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eCFO

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eCFO

Sustaining Value in the New Corporation

Wiley,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

The eCFO: business partner, investment manager, systems analyst, outsourcing expert, and internal venture capitalist. Still want the job?

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

The gang at PricewaterhouseCoopers discusses the chief financial officer’s role in the changing corporate landscape. The eCFO is no longer only involved with financial management, but must become an internal venture capitalist, opportunity seeker and risk taker who works closely with the CEO to anticipate trends, recommend new enterprises and manage company investments as a portfolio of financial ventures. The authors draw on in-depth interviews with leading CFOs, case studies, independent research and analysis of the latest best practices. Though charts, bullets and boxes impart a textbook flavor, and the trend material is a little familiar, the book is generally solid and informative. getAbstract.com suggests it to CFOs and CEOs who need that "e" awareness, or to any manager who is trying to drag the boss into the 21st century, or even the 20th.

Summary

Finance in an E-Business World

Today, as chief financial officers (CFOs) face many competitive battles, they are becoming true business partners with CEOs in streamlining finance functions, making investments in new technologies, expanding through globalization, creating improved decision systems and improving ways to measure shareholder value.

As a CFO, you need to know how the new Internet business models are changing current economics and to understand their impact on appraising investments, allocating resources and determining the capital your company needs. Today’s most important change driver is the business-to-business (B2B) e-revolution. In this climate, companies must innovate constantly to keep up. While retaining traditional principles, you need the imagination, insight and courage to adapt and change. The eCFO’s biggest fundamental changes include:

  • Instead of optimizing the value of an individual business, the focus is on optimizing the value of a network of businesses.
  • Corporate value is increasingly reflected in intangible rather than tangible assets due to Webonomics. Cash flow is vital, but companies are increasingly investing more...

About the Authors

Cedric Read  Jacky Ross, John Dunleavy, Donniel Schulman and James Bramante are senior partners in the Financial Management Solutions division of the Management Consulting Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. They work with a worldwide network of skills and resources to manage complex projects that combine global resources and local knowledge, and handle projects from strategy through implementation.

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