IBM onderzoekt de rol van de CFO binnen het huidige economische klimaat

Dit blijkt uit wereldwijd onderzoek dat IBM Business Consulting Services heeft gedaan naar de rol van CFO's binnen beursgenoteerde bedrijven. Ruim 450 CFO's in 35 landen (met gemiddelde bedrijfsomzetten van $ 8,4 miljard)werd gevraagd naar de manier waarop zijn hun functie binnen raden van bestuur inrichten, nu zaken als de publieke opinie rondom verantwoord ondernemen en het algemeen economisch klimaat sterk zijn veranderd.

Uit het onderzoek komt naar voren dat CFO´s bezig zijn om betere financiële beheersing (´control´) en informatievoorziening te realiseren. "Om tegelijkertijd de efficiency te verhogen is een nauwe samenwerking met de CIO een vereiste om te profiteren van de nieuwe mogelijkheden die technologie biedt", zegt Sjang Ramaekers, Partner binnen IBM Business Consulting Services, verantwoordelijke voor Financial Management.

Betere distributie van meer dimensionale informatie en een consistentere strakkere budgettering staan bijvoorbeeld hoog op de agenda. Veel van de ondervraagde CFO's geeft echter aan dat ze de veranderingen binnen hun onderneming niet snel genoeg door kunnen voeren.

Ruim 60 procent van de financieel bestuurders is bezig of heeft plannen om delen van hun activiteiten buiten de onderneming onder te brengen. Wel zijn de meeste CFO´s terughoudend om al hun financiële processen te outsourcen, omdat ze bang zijn de controle te verliezen. Eén derde van de CFO's heeft specifieke processen en of activiteiten buiten de onderneming ondergebracht, tegenover slechts 11 procent die het merendeel van hun financiële processen extern laat uitvoeren.

Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met:

IBM - Tineke Mertens
Tel. 06 - 200 150 92
tineke.mertens@nl.ibm.com

Onderstaand treft u het originele Engelstalige persbericht aan.

CFOS FACE CRITICAL TRANSFORMATIONAL CHALLENGES, ACCORDING TO IBM SURVEY

CFOs Say Finance Departments Need Significant IT & Skills Improvements, Better Information Management & Governance Structure, While Lowering Costs

November 25, 2003 -- A new global survey of more than 450 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), conducted by IBM Business Consulting Services, found that many CFOs are unprepared in key ways for the new business dynamics impacting their departments.  While progress has been made over the last five years, the survey found that there are still fundamental issues that need to be addressed as the role of the CFO shifts from that of financial policeman to more of a strategic business advisor.

Underscoring this shift in responsibility, the survey found that two thirds of respondents see business performance management and increasing shareholder value as their top priorities.  As a group, they expect to see their performance management activities more than double over the next three years.  Less than 40% viewed managing the balance sheet as a key activity.

As the role of the CFO continues to change, the survey highlighted the challenges facing finance departments as they attempt to extend their influence beyond the executive suite into all areas of the business. Only 50% of CFOs felt that their finance organizations comprise high quality, business-oriented professionals, with more than a third of CFOs believing that their organizations are understaffed  to perform current tasks or that their existing staff are underskilled.

A significant challenge called out by CFOs in the survey is that business performance management processes are not keeping pace with business complexity. More than 70% of CFOs indicated that information is a major asset that needs to be managed better, while only 20% of business managers have access to integrated enterprise data to aide in decision making.

Information management is viewed by most CFOs surveyed as a major opportunity to improve governance and control, a key business issue for them.  While it is clear that governance requirements must be turned into a competitive advantage, only 25% of CFOs feel that current execution of governance frameworks is weak.

In addition, the survey finds that investments in technology are far from being fully leveraged.  Only 19% of CFOs feel they exploit the full functionality of their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Less than one third of CFOs claim processes have clear ownership and accountability.

"CFOs recognize that they are central to driving performance management and governance processes that lead to competitive advantage," said Gregor Pillen, Partner and EMEA Financial Management Leader, IBM Business Consulting Services. "The challenge is making those significant changes in service while at the same time dramatically restructuring the cost of service."

Automation, outsourcing, and shared service delivery processes were all highlighted by CFOs in the survey as potential means to cut delivery costs and make the cost of finance more variable.  Indeed, more than 60% of CFOs predicted that they plan to outsource specific processes and activities in the immediate future.

The IBM BCS report views the future role of the CFO at the nexus of business strategy, process and information, uniquely positioned to integrate key components of a more dynamic 'on demand' business model. The CFO Survey Executive Report highlights several key directions:

- CFOs will drive responsive business performance management architectures.
Development of a holistic, integrated framework is required for success in an on demand world.

- CFOs will implement resilient governance structures.  Transition to dynamic controls and risk management processes will be rewarded by the market.

- CFOs will recognise that cost variability will be required to achieve step function changes in the cost of finance.  Designing a competitive cost structure across the entire finance network is a base-level requirement.

- CFOs will be key integrators of process, technology and people across the business as they realize this fusion is essential for the required transformation.

- CFOs will emerge as Chief Focus Officers.  Proactively driving decisions regarding overall business model design and portfolio configuration will be paramount to success.

It is clear that CFOs understand their evolving role, as over two thirds cite "supporting shareholder value creation" as their highest priority.  To support this direction, CFOs plan to continue to re-focus finance by significantly reducing transactional activities from 50% to 34%.  Enabling this shift will be a 200% increase in the exploitation of their ERP systems over the next three years, providing real-time information for their heightened roles in decision support.

The study also highlights that CFOs need to be more aggressive in the adoption of best practices in the area of performance management, in considering outsourcing to reduce and variabilize cost, and in driving improved processes for staff development.

About the Global CFO Survey
The Global CFO Survey was completed in September, 2003.  450 CFOs from 35 countries were interviewed.  The average enterprise revenues of those surveyed was $8.4 billion.  The industry split was as follows: 23% from financial services, 14% communications sector, 24% distribution (including retail), 28% industrial and 11% from the public sector. For more information visit www.ibm.com/bcs/cfosurvey.

About IBM Business Consulting Services
With consultants and professional staff in more than 160 countries globally, IBM Business Consulting Services is the world's largest consulting services organization.  IBM Business Consulting Services provides clients with business process and industry expertise, and the ability to translate that expertise into integrated, adaptive, on demand business solutions that deliver bottom-line business value.

For more information visit www.ibm.com/bcs.