Going Beyond the Book 2023

16 | Going Beyond the Book 2023 THE CHANGING ROLE OF CFOs: STUDY BY KREA UNIVERSITY T oday’s Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) need to wear many hats — as conscience-keepers, Merger & Acquisition (M&A) wizards, people managers, storytellers, and sustainability champions. Some of the new business shifts that CFOs need to contend with to survive and succeed in their role include: 9 Digitalization and cyber security 9 G r o w i n g i mp o r t a n c e o f Env i ronmental , Soc ial , and Governance (ESG) factors 9 Increased borderless business and regulatory scrutiny. So, what does it call for modern CFOs to balance traditional responsibilities alongside new age demands to lead substantive change for their companies? Last year , Dun & Bradst reet in collaboration with the IFMR Graduate School of Business (IFMR GSB) at Krea University conducted a research study to objectively explore, investigate and analyse the changing roles and goals of the CFO through a structured survey. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY: The objectives of this study were: 9 Identifying and codifying the key capabilities and competencies of CFOs of today and tomorrow for them to stay relevant, and where appropriate, get ahead of the game. 9 Mining perspectives and insights f rom cur rent CFOs ac ross industries on: ƒ Evolution of their role over the years ƒ Expanding responsibilities ƒ Key traits needed to keep the lights on, while embracing new asks ƒ What a future CFO will look like Methodology: This report was based on a primary survey and interviews with Dun & Bradstreet