The role of the Chief Financial Officer in the strategic planning process – Evidence from privately-held firms

Description

This paper explores the current discussion of whether the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) should have a more strategic role. Using a strategy as practice view and informed by a qualitative field study, this paper assesses the CFO’s integration in strategic planning in privately-held firms. The results indicate that a CFO’s role in strategic planning should be analysed along two dimensions: involvement in developing strategy content versus strategy process. Along these dimensions, 4 major types of CFO integration in the strategic planning process are derived. The paper suggests that only the most powerful CFO types really act as leaders in firms for developing strategy content. This CFO type was only observed in firms where a (clear) CEO position was not present. Nevertheless, the CFO can take on a powerful role in strategic planning by leading the process of strategic planning, which is a role observed frequently in the present field study.

Period	14 Dec 2012
Event title	8th Conference on New Directions in Management Accounting
Event type	Conference
Location	BelgiumShow on map