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How the CFO and General Counsel Can Partner More Effectively

Harvard Business Review

Commentators and researchers have focused on the crucial role of the CEO in leading effective corporate action to promote high performance, high integrity , and sound risk management. This critical alliance needs and deserves much greater analysis and application.

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How Companies Can Use Investors to Their Advantage

Harvard Business Review

Nikon, the legendary Japanese camera maker, provides a textbook study in how smart managers can work with strategic investors to transform a struggling business. Then a new CFO joined the company: Masashi Oka, a financial industry veteran who had played a key role in transforming Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group-owned Union Bank in the US.

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Ace the Group Interview

Harvard Business Review

An interview with the board of directors is standard for the CEO, CFO, and nonprofit Executive Director hiring processes, but the group interview approach is becoming more common for many other positions. To prepare: Do your own due diligence on the interviewers. Manage the meeting.

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How to Transform a Traditional Giant into a Digital One

Harvard Business Review

CEOs cannot manage their silos via hub-and-spoke and expect digital expertise to be properly incorporated in key decisions. ” Immelt elevated marketing and digital media when he promoted Beth Comstock to vice chair, while other positions, including that of the CFO, are at the senior vice president level. Cut layers.

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Make It Easy for Decision Makers to Approve Your Deal

Harvard Business Review

Our understanding of how organizations think and act doesn’t always make this distinction between the interests of the enterprise and its managers. If the deal goes south, the questions the board will always ask is: Did you do your due diligence? ” Fair enough: Exxon does want to find and sell more oil.

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4 Types of Activist Investors and How to Spot Them

Harvard Business Review

The success of an activist strategy is contingent upon placing a management team in an extremely reactive, frenzied and compromising position. Because by the time the activist has engaged senior management, they have already performed extensive due diligence on the company and have a detailed strategy they intend to pursue.

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