Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2014

When Raja Rajamannar became CMO of MasterCard Worldwide in 2013, he moved quickly to transform how the credit card giant measures marketing. But the real power and full potential of data was not being fully realized by marketing. Rajamannar involved finance early. His artillery: Advanced Big Data analytics. Inside Intel.

Finance 12

Finance Marketing P&L ROI 12

Harvard Business Review

JULY 25, 2016

What receives far less attention is that, more and more in our increasingly complex, volatile, and fully-globalized business world, the effectiveness of such action depends on a powerful partnership between the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the General Counsel (GC).

CFO 8

CFO Chief Financial Officer Compliance Due Diligence 8

N2Growth Blog

JUNE 29, 2010

Bottom line…If you can’t avoid the crazies there is still hope…I sincerely believe productive working relationships can be formed with even the most difficult people where there is a sincere desire/need to do so.

Blog 313

Blog Brand CEO Consultative 313

N2Growth Blog

AUGUST 22, 2010

If your CFO handles all communications with your banking relationships, and your Chief Investment Officer handles all of your investor relations, you’re flat out missing the boat. If your CMO is making all of your brand decisions there will be h*ll to pay down the road.

Blog 417

Blog Gordon CEO Consultative 417

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2016

The 1990s saw the rise of the strategic CFO, and more recently many companies have created a chief strategy officer (CSO) position. Such friction is destructive — and a huge missed opportunity, because the CFO and the strategy head are far more effective when they collaborate. There are two reasons for this.

Strategy 8

Strategy CFO Finance Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Marketing is in the midst of an ROI revolution. The arrival of advanced analytics and plentiful data have allowed marketers to demonstrate return on investment with a degree of precision that’s never been possible before. To date, however, the reality of marketing analytics has fallen short of the promise.

CFO 8

CFO Short-term Long-term Benchmarking 8

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 10

CFO Charan Intangible Assets Human Resources 10

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 8, 2014

A similar proposal to Split Finance would likely have been rejected out of hand by organization leaders (and Harvard Business Review editors), because its obvious that the Finance function must fit the organization strategy and leader capabilities. Yet this evidence is apparently not well-known.

Charan 14

Charan Finance Human Resources Supply Chain 14

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 15, 2016

This, in turn, is triggering a shift in the perceived role of the CFO — from bean counters to planters of seed corn. Redefining the CFO role. After all, it’s the CFO who typically sets expectations about growth to investors and then allocates resources to ensure their organizations deliver. Similarly, Corning Inc.

Short-term 8

Short-term Long-term CFO Wiseman 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 4, 2011

Roughly, I'd suggest that they're strategy, marketing, finance, and the rest of the drear, dismal, passionless stuff that makes most of us snooze through meetings and dread the arrival of Monday morning, dilberting our joint prosperity, perpetually disappointing our ever-more apathetic customers, and gleefully embezzling from the future.

Organization 15

Organization Finance Senge Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Lance was struck by what he saw in CFO Damon Ewen’s file. His CFO and his sales chief had been at loggerheads for a while. After all, sales and finance were often at odds in organizations, and the conflict hadn’t had a big impact on Barker’s revenues. Most of the input was neutral, which was to be expected.

Case Study 12

Case Study Team CFO Merchandising 12

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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. At meetings of the corporation's finance managers, Tim makes a point to spend time with lower-level staff members to establish a personal bond.

Execution 14

Execution Team Chief Financial Officer Finance 14

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 30, 2015

You’ve got an idea for a new product line, a way to revamp your inventory management system, or a piece of equipment that will make your work easier. “At most companies, the cost of capital is a mechanical calculation done by the finance people. Finance & Accounting Tool. Babo Schokker. Further Reading.

Cost of Capital 8

Cost of Capital Cost Finance Discount 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2016

Under this financing structure, the company contracts to buy kilowatts, not the turbines and panels. They had framing conversations with the CEO and CFO early on to discuss any financial or operational challenges. This allowed the company to claim carbon-neutral status for Texas-made products, a nice and strategic marketing win.

Energy 8

Energy Industry Finance CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 4, 2012

Investors reward companies (such as Apple and Kimberly-Clark ) whose current performance or guidance for the future exceeds market expectations, and they punish companies (as they did Starbucks and Procter & Gamble ) whose performance or guidance fails to meet expectations.

CFO 11

CFO Metrics Price Depreciation 11

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

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

When I do get a name, it often differs depending on who I asked—a marketing executive points to one person, while finance identifies someone else. Years ago, one group, often marketing, decided it needed analytics support and so that group hired some analytics professionals. That isn’t good. Over time, other groups did the same.

Company 8

Company COO Information Technology CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 6, 2011

A large division of this company had recognized the need to dramatically change its business model to survive and succeed in a changing market. Process champions must have them ready for the day when the CEO or CFO effectively says, "Show me the money.". Engage the finance organization.

Process 15

Process Six Sigma Finance Short-term 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

Along the way, I’ve talked to hundreds of founders, sales and marketing leaders, customer success VPs, and front-line reps about how to build a customer-first SaaS organization. Your #1 focus at this stage is product-market fit. Meet regularly to review common customer issues and build fixes into your product roadmap.

Metrics 13

Metrics Engineering Efficiency Learning-by-Doing 13

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

” When I do get a name, it often differs depending on who I asked—a marketing executive points to one person, while finance identifies someone else. Years ago, one group, often marketing, decided it needed analytics support and so that group hired some analytics professionals. That isn’t good.

Company 8

Company COO CFO Analysis 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 27, 2014

What was so horrible about publicly traded companies that he’d consider being a CEO again, but only if he could avoid public markets? ” But in dealing with the investment community, Palmisano’s approach still seems like the only productive one for the CEO of a publicly traded company to take. Short answer: no.

Stage-Gate 9

Stage-Gate Strategic Planning Welch CFO 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

Functional experiences help make you great at something, i.e. marketing, supply chain, R&D. You’ve not only been a great marketer in one region, but proven that you can lead marketing when you have a new team, in a turnaround situation and in a different geography.

Career 8

Career Chief Financial Officer Supply Chain Chief Information Officer 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 23, 2012

For highly regulated sectors like finance, social media can be a legal minefield. Just ask Gene Morphis, ex-CFO of clothing retailer Francesca's. Employees, particularly those in the sales and marketing functions, need to know the rules of the road," Langford says. 132 characters for Goldman; one giant leap for the Twitterverse.

Compliance 15

Compliance Media Compliance Officer Policies 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2013

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. Because the new data analytics horizons typically span a range of functions, including marketing, risk, and operations, the C-suite evolution may take a variety of paths.

Chief Financial Officer 8

Chief Financial Officer Information Technology Metrics CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 11, 2018

The digital work crisis is this unnerving pace of technological change, complex global networks, and lists product and service variation in almost infinite work streams, a whole tone of digital distractions, and fundamental access to more data than humans can handle. Think about this, if you think about a legacy product company.

Content 8

Content Crisis Apparel Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Your CFO and finance team can take a leadership role here. On the macro level, you can estimate the value of achieving customer loyalty leadership in terms of market share gains or revenue growth. You can also use these processes to inform policy, pricing, staffing, process and product improvements. Organized learning.

Incentives 10

Incentives Sample Customer Loyalty Metrics 10

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 7, 2011

Air Products, Nokia, and Shell, among others, followed this advice and created top-level process owners. They also built a process governance structure that was an organizational overlay on their functional and product structures. How many times have you heard "I'm a finance person" or "I'm a marketer"?)

Process 15

Process Champy Competitive Advantage Hammer 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 11, 2013

When the well-known hedge fund manager and short-seller Jeremiah Hughes first put Terranola in the spotlight, issuing ominous warnings about unsold products, a looming patent expiration, and flawed growth projections, the considered judgment of the executive team was to do nothing. “I Terranola’s market cap skyrocketed to $8.1

Case Study 8

Case Study CFO Hedge PR 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Many people were willing to work for free because they believed in his mission: to create positive, nonviolent, commercially viable products that reward empathy and caring rather than aggression and revenge. You forgot one important figure, Klaus,” Rutger Ekberg, the head of product development, said with a smile. Everyone laughed.

Company 9

Company CFO Proposal Engineering 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Having perceived the raise as a gift, they wanted to reciprocate, and they did — with higher productivity. A study of CFO surveys shows that corporate financial professionals are way too sure of their ability to predict the future. In the case of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, the answer is "probably not." Harvey of Duke.

CFO 8

CFO Survey Globalization Document 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 15, 2013

They resist getting their hands dirty alongside the CIO, even though many of them will readily get down into the mud of a balance sheet with the CFO or strategize the details of global brand issues with the CMO. Boards should require that CEO candidates demonstrate not just knowledge of finance and marketing but also a technology aptitude.

CEO 8

CEO CIO Technology CFO 8

Women on Business

JANUARY 25, 2011

.&# Many studies find that 70% or better surveyed said their meetings are very often time-wasters and could be more productive. I have learned over the years to make meetings meaningful and productive, but it has become a developed skill over time. You first have to determine the purpose of the meeting.

Press Release 140

Press Release Discount PR Magazine 140

Harvard Business Review

MAY 14, 2015

The company’s executives said that to help finance the plan, McDonald’s would increase refranchising (turning company-owned restaurants into franchises), take on more debt (even at the risk of lowering its bond rating ), and find $300 million to cut in general and administrative expenses.

Price 8

Price Franchising Short-term CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Yes, sir, I was worried about that, too — market saturation. And I think there's a market that you should consider: Mexico." Too many customers had skipped their payments and walked away with the products, and the store manager hadn't been able to handle the massive amount of collections. Aubrey nodded. I've read about it.

Case Study 10

Case Study Marketing Real Estate Retail 10

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 22, 2014

company takes on the legal identity of foreign subsidiary, usually in order to reduce its taxes — has become about as controversial as corporate finance topics get. The second source of revenue is trying to change the fact that corporations report large profits to the capital markets and relatively small profits to tax authorities.

Globalization 8

Globalization CEO System Offshoring 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 9, 2010

She'd mentioned her business, Calidad de Vida, a group of day care centers for the elderly, and he'd peppered her with questions, explaining that he was interested not only as a doctor (he was the leading cardiothoracic surgeon at Madrid's best hospital) but also as a potential investor (he'd unloaded his stocks just before the market collapsed).

Case Study 13

Case Study Franchising Health Care Follow-up 13