[...]... and systems integration INTEGRATION: WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU AS CFO The theme for this book is the CFO as business integrator The case for greater integration is built on two distinct, but converging, forces: 1 Transparency As a result of the high-profile financial failures at Enron and World.com, the world of the CFO and the finance function has never been under so much scrutiny – or faced so much pressure... tremendous ripple effects The shape of the finance function is changing in response to these phenomena In the book CFO: Architect of the Corporation’s Future,1 the role of the CFO was shown to be changing from scorekeeper to strategist We saw the CFO shaping the future of the corporation using the fundamental economic concepts based on shareholder value The evolution of finance over the last two decades is... before, the CFO stands at the center of all this turmoil and change – and opportunities they present It was reliable, sharply focused CFOs who kept their companies on a steady course through the dot-com craze And it was these same CFOs who have begun to pick up 5 From Complexity to Simplicity the pieces after the tremendous negative impact of inflated corporate performance The investing public has said,... that the finance function did not meet the needs of the company’s new business strategy Ian says: “There was a burning platform for change within the finance team The organization did not meet the needs of the company’s new business strategy and the function was just too expensive The structure of the finance department was such that our finance staff were not really undertaking value-added activities There... knowledge on accounting policies and procedures and strive to achieve commonality on the application of such accounting standards across the globe We have taken a steady and consistent view of the internet – we don’t regard e -Business as a new business venture, but as an enabling tool For example, web-based applications in finance, such as credit assessment and approval, and an internal portal for 4 Achieving... of the Guinness/Grand Met merger in 1997 Today, it is the world’s largest branded spirits producer, with brands ranging from Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky to Guinness beer The merger is seen as a success – synergies have been achieved and the company is achieving impressive year-on-year growth Ray Joy, the CFO of the UK operation, who has been with the company many years, talks about the. .. a major challenge for the CFO What’s more, linking together shareholder value, customer value, and the value of intangible assets – and embedding this value in your company’s financial management processes – requires a major reorientation The old-world mindset is steeped in traditional accounting based on historically assessing physical assets The stewardship function of the CFO and his finance staff... advice and to harvest the full benefit of our worldwide SAP ERP investments In the downstream businesses alone, we have over 35,000 individuals in our ERP user base In the past two years, we have been working on data conversion, testing and stabilization – we now have a very high percentage of the overall transaction base on the SAP platform and there are still major opportunities for standardization and. .. typical example 3 Business partner programs Companies in this category do not require radical transformation and typically have already completed their ERP implementation Such business partner programs are the most challenging because they fundamentally redefine the nature of the finance service and no single systems solution is possible Evolution, not revolution, is the theme The CFO has the difficult job... Phase 2 involved investment in standard platforms SAP was chosen as its standardized ERP platform on a single database Consistent worldwide standard views and methods were employed, together with a system of common reporting Full advantage was taken by the company of its intranet – especially its Web-based self-service capabilities Phase 3 involves the evolution of standard platforms toward best-practice .