Using Technology To Simplify The Organization And Improve Processes

Role And Responsibilities As A CFO

Overall, in the last 2 decades I have seen a large shift in terms of the role played by the CFO in areas beyond the traditional realms of the finance function. I will share my perspective on certain areas where the CFO needs to go beyond the role of a traditional CFO and partner with the business leaders in achieving strategic objectives of the company.

Optimum Corporate Structure To Enhance Shareholder Value

The CFO needs to constantly evaluate the optimum corporate structure to enhance shareholder value. Over the last 3 decades in Wipro, we have created a subsidiary structure in the 1980s
for enhancing financing ability and managing businesses with diversified risk profile followed by merger of all entities into Wipro limited to enjoy benefits of scale and efficiencies in the 1990s. Recently, we demerged the Non-IT businesses to enhance value for our stakeholders; our revenues at the time of demerger were Rs.375 billion. In early 2000s, when Wipro and Indian IT were nascent, we listed in NYSE and helped build our brand in the U.S. There is no  single right corporate structure. It is important to constantly assess the corporate structure as appropriate for the strategic needs of the organization.

Anchoring Business Strategy Through Analytics

A CFO needs to have a keen understanding of business fundamentals and institutionalize reporting beyond the traditional financial areas to ‘high impact’ strategic areas covering sales and operations. In Wipro, we have created dashboards which have broken down the strategy into actionable elements and provide analytics to capture the progress on each of the initiatives.

"The CFO has a significant role in terms of ensuring that adequate red flags are raised"

Globalization

In pursuit of growth, most companies are looking across the globe for business opportunities. The CFO plays a key role in enabling an organization to compete at a global level. The CFO needs to develop capabilities on compliance and regulatory environment across multiple geographies. He also plays a very critical role in the inorganic strategy of the organization – be it in terms of valuation, cultural fit, assessing synergy, financing and integration.

Technology Adoption

In Wipro, we set up a private cloud for our internal Centers of Excellence and were able to both reduce capital expenditure as well as improve efficiency. We are using technology to simplify the organization and improve processes through themes of mobility and analytics. Agility is a key differentiator and technology is key enabler for agility.

In summary, I believe the CFO can add tremendous value to the strategic thinking of an organization. At the end of the day, as Charles de Gaulle once said ‘You have to be fast on your
feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless’. The CFO has a significant role in terms of ensuring that adequate red flags are raised to ensure that business strategy on paper is the business strategy in practice.