Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 26, 2011

Yet this is exactly the challenge facing leaders of the finance function who are asked to help their organization improve the way that work is done. As finance shifts its focus from controlling costs to advising managers on improvement activities, CFOs must change their thinking and behaviors. Getting the CFO on board is key.

Finance 11

Finance CFO Budgeting Operations 11

N2Growth Blog

JUNE 29, 2010

Home About Overview News Careers Contact Blog Services Branding/Identity Executive Search Leadership Development Overview CEO Coaching Executive Peer Groups Strategic Growth Consulting Innovation Management Personal Branding Reputation Management Social Media Consulting Pro Bono Services Clients Intermidiaries Downloads Blog Contactus N2growth Home (..)

Blog 313

Blog Brand CEO Consultative 313

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 23, 2015

If you want approval for a new project — purchasing new equipment or computer systems, applying for a patent, building a new store — chances are you need your company’s finance department on board. To get the green light, it helps to understand how finance people think. Finance & Accounting Tool.

Finance 8

Finance NPV CFO ROI 8

Marshall Goldsmith

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

US News and World Report #1 Best Hospital in the United States – Fortune ‘100 Best Companies to Work For,’ 14 consecutive years. Liz Smith – Chairman and CEO, Bloomin’ Brands (Outback, Flemings, Carrabba’s, Bonefish Grill) – one of the world’s largest casual dining companies. Garry Ridge – CEO, WD-40 Company.

Executive Coaching 70

Executive Coaching CEO Magazine Banking 70

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 16, 2012

To enhance financial flexibility, companies have been retaining unprecedented amounts of cash on their balance sheets, calling it "strategic" cash to distinguish it from the "operating" cash that is needed to run the business. CFOs should always think about strategic cash within the context of a company's allocation priorities.

Company 13

Company Cost of Capital Finance Long-term 13

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 8, 2018

The market caps of just four companies, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft, now exceed $3 trillion. Their combined assets of $944 billion are an order of magnitude lower than the combined assets of $7,700 billion of the largest 3,177 companies in 1986, when the aggregate market capitalization reached $3 trillion for the first time.

Report 8

Report GAAP Net Present Value CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 29, 2014

In the July/August issue of HBR , Ram Charan argues that the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) role should be eliminated, with HR responsibilities funneled in two separate directions — administration , led by traditional HR-types, reporting to the CFO; and talent strategy , led by high-potential line managers, reporting to the corner office.

CFO 11

CFO Charan Intangible Assets Human Resources 11

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 2, 2017

Every organization has a slightly different framework of expected experience, but I like to look at this through the lens of strategy and operations. One CFO I know managed finance for a spin-off firm when it went public and then returned to the parent company in a corporate position.

CFO 8

CFO How To CIO Finance 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 6, 2013

In that same study, most CFOs believed that marketing could have a positive impact on profitability but 40% of them didn't know if CMOs were even trying to do so. However, in the best run companies, the relationship between CMOs and CFOs has changed radically and for the better. Figure out the definitions.

CFO 8

CFO Advertising Finance Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

In our experience, companies that adopt this marketing analytics approach can unlock 10–20 percent of their marketing budget to either reinvest in marketing or return to the bottom line. This lack of an analytical approach has traditionally formed a barrier between marketing and finance. The opportunity is enormous.

CFO 8

CFO Short-term Long-term Benchmarking 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2016

Big companies have been buying a lot of clean energy lately – 3.5 Under this financing structure, the company contracts to buy kilowatts, not the turbines and panels. It sounds like an easy win-win, but industrial companies have had a harder time making it all work for two key reasons: costs and accounting.

Energy 8

Energy Industry Finance CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

As the business environment becomes increasingly complex and interconnected, few leaders express confidence in their companies' ability to adapt. They too have struggled to operate in complex environments, and have developed the skills and expertise to overcome these challenges. Take Allianz, a German financial services company.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Company Six Sigma Franchising 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 25, 2014

Thirty-one years later, I became Chairman and CEO of a global Fortune 300 company. In order for a company to access the best possible talent they must access the broadest possible talent pool. Born in India, I arrived in the U.S. How did this happen? I was fortunate, to be sure. But Rohm and Haas wasn’t always like that.

Team 12

Team Diversity CFO TSR 12

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Lance Best, the CEO of Barker Sports Apparel, was meeting with Nina Kelk, the company’s general counsel, who also oversaw human resources. It had been a long day at the company’s Birmingham, England, headquarters, and in the early evening the two were going over the evaluations of each of Lance’s direct reports.

Case Study 13

Case Study Team CFO Merchandising 13

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 6, 2011

Lest you get too comfortable, you might want to consider the cautionary tale of a company whose program received rave reviews while in progress, only to fail spectacularly. A large division of this company had recognized the need to dramatically change its business model to survive and succeed in a changing market. What happened?

Process 15

Process Six Sigma Finance Short-term 15

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 21, 2011

Twelve cases are written as narratives with multiple teaching points, but without a focus on a particular business decision; the remaining twenty-three cases were written around specific conundrums related to strategy, operations, finance, marketing, leadership, culture, human resources, organizational design, business model, and growth.

Learning-by-Doing 62

Learning-by-Doing Price Bottom-up Finance 62

Harvard Business Review

JULY 8, 2013

You''ll also see a real difference between first-time CEOs and people who''ve been a CEO before, especially if that first-time CEOs is coming from outside the company. You actually get a bit disadvantaged if you''ve been in the same company or the same industry your whole career, as an HR person. They tend to wait too long.

CEO 10

CEO CFO COO Industry 10

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2017

Eastman Kodak is the textbook case for failing to prioritize an innovation agenda; business schools around the world study the ramifications of the company’s ill-fated decision to ignore the digital photography market until it was too late. How the best companies get up to speed. The Future of Financial Services. Insight Center.

Industry 12

Industry Short-term Planning Long-term 12

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 30, 2015

But before you spend the company’s hard-earned money, you’ve got to prove to your company’s leaders that it’s worth the investment. You’ll likely be asked to show that the return on the investment will be better than your company’s cost of capital. And how your company uses it?

Cost of Capital 8

Cost of Capital Cost Finance Discount 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

In addition they operate from a plan — however confidential it may be — to strengthen the team year over year. For example, Tim Sheahan, Chief Financial Officer for a large division of a multi-national corporation, aspires to become CFO of a Fortune 100 company in the future.

Execution 14

Execution Team Chief Financial Officer Finance 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 11, 2018

a cataract operation can cost $200 or less, compared with $3,500 in the U.S. Ascension saved 10%–15% a year by aggregating all of those contracts and negotiating from the strength of the combined operation. The savings to Ascension in supplies alone totaled about $1 billion, or 5% of total revenues.

Health Care 8

Health Care Insurance Cost Price 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

Strategies like outsourcing, hiring lower-cost people, or exotic employment offer tempting cost savings to the finance-minded folks. Don’t use your customer team as a buffer between company and customer. Your company has (mostly) solved product/market fit. Stay focused on revenue growth, not gross margin.

Metrics 14

Metrics Engineering Efficiency Learning-by-Doing 14

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

More and more companies are tying incentive pay to customer metrics. TIAA-CREF, the big financial services company, includes customer loyalty score improvement in senior executive compensation. In most larger companies, you'll need to generate roughly 200+ responses per operating unit per period.

Incentives 10

Incentives Sample Customer Loyalty Metrics 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Over the past 30 years, most companies have added new C-level roles in response to changing business environments. The chief financial officer (CFO) role rose to prominence in the mid -1980’s as pressures for value management and more transparent investor relations gained traction. Mobilizing resources. Building frontline capabilities.

Chief Financial Officer 8

Chief Financial Officer Information Technology Metrics CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 30, 2013

In March 2000, Barron's reported that 51 Internet companies were burning cash so fast that they'd be broke by the end of the end of the year. The Burn Rate 51 was made up mostly of now-forgotten companies like drkoop.com and CDNow. In fact, Amazon was only operating at such a high burn rate because it could. Nice timing, huh?

Training 9

Training Bond Christensen Long-term 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Acutely aware of the competitive edges timely data offers sophisticated investors, the company's ever-entrepreneurial cofounder once proposed that Google launch a hedge fund. After all, what company on earth enjoyed greater access to more insights more quickly from more people searching for more information?

Hedge 15

Hedge Core Competence CFO ROI 15

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

And we’ve seen family executives thrive with rewards that are richer and more profound than a leader of a publically traded company could possibly derive. The company flourishes, the family has a collective purpose that brings them together, and the kids prosper. Leaders who thrive in this environment embrace and use this messiness.

How To 8

How To CFO Execution Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Companies are spending millions on digital transformation, yet studies find many leaders feel their projects aren’t achieving their objectives. Workfront CEO Alex Shootman says digitization is happening in most companies on a function-by-function basis, leaving teams to work in silos instead of executing new strategies together.

Content 8

Content Crisis Apparel Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 9, 2015

“Introduce yourself, and take a little time to get to know people, how they operate, and how they act.” We have to remember that they may be operating under constraints as well.” ” The store agreed to the reorder at the new price, and the two companies continue to do business today. Make small talk.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain How To Price Case Study 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Lotta Tindal, the chief marketing officer for the Dutch hospitality group Ervaring Hotels & Resorts, hadn’t wanted to come to the presentation, but Gerard Bakker, Ervaring’s CFO, had twisted her arm. “The company has a solid business model, but we’d lose money as a partner,” Carly said.

Case Study 8

Case Study Travel Hotels NPV 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 7, 2017

Employees and other constituents should expect HR to hold leaders accountable for fiduciary and strategic risks, just as a CFO would be expected to hold leaders accountable for a risky pattern of using corporate funds or resources. Are these acceptable growing pains? In one word: No.

Compliance 11

Compliance Hedge Human Capital Finance 11

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 8, 2016

Rogier Maes, the CEO of Contect, wrapped up his year-beginning speech to all the company’s employees. Listening, Derek Melis, his friend and CFO, was relieved. If you’d like your comment to be considered for publication, please be sure to include your full name, company or university affiliation, and email address.

Case Study 8

Case Study Decentralization CFO Construction 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 29, 2014

Sarah was a longtime director of the company that J.P. In Sarah’s opinion, the problem was obvious: Sid Yerby, the CFO. How could she or any of the other directors provide fiscal oversight without access to details of the company’s operations or accounting? had pulled her aside and asked her to stop arguing with the CFO.

Case Study 9

Case Study Real Estate CFO Letter 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 9, 2010

And the approach was consistent across all the franchises: The company used proprietary methodology, therapy-management software, electronic patient records, and strict performance protocols to ensure uniformity, although Gloria knew that some centers, of course, outperformed others. I'm not a finance person, but that seems too soon to me.".

Case Study 13

Case Study Franchising Health Care Follow-up 13

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 7, 2011

Process gurus such as Michael Hammer , Jim Champy , Geary Rummler , and Alan Brache have long maintained that companies must appoint process owners to ensure that processes are improved across functions. Making sure the company's key processes are delivering competitive advantage , or if not, that the right fixes are on the way.

Process 15

Process Champy Competitive Advantage Hammer 15