CFO Survey 2012 The changing business environment is driving the need for change in finance organisations The corporate business environment is undergoing radical changes. In brief, the current external conditions for doing business are often characterised by the acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). And as if that is not challenging enough, companies are also radically changing the configuration of their operating models – which may be via offshoring, penetrating new markets, developing new services and products, in- and outsourcing functions and processes, redesigning organisational models, or re-thinking leadership roles and responsibilities, etc. Below, we seek to illustrate this development as the movement from a well-organised and almost linear operating model, to a globalised and dispersed model, in which functions and activities are split between different sites and geographies, and even split between different outsourcing “partners” both inside and outside the company. The key aspect is that this development is not the result of a deliberate ambition to make matters more complicated and difficult to manage. The development is a result of internal and external drivers of change influencing business models. Change in business context DISPERSED AND GLOBALISED OPERATING MODEL VOLATILITY UNCERTAINTY OPERATIONS COMPANY OPERATING MODEL OPERATIONS Suppliers Customers BUSINESS SUPPORT BUSINESS SUPPORT COMPLEXITY AMBIGUITY Obviously, this is a simple illustration of a far more complicated reality. However, our sole aim here is to underline that the ongoing transformation of business contexts and business models is driving the constant need for change in finance organisations, and must be reflected in the CFOs’ transformation agendas. 3
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