK has left the EU at some point in a little over two years – it will still be possible – and if possible – whether it will be easy for (a) a business based in an EU member state to recover debts in the UK and (b) UK-based companies to recover debts in the EU.  The wider implications for UK businesses trading with European companies could be significant, including:

• A great deal more caution in terms of business dealings between UK and EU companies;
• The necessity to carry out more detailed and costly due diligence and credit risk assessment of new European customers;
• A fear – particularly among smaller organisations where significant unpaid levels of debt can affect cash flow to a catastrophic level – of doing business of any kind with European customers

Added to which, of course, is that this is just one example of what could be an incredibly nebulous set of circumstances and scenarios that UK businesses will be faced with once we trigger Article 50, and the myriad EU originating provisions that govern commercial life begin to unravel.

Perhaps, the most helpful parallel would be to look at the position in Denmark, which unlike other member states opted not to implement the Regulation and so falls outside of the EOP regime. If a party in Denmark wished to pursue recovery of a debt in another EU member state, it would need to pursue court proceedings in the relevant jurisdiction and rely on local enforcement laws in order to recover the debt. Likewise, parties in other EU member states will have to rely on Danish local enforcement laws, as would be the case if pursuing a debt in a non-EU member state. This includes EEA/EFTA member states, as the Regulation does not extend to these countries. As such, parties in the both the UK and the EU will likely have to follow the Danish example when pursuing debt recovery post-Brexit.

It’s not all doom and gloom, in that this is not necessarily a more difficult course of action, it’s just a different course of action to the one currently available. It does, however, require detailed consideration of the differences between each jurisdiction (which the current – ‘pre-Brexit’ – situation minimises by having a standardised application process). As such, while debt recovery proceedings in EU member states will still be possible following Brexit, it will be necessary for businesses to take different and often more complicated and costly processes into account when considering the risks of trading with European organisations.

So, where does this leave UK business?  Whilst the likely implications remain uncertain until we know what form Brexit will take, it will probably involve increased time and costs in pursuing debt recovery. Our advice is to plan your strategy carefully, not only in terms of debt recovery and enforcement, but also throughout your business, including your commercial agreements, relationship with employees etc.  This process should take into account the over-arching imperative to minimise risk to your business. Specifically, the following may be helpful as a starting point:

• As the UK has not yet triggered Article 50 and thereby the process to leave the EU (which itself will be a two-year process), there is still time to prepare.  The current position seems to be that the UK government will trigger Article 50 at some point early in 2017. However, you should start now, consult your professional advisers, and ensure you have a strategy in place.

• As a first step, businesses, particularly those that rely on trade with the EU or where loss of trade with EU would have a significant impact, should carry out analyses, including the extent to which their business relies on pan-EU trade and, therefore, the risk that Brexit presents. For example, what percentage of your income relies on trade with other European countries?  What do you need to do to ensure that this continues? How much of that income could you afford to lose before it has a significant effect on your business?

We have been part of the EU (and its predecessors) for more than 40 years. That’s a long time and in that time, we have built up a complex and binding set of trade rules and procedures. Extracting ourselves from these will be complicated and there will be some pain. The uncertainty (and therefore increased risk) means it is important for all businesses, who rely to any degree on EU trade, to minimise that pain by planning early and putting a risk strategy in place.

Sophie Brackenbury handles Dispute Resolution at Shulmans LLP

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March 13, 2015: Bank Rakyat started 2015 by launching Menara Kembar Bank Rakyat, its new corporate office located along Jalan Travers, on the fringes of KL Sentral. Operating in a very conducive and modern environment, it embodies the bank’s commitment to deliver nothing but the best to its 5 million customers and 950,000 members.

The bank was established on September 28, 1954 under the Cooperative Ordinance 1948 (known as the Cooperative Societies Act 1993). It is the biggest Islamic cooperative bank in Malaysia with assets totaling RM89.12 billion and a pre-tax and pre-zakat profit of RM2.18 billion as at end of December 2014.

The transformation in 2002 from a conventional banking system to a full banking system based on shariah has seen Bank Rakyat expand its range of products and customer facilities, which include consumer banking, commercial financing, savings and investments as well as products of financial planning to satisfy the many demands of the current generation. Efficient delivery channels continue to be expanded and improved. Bank Rakyat also continues to maintain its friendly corporate image as highlighted in its tagline as Your Choice Bank.

As of now, it has 147 branches, more than 700 ATMs and CDMs, 18 Rakyat Xcess and 78 Ar-Rahnu X’Change nationwide. It operates a call centre, tele-Rakyat (1-300-88-12265) and i-Rakyat internet banking (www.irakyat.com.my). It can also be reached via Facebook, Bank Rakyat, Bank Pilihan Anda and Twitter at twitter.com/myBANKRAKYAT.

ACCOLADES

    1.      BEST ISLAMIC BANK 2014

             Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA)

2.      BEST MANAGED BANK MALAYSIA 2014

International Finance Magazine

3.      CEO OF THE YEAR (DATUK MUSTAFHA HJ. ABD. RAZAK)

National Award for Management Accounting (NAfMA)

4.      RAM FINANCIAL INSTITUTION RATING

Long Term: AA2

Short Term: P1

5.      THE BANKER TOP 1000 WORLD BANKS

World Ranking: 273

Country Ranking: 6

6.      BEST SHARIA PROGRAM

Mastercard

7.      BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR 2014

            (GENERAL MANAGER RAKYAT MANAGEMENT SERVICES)

National Award for Management Accounting (NAfMA)

8.      1^ST RUNNER UP BURSA SUQ –AL-SILA’ TOP CTP 2013

Bursa Malaysia

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March 2, 2015: Even since it was established 23 years ago, Retail Banking Strategy has been the key for Sacombank. It adopted a “Customer Centric Model” very early in order to achieve excellence in customer service as the main differentiating factor, which helped it become one of the leading banks in Vietnam.

Four key solutions to execute a successful retail strategy are human resources, technology, financial capability and branch network.

Considering human resources as the most valuable asset, a healthy and professional working environment has been created. The bank strongly supports and develops its employees with on-going training both in Vietnam and overseas.

It has invested heavily in Information Technology to enhance customer experience and to improve productivity and management capability. The successful upgrade of Core Banking T24-R11 for the whole system, including in Laos and Cambodia, has laid the ground for Sacombank to implement many modern high-tech systems and applications, such as Internet/Mobile Banking, FX Trading, Fund Transfer, Risk Management and Human Resources Management.

Sacombank’s financial capability has been very sound as the capital has been strengthened over the years. With the motto “profit is just temporary, market share is perennial”, Sacombank has focused on network expansion and effectiveness. As of today, it has 428 transaction points in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. All of them are in strategic locations with premises of high standard showing Sacombank’s strong and long-term commitment to customers and communities.

In the retail segment, Sacombank offers a diversified portfolio of hundreds of products and services, including several types of cards, deposits, loans, personal financial services and bancassurance. Unique products and services customised by regional characteristic were successfully launched.

In line with the slogan of building solid partnerships and growing together with business, Sacombank has been very active in participating in many initiatives to support the business growth such as low Business Loan Program, “Connecting Banks-Business” campaign, Low Interest Loans to business during Tet, etc. Moreover, Sacombank has established business relationships with hundreds of correspondent banks from different parts of the world to provide more comprehensive solutions to customers, such as trade finance, international payments and remittance, etc.

Then the past few years, Sacombank’s operations have been much more stable with sustainable growth and profitability higher compared to its peers in the banking industry: total deposits increased by 30%, total lending is 17% and net profit is higher than 21%.

In additional, considering social responsibility as priority, Sacombank has been giving back to the community through programs such as charity events for low income residents living in islands, Free Public Washrooms, sponsoring garbage bins and benches in public parks, operating “Run with Sacombank for Community Health” in almost every provinces in Vietnam, Red Cross Day, Spring Day for underprivileged children and scholarships to poor students, etc.

Sacombank is very proud to be the recipient of many of the prestigious awards both in Vietnam and internationally in 2014 (19 domestic and six international prizes), including “The Best Retail Bank Vietnam 2014” by IFM and “The Best Domestic Bank Vietnam 2014” by The Asset. Moreover, “My eBank” was voted  the best and most preferred eBank by customers in a poll organised by the biggest Vietnamese online news agency – VNExpress and SBV.

Considering 2015 as the very important year for successfully executing the long-term strategy and to be recognised the best retail banking by 2020, Sacombank will improve internal processes, maintain and develop a diverse and competitive portfolio of products and services, apply new innovative sales models and maintain and develop an attractive privilege program for clients.

With the milestones and achievements over the years, along with a strong and solid commitment to the customer, shareholders, staff and community, Sacombank strongly believes that it is on the right track in building a solid foundation to maintain its leading position in retail banking in Vietnam and the Indochina region.

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Also Read:

‘Sacombank has been growing steadily’

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Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

December 23,2014:It is a well-known fact that traditional organisations are now following the example of firms and industries which have been highly influenced by digitisation. Hence, it comes as no surprise when organisations across 19 countries see digital disruption as the real trend. In an Accenture study titled ‘Disrupt or be disrupted: The impact of digital technologies on business services’, it was found that digital adoption is mainly fueled by a need to gain better insight and improve competitiveness as well as lower cost for organisations. Excerpts from an interview with Paul Jeruchimowitz, managing director, Accenture Strategy, CFO & Enterprise Value, on the study which covered 115 major enterprise buyers.

The report states that 61% of organisations agree that the new wave of digital technologies is fundamentally changing the way entire industries will operate. How would the industry change? Can you explain by citing an example?

Digital technologies are changing the way companies interact with customers, suppliers, employees and business partners resulting in dramatic business models changes.

With regards to shared services, digital transformation impacts the model in three ways regardless of industry: (1) Increasing customer experience expectations based on bringing the consumer experience into work; (2) Reduction in total cost to serve due to the advent of cloud-based technologies, which accelerate the introduction of enablers and reduce the cost of storage; and (3) an opportunity for advanced shared services to play a role in enabling a broader enterprise-wide digital transformation. Our research shows that savvy organisations are realising that new digital technologies can propel their use of more advanced integrated services to support unconventional areas, better focus on the external customer and supplier relationships and enhance their competitiveness.

What has been the response from companies?

Of the companies we surveyed, nearly half (49%) of respondents expect digital transformation to “extensively impact” advanced shared services models in supply chain over the next three years. Engineering is also an unconventional area that is seeing growth due to the “extensive impact” digital will have. Here, about 27% respondents say that digital will have a high impact on the industry over the next three years. However, it is important to remember that the digital transformation requires much more than the implementation of new technology. It requires changes to strategy, people and processes as well. In fact, one of the most encouraging results from the survey is the evidence that enterprises are starting to make the changes necessary to realise the benefits of going digital, including taking on new leadership, implementing new process models and deploying new technologies.

Apart from improved productivity and competitiveness, what are the other areas where organisations can improve their skills if they were to adopt digitisation?

Apart from productivity and cost, there are many other areas wherein companies can improve themselves if they adopt digital technology. For instance, digitisation can help gather useful market insights, improve integration of processes and operations, and enhance interactive and collaborative capability of employees, customers and partners.

Approximately what percentage of their budget do enterprises allocate to technology?

Our study did not examine budget allocations for technology. These allocations will vary for different organisations.

What we can tell you in terms of spending is that roughly one in four large enterprise respondents indicated they were seeing heavy investments today, with the greatest activity in mobility (31 percent making heavy investments to get ahead of the curve) and analytics (30 percent).  At the same time, more than two out of five respondents (41 percent) indicated they wanted to see more investment around mobility, which implies that this is an area that most businesses will continue to focus on in the coming years.

The report says that digital is capturing the attention of high-level executives across many firms. Approximately how much time do people in C-Suites take to adopt a technology?

The adoption of technology is indeed a pressing issue with many C-Suite executives. However, we cannot quantify the amount of time various executives spend on decision-making around technology, its implementation or management.

With that said, we know that this task tends to fall to the CIO and CFO. Specifically, the study shows that CFOs are currently playing a strong role in determining which processes are most ready and viable for digital transformation. Specifically, 37 percent of respondents report that CFOs are making the final decision about implementation and another 52 percent are providing major input – second only to the CIO (40 percent and 47 percent, respectively). This confirms the overall trend we’re seeing that CFOs are taking on an increasing role throughout the organisation. With that in mind, we can generally assume that CFOs and CIOs are two individuals in the C-Suite who are likely spending the most time on technology-related tasks.

Also read: 

CFOs looking after more than just finance 

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Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

October 17, 2014: When someone mentions “CFO”, the first thing to hit the mind is – a guy managing finance in a company.

However, with time, the role of the CFO has evolved. Today if you mention about the ‘managing finance’ bit to any CFO worth his salt, he will probably laugh out loud.

Once focused on cost containment, accounting and compliance, the position has evolved into that of a true business partner – someone who delivers insights and provides decision-making support.

Today, companies expect CFOs to have the ability to manage volatility, navigate complexity among other things. In fact, a recent Accenture report* — The CFO as Architect of Business Value: Delivering Growth and Managing Complexity — states that the expanded role has resulted in their growing influence, especially as a result of their involvement in growth-related and business transformation activities.

“The role has evolved over time internally because of the increasing importance of financial data and insights and externally as a voice of the company to various stakeholders,” said Christian Campagna, lead managing director, Accenture Finance & Enterprise Strategy Group.

And the biggest drivers of this change in the scope of the role of the CFO are the global financial crisis of 2008, wherein the CFO emerged as a trusted partner to the CEO and other member of the C-Suite.

The role of the CFO at present has clearly expanded. The Accenture study calls it ‘Value Architect’. Here the CFO acts as the guardian of the economic value agenda for the company and provides guidance for key decisions made across the enterprise. “Now the CFO has the responsibility to drive profitability and growth while managing constant volatility, complexity, globalisation and emerging technology. The CFO is arguably one of the most powerful executives after the CEO,” says Campagna.

“This view that the CFO is the owner of cost control, and someone else in the business is the owner of revenue growth, is not the case,” says Margherita Della Valle of Vodafone. “The CFO has a role to play across the whole of the P&L and the balance sheet. It is essential that the CFO convinces the CEO that finance has a role to play on more than just costs.”

Thanks to the expanded role, the CFO now often finds himself in middle of a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including other members of the C-suite, the rest of the management team, the board of directors, investors, regulators and analysts. Each has their own demands, and the number of stakeholders continues to expand.

Mike McClellan, CFO, North America at Sanofi, believes that bureaucracy should not mushroom in a company in order for things to run smoothly. “The CFO’s role is to really make sure that we’re not allowing processes to become too complex. We’re really trying to keep things effective and efficient, not only from a cost perspective but also from a way of doing business,” remarks McClellan.

Industries embracing change in role of CFOs

Research by various firms shows that the role of CFO is expanding. “The role is expanding but the focus may vary from industry to industry in order to address industry-specific challenges,” says Campagna. For instance, a CFO in financial services must focus more on regulations and cost control while a CFO at a consumer goods company may be more concerned with managing complexity.

In fact, in most industries CFOs are putting a special emphasis on digital. Hugh Morris, finance expert and vice-president of business development banking at GENPACT LLC in his statement earlier, had said that technology continues to change the way business gets done.

“CFOs need an understanding of emerging technology, but also where things are headed. They must remain agile enough to change course as technology changes and be committed to governance as a way of ensuring that the organisation uses the technology as efficiently as possible,” he said

David Rowland, CFO, Accenture believes that technology is central to finance strategy and agenda. “Organisations can’t have optimal efficiency and effectiveness without focusing on enabling technologies. In today’s world, where there’s an abundance of data, it’s particularly important that organisations raise their game in managing, analysing and presenting data in a way that yields the greatest value for the business.”

*The Accenture 2014 High Performance Finance Study was based primarily on an online quantitative survey conducted between January and April 2014 among 617 finance executives.

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