The New Value Integrator

30 April 2010 by IBM MBPS

For chief financial officers (CFOs), the recent global economic downturn has been a pivotal event — but perhaps not in expected ways. Under a glaring spotlight, CFOs and their finance organisations had to address urgent capital acquisition, cash flow and revenue challenges; but volatility and uncertainty also drew them into more frequent boardroom conversations about forecasts, profitability, risk management and strategic decisions related to supply chains, pricing and production. As a result, CFOs are emerging with far more influence at the enterprise level.

IBM's 2010 Global CFO Study — based on input from more than 1,900 CFOs and senior finance leaders worldwide — attests to this shift. While the importance of core finance responsibilities has not diminished in any way, CFOs' focus on company-wide concerns has increased sharply. Simply stated, CEOs and boards are counting on their CFOs to be fact-based voices of reason and insight.