CFO Studio Magazine with David Chambers, CFO, Jaguar Land Rover NA

3rd QUARTER 2016 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 41 intense, the chief financial officer and the general counsel need to help each other to manage risk so they can maximize the growth of the company. The bond between the two of them has become stronger than ever.” Conducting business across the globe brings increased complexity to the role of the chief financial officer. High Stakes Regarding Talent “We live in a world where the actions of one rogue employee could cause enormous financial upheaval for a company. It’s not possible to be everywhere at once when managing global operations. CFOs must make sure they are operating with a robust system of controls and oversight in place,” says Mr. Veldran. At Dun & Bradstreet, enterprise risk management is embedded in every function throughout the company, reaching well beyond the Finance and Legal departments. All business leaders recognize that they need to manage risk to achieve their performance goals. With such high stakes it is important to have a team in place that is both educated and accountable. A discussion of talent-related challenges followed, with the major issues being acquiring the best talent, developing the individuals, and having measures in place to retain them for the long term. “Talent retention is of the utmost importance, especially in large, complex, global organizations,” said Mr. Veldran. Technology and the Customer Modern financial management systems are providing instant insight into the full value chain of a company, agreed the participants. This goes beyond the four walls of the organization and gives access to customers, suppliers, banks, and the entire workforce, including external and contingent employees. To better serve customers, Walmart, for example, uses innovative technology to track inventory, said Henner Schliebs, Finance Expert and Vice President at SAP, a CFO Studio Business Development Partner. “On Black Friday, Walmart optimizedWest Coast store shelves based on the East Coast early- morning experience and predictions [for Black Friday sales]. This is only possible with 21st- century technology,” explained Mr. Schliebs. Customers are expecting a fully digital experience, he added. “A leading consumer brand enables its customers to find a song on the Internet, download it instantly, and have shipment and invoice/collection automatically embedded into the whole process. And again, it’s only possible with modern technology in real-time,” he said. Real-time business intelligence like this is the way of the world. It’s also a defense against disruptive technologies and business models, said Mr. Schliebs. “Live business is imperative in all finance-transformation programs, especially as the threat of the next Uber- ization in all industries is high. A strong CFO has to be empowered to lead the strategy of a company,” said Mr. Schliebs. JLL, a global real estate services firm, is hearing of these same issues from its clients. “Not only is retention critical, but locating solid percentages of targeted labor is also very important. Providing real-time technology tools that allow our clients to optimize their workforce-segmentation model and screen locations through high-level labor analytics helps us to support them in talent requirements,” explains Andrea Van Gelder, International Director, JLL. At the dinner, which was held at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Chicago, the camaraderie was evident as all the attendees remarked on how similar their circumstances were. The very complexity of the finance and operational processes in business today “make a live environment and the real-time insights offered at this dinner very satisfying,” concluded Mr. Schliebs. “[Such insights are] a must-have in all aspects of the CFO role, specifically in combination with the need for a truly global solution (local compliance) focused on the particular industry (vertical compliance) and risk management embedded in any finance process.” C CFO Studio Advisory Board & Technical Review Committee Tim Anglim YesCFO > Founder and President Andrew Savadelis Angion Biomedica > Chief Financial Officer Michael Eldredge American Sensor Technologies, Inc. > Chief Financial Officer VIEW PROFILES AT www.cfostudio.com Bert Marchio Edge Therapeutics > Chief Accounting & Operations Officer Howard Reba Marlin Operations Group, Inc. > Finance Director - Portfolio Operations