Strategy Archives - Strategic Finance

CFO to CFO: Prioritizing Professional Development

The CFOs of Ulta Beauty and Meritage Homes Corp. share career advice and reflect on accountants’ professional development.

Survey: Economic Outlook

The Global Economic Conditions Survey found that new orders, capital expenditure, and employment decreased in Q3 2022.

Building Better Revenue Management Part 2

Small and medium-sized enterprises’ accountants need to improve how they manage revenue and optimize profits in tough times.

The Ups and Downs of SPACs

Will recent poor performance and additional regulation put an end to special purpose acquisition companies, a.k.a., SPACs?

When Strategy Meets Purpose

Management accountants and finance leaders are tasked with aligning corporate purpose with strategic planning and execution.

Building Better Revenue Management, Part 1

Small and medium-sized enterprises’ accountants need to step up their efforts to improve their revenue management practices.

The Case for BPM

Accountants versed in business process management can discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, and optimize procedures.

Improving Business Resilience

Data analytics can inform tactics and help management accountants to guide their company through challenging economic times.

Transfer Pricing Strategies for the New Normal

Multinational corporations’ CFOs are tasked with managing transfer pricing during global supply chain management challenges.

The Downsides of Stock Buybacks

Public companies use stock buybacks to manipulate the equities market, but this tactic has negatives and opportunity costs.

CFO to CFO: Staying the Strategic Course in Crisis

The CFOs of Inspire Brands and Baker Hughes discuss maintaining a focus on long-term goals and innovation in challenging times.

ESG in the Accounting Curriculum

Environmental, social, and governance accounting reports nonfinancial risks, including increased drought and extreme weather.

Global Economy Set for Weak Growth as Confidence Drops

ACCA and IMA’s Global Economic Conditions Survey found that confidence in the economy among finance professionals is lagging.

Strategies for Individual Leadership

Finance leaders can apply the core tenets of Leadership Driven Strategy framework for individual and team development.

CFO to CFO: Finance and Supply Chain Management

Finance executives at Walgreens Boots Alliance and Meritage Homes discuss best practices to support supply chain management.

Covid-Related Pay Cuts for CEOs

A study examines rationales behind companies’ reducing CEO compensation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Books: Prioritize Growth and Innovation

Fostering “smart creativity” and innovation can help your organizational culture and bolster company’s strategic growth.

The Impact of Inflation on Small Businesses

Business.org surveyed small business owners about the impact of inflation and supply chain shortages on their businesses.

Sustainable Business Management

Companies can integrate sustainability and ESG efforts into their strategies and processes to create greater long-term value.

Sustainability Strategies and Net-zero Goals

Management accounting professionals can help their companies develop and execute value-creating sustainability strategies.

The Digital Transformation of Sustainability Data

By using fit-for-purpose financial and nonfinancial data, companies can improve their reporting and strategic planning.

CFOs’ Evolving Views of Tech

Finance teams are investing in automation and digital transformation to remain agile in the shifting business landscape.

What’s Keeping CFOs Up at Night in 2022?

In 2022, a CFO’s role involves predicting business impacts, implementing automation, and leading a business transformation.

Rethinking How to Grow a Small Business

The right finance strategies can help businesses become resilient and better able cope with internal and external influences.

Strategic Management of Cybersecurity Risks

Companies can use a strategic risk assessment process to manage cybersecurity risks and develop a cybersecurity risk profile.

Strategic Risk in the New Normal

Companies can use integrated strategic risk management framework to manage risks during strategy formulation and execution.

CFO to CFO: Budgeting to Fund Strategic Plans

The CFOs of CSX and ATI discuss the enhanced role of management accountants in their organization’s strategic planning.

The Four Levers of Revenue Management

Management accountants can expand the role of accounting in business by improving revenue management in their organization.

Costs and Benefits of Start-up Funding

While seeking the right financing for your company, consider the constraints and advantages of the varied funding options.

Is Your Finance Function Agile?

Employing Agile approach to project management and operational delivery can help the finance function to increase efficiency.

The CFO Playbook

Advanced technology and business model innovation can help finance teams to restart their organization’s growth engine.

The Guided Self-Control Management Model

A planning and budgeting approach centered on management principles of guided self-control can drive organizational agility.

Strategic Valuation in The New Economy

Strategic valuation process equips CFOs to make better strategic resource allocation decisions and to create long-term value.

Books: Becoming More Agile

Agility in market intelligence, decision making, and execution can help companies retain their competitive advantage.

Forecasting The Future

Predictive analytics can reduce uncertainty and improve forecasting, enabling companies to course correct more quickly.

Leverage Procurement to Build Resilience

Effective collaboration between finance, procurement, and supply-chain management can help organizations achieve resilience.

Books: Effective Planning Amid Chaos

Technology can help decision making by enabling finance professionals to look at the interrelationships of events.

Strategic Planning in a Crisis

During a crisis, companies should do a SWOT analysis and address weaknesses in their strategic plan before implementing it.

Procurement’s New Charter

Companies can drive significant business impact by empowering sourcing and procurement with agile digital technologies.

Achieving Purpose through Innovation

CFOs can use life-cycle thinking and focus on managing firm risk to enable companies to create long-term sustainable value.

Finance and Accounting in the Virtual World

Organizations can thrive in the virtual world by making a move to modern accounting and implementing the right technology.

Contract Manufacturing for OEM CFOs

CFOs can support their companies’ outsourced manufacturing decisions by providing a clear understanding of risks and rewards.

Budgeting Revisited

CFOs and academics discuss how companies can try innovative budgeting practices to transform to agile ways of working.

The Fixed Asset Life Cycle Challenge

Companies can use life cycle costing to manage operation expenses and make data-informed decisions for their asset portfolio.

Books: Being a Force for Good

Finance professionals working in a nonprofit organization can gauge economic and market factors to increase its impact.

Financial Forecasting amid Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a new framework for financial forecasting and real-time financial planning.

Avoiding Corporate Short-Termism

CFOs who review their company’s performance measures regularly can find ways to boost long-term sustainable value creation.

Causal Language and Effective Performance Evaluations

Low-performing employees can learn from feedback couched in causal language and improve their subsequent performance.

Looking Toward 2021

Hiring and keeping talent, M&A challenges, and making investments in an uncertain environment are concerning to CFOs in 2021.

Strategies for Global Operations

Coordinating employees’ efforts worldwide via a comprehensive strategic plan mitigates risk factors of unpredictable events.

The CFO and Strategic Risk Management

By designing and implementing successful ERM initiatives, finance leadership can create and protect value for their company.

Budgeting for International Operations

Careful planning for the downside is important for organizations expanding into new markets to avoid wrecking their budget.

Managing International Operations in Uncertain Times

Professionals in charge of overseas subsidiaries’ budgeting contend with foreign exchange rates, inflation, and interest rates.

Employee Appraisals and the Calibration Process

Performance appraisals must be consistent and free from bias and favoritism to ensure fairness and boost employee satisfaction.

Strategic Life-Cycle Analysis: The Role of the CFO

A key aspect of CFOs’ responsibilities is helping their company to create long-term sustainable value.

Employee Pay in Social-Cause Organizations

Organizations with a social mission have higher employee performance and team cooperation—even if they pay employees less.

Strategic Analysis and the Management Accountant

Achieve superior, sustainable financial performance by aligning strategy, analysis, execution, budgeting, and planning.

Pricing Your Outsourcing Contract in Uncertainty

Does a fixed-price or cost-plus contract provide greater benefit in strategic outsourcing agreements? A study has the answer.

Reaping the Benefits of Business2030

Organizations that align their purpose to sustainable value-creating strategies strengthen their long-term competitiveness.

Survey: Business Confidence Rebounds

The ACCA and IMA Global Economic Conditions Survey found that global economic confidence bounced back somewhat in Q4 2019.

Books: Articulate Your Purpose

Companies benefit from developing a purpose statement to articulate how they are working to make the world a better place.

What’s Keeping CFOs Up at Night?

Keeping up with technological innovation, compliance, the hunt for talent, and cyber risk are concerning to CFOs in 2020.

Creating a Lean Environment

Combine lean manufacturing with simple strategic accounting, value-stream costing, and visual reporting to achieve success.

The CFO as Asset Manager

Management accountants can use data analytics to inform the company’s strategic direction and align asset management with it.

Lessons from CFO Teams in Japan

Companies can boost profit margins by involving the finance team in key planning functions, to which Japanese CFOs attest.

Driving Digital Finance

The accounting and finance team should take the lead in helping their company to succeed by achieving digital transformation.

The Financial Value of Brand

The CFO, CMO, and their teams must work together to evaluate the worth of the company’s brand in financial terms.

Profitability Analytics

The profitability analytics model enables management accountants to move beyond traditional FP&A reporting requirements.

Winning on a Tight Budget

The Tampa Bay Rays are successful despite a low budget, and their team-oriented formula can be a model for other businesses.

The People Side of FP&A

Managing FP&A requires understanding the business, technical and communication skills, and effective working relationships.

Digital Manufacturing and the CFO

Manufacturing CFOs need to adapt and evolve their practices to remain competitive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Navigating the Hazards of your Strategic Journey

Implementing a strategy is like taking a road trip. You need to have a clear goal and a map that will get you there.

Celebrate Change

Change is the only constant, and IMA continues to adapt as well as provide resources and community to help you keep up.

Books: Cost-Conscious Innovation

In "Costovation," Stephen Wunker and Jennifer Luo Law present a map for innovation based on lower-cost solutions.

Survey: Financial Services Challenges

A report from Vuealta identifies the greatest challenges financial services companies expect to face in the next several years.

Projecting the Special Value of the Deal

Companies must dive deep to ensure they don’t overlook any issues when projecting the value of a merger or acquisition.

Haier’s Win-Win Value Added Approach

A new user-centric focus provides large appliance manufacturer Haier with a broader platform for creating value.

Greater Challenges for CFOs in 2019

Trade wars, Brexit concerns, talent shortages, and supply chain irregularities are concerns occupying CFOs’ minds in 2019.

Survey: Implementing ASC 842

An EY survey reports on finance and IT leaders’ strategies for adapting to the new leasing standard.

Toward Business 2030

Move beyond business as usual and adopt a business model that links corporate purpose to performance and sustainable practices.

Business Transformation: No Pain, No Gain?

Strong leadership and effective planning and execution can help companies execute large-scale business transformations.

Creating Greater Long-term Sustainable Value

For superior results, ignore the pressures of short-termism and focus on strategies that lead to long-term value creation.

Management Accounting in India

Dramatic changes in the business landscape in India provide opportunities for management accountants to influence and lead.

Tools of the Trade: April 2018

This month we look at the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9 Plus, Lenovo 300e Chromebook, Asus Zenfone 5Z, and Nokia 8110 4G.

Adapting for Digital Survival

Technology is rapidly changing the business environment. Companies need to stay ahead of the curve or risk obsolescence.

CFOs: Managing Under Uncertainty in 2018

The global economic growth outlook is positive, but uncertainty lingers around issues like Brexit, U.S tax reform, and others.

Books: Natural Laws of Success

Edward D. Hess’s short book uses the scientific method as a framework to outline commonsense growth concepts in business.

Books: In the Black, In the Green

E. Freya Williams’s book looks at companies that are turning sustainability efforts and green initiatives into financial success.

Creating an Inventory Control Center of Excellence

Improve inventory control and reduce costs with a centralized source of subject matter experts, resources, and support.

12 Principles of Best Practice FP&A

The best-run companies follow these 12 principles to create FP&A that helps them meet their targets and beat the competition.

Sustainable Development Goals

Forward-thinking companies can use the U.N.’s sustainable development goals to help create greater long-term value.

Survey: The Evolving Risk Landscape

A BDO Canada survey of 500 C-suite leaders shows what these executives fear most regarding the future of their organizations.

Is Forecasting Destroying Your Planning Process?

Companies use too much of the planning process for forecasting instead of devising actionable plans to achieve results.

Books: STRATEGY IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET

Joan Magretta’s delves into the ideas and concepts underlying Michal Porter’s frameworks for strategy in business.

The Power of Intangibles

Current financial accounting and reporting need to expand to better capture intangible assets beyond the balance sheet.

Controllers: Get Strategic!

According to Deloitte, 91.2% of organizations anticipate a more central, strategic role for controllers in the future.

Survey: New Concerns About Foreign Operations?

An IMA survey looks at the impact that recent political changes might have on business operations outside the United States.

Books: Boardroom in Balance

This framework for aligning the board of directors and C-suite can lead to improved performance that benefits all stakeholders.

2017: What’s Ahead for CFOs?

In a time of political and economic uncertainty, leading CFOs share the risks their organizations might face in the coming year.

Survey: Global Warming

An IMA survey looks at the changes companies are making to meet the challenges associated with climate change.

Managing Healthcare Costs and Value

An insightful examination of the best ways for healthcare providers to better measure and manage costs and value.

Top 2017 Risks

More than 730 board members and executives reported on the top risks their organizations will face in 2017.

Books: FOLLOW THE BPI YELLOW BRICK ROAD

The Power of Business Improvement, by Susan Page, provides a step-by-step road map for business process improvement.

Are You Driving Innovation Value—or Stagnating?

First understand why you’re innovating before worrying about how. Then use a three-stage model of Architect, Execute, and Optimize.

Brexit: CFO Perspectives

The Brexit adds uncertainty for companies that operate in the U.K. and EU, potentially creating new risks and opportunities.

21st Century Sustainability

For companies to survive and thrive in the coming years, they need to view sustainability as a major driver of innovation.

Secrets to Successful M&A

Get better results with a thorough understanding of the human capital involved and plans to address people-associated risks.

Why Innovation Should Be Every CFO’s Top Priority

A strategic CFO is able to manage the present while focusing innovation efforts on creating value for the future.

The PHILIPS Journey Toward IBCS

Philips is implementing company-wide visualization reporting standards, leading to productivity gains and greater insights.

Risk Management: It’s What We Do!

Fully integrate risk management into your core management accounting practices.

Bob Kaplan, Distinguished Advocate

Jeff Thomson sits down with the recent IMA Distinguished Advocate Award recipient to catch up on Kaplan’s latest activities.

How Controllers Become Business Partners

Controllers can advance their organizational role by delivering insight, gaining buy-in, and elevating the skills within the company.

Leaning Away from Standard Costing

For Lean companies, value stream costing and work-cell metrics provide a better alternative for managing production control.

The Intersection of HR and Accounting

Align the efforts of HR and Accounting by incorporating the role of employees into the business strategy.

Work Less, Play More…Get Results

Gamification can help train employees, engage customers, and achieve organizational goals.

Get in Gear!

Finance, HR, and IT can work together to break out of silos and transform the administrative services within an organization.

WHAT’S KEEPING CFOS AWAKE AT NIGHT IN 2016?

Some old, familiar themes are again at the forefront of CFOs’ concerns this year.

CAN CONTRARY OPINIONS ENSURE M&A SUCCESS?

An active board of directors that solicits independent contrary opinions can help avoid disastrous results.

Survey: HOPE FOR 2016

TD Bank’s annual CFO Survey finds some optimistic outlooks for 2016.

BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION AND THE CFO

The authors of The Innovation Paradox explain how your company can act like a Startup Corporation to achieve breakthrough innovation.

Advancing Innovation: What’s Your Role?

Create the optimal innovation elixir for your business.

Collective Genius and Innovation

Linda Hill, author and Harvard Business School professor, discusses what it takes to be a great innovation leader.

A SYSTEM OF GROWTH

The “String of Pearls” system for implementing strategy helped turn a struggling company into a leader in its industry.

Broken Budgets?

Transform the planning, budgeting, and forecasting practices in your company into powerful tools for better decision making and strategy execution.

Nonstop Risk

Companies face a variety of different risks around the world. Identification and assessment remain critical components to success.

Establish a Risk Challenge Culture

Your organization’s risk management plans should include nine essential elements that challenge the status quo.

Stacked in Your Favor

COSO and ISO RM/IC frameworks can help manufacturers succeed.

Book Review: ORGANIZATIONS THAT LEARN

To become a High-Performance Learning Organization requires the right mix of people, processes, and environment.

BOOK REVIEW: Planning for Turbulence

Preparation and monitoring mean survival.

ERM and Sustainability: Together on the Road Ahead

Integrating your sustainability and ERM processes provides a framework for a viable long-term strategy.

WHAT’S IN YOUR LEADERSHIP TOOLBOX?

Six key competencies can help you and your team develop exceptional financial leadership abilities.

Leadership & Careers

Strategy

Strategy

Ethics

Strategy