This document discusses building an effective CEO-CFO partnership to navigate today's business environment. It provides case studies and concepts for the CEO-CFO relationship. Specifically, it discusses (1) focusing on the right strategic priorities aligned to the business model, (2) how the partnership is built on people, strategies, organizational structures and culture, and (3) how the CFO can effectively manage and support the CEO. The document emphasizes the importance of alignment across the business model, strategies, organizational design and human capital management to achieve organizational goals.

1. C-SUITE CHEMISTRY:
Building a Powerful CEO-CFO
Partnership to Navigate Today’s
Business Environment
Case Studies, Concepts and
Debatable Ideas
Kenny Ong

2. I buy them because….

3. Summary
1. Doing the Right Things
2. Doing Things Right
3. Managing the CEO

4. #1: Do The Right Things
The Business Model

6. The McPlaybook*
Make it easy to eat
• 50% drive-thru
• Meals held in one
hand
Make it easy to prepare
• High Turnover
• Tasks simple to learn
& repeat
Make it quick
• “Fast Food”
• Tests new products
for Cooking Times
Make what customers want
• Prowls market for new
products
• Monitored field tests
*Adapted from: Businessweek , Februrary 5th 2007

7. What is the Business
Model?
USP
Market
Discipline
Profit Model

8. USP: The Product is Not the Product
The Product is Not the Product
Job To Be Done (JBTD)

9. “The Product is Not the Product”
• What is the customer really buying?
• What is the “Core Buying Purpose”?
• What is the JTBD ?

10. Business Model: Profit
Model
Revenue
Cost
Margin
Cash
Flow
Assets

11. Market Discipline
"They are the most innovative"
"Constantly renewing and creative"
"Always on the leading edge"
"A great deal!"
Excellent/attractive price
Minimal acquisition cost and
hassle
Lowest overall cost of
ownership
"A no-hassles firm"
Convenience and speed
Reliable product and
service
"Exactly what I need"
Customized products
Personalized communications
"They're very responsive"
Preferential service and
flexibility
Recommends what I need
"I'm very loyal to them"
Helps us to be a success
Product
Leadership
Operational
Excellence
Customer
Intimacy
• Cost
• Convenience
• TCO
• Features,
Benefits
• Limited
Range
• Solutions
• Customization
• Breadth &
Depth
Air Asia
Apple
Ramly

12. Operational Excellence
(low cost producer)
Ref: The Discipline of Market Leaders, Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema; 1995
Product Leadership
(best product)
Customer Intimacy
(best total solution)
Alignment & Consistency:
Market Disciplines

13. Operational Excellence
(low cost producer)
Ref: The Discipline of Market Leaders, Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema; 1995
Product Leadership
(best product)
Customer Intimacy
(best total solution)
Strategy: Market Disciplines

14. Operational
Excellence
• Competitive price
• Error free, reliable
• Fast (on demand)
• Simple
• Responsive
• Consistent
information for all
• Transactional
• 'Once and Done'
Customer Intimacy
• Management by
Fact
• Easy to do
business with
• Have it your way
(customization)
• Market segments
of one
• Proactive, flexible
• Relationship and
consultative
selling
• Cross selling
Product Leadership
• New, state of the
art products or
services
• Risk takers
• Meet volatile
customer needs
• Fast concept-to-
counter
• Never satisfied -
obsolete own and
competitors'
products
• Learning
organization
Market Discipline: Priorities and KPIs
Air Asia Apple Ramly

15. Each Market Discipline Requires A Different Emphasis
Operational
Excellence
• Production,
Logistics,
Finance
• Order fulfillment,
Resource
Customer
Intimacy
• Marketing Sales,
Service
• Market
mgmt, Customer
satisfaction
Product
Leadership
• R&D, Legal
(Licenses),
Engineering
• Product
development,
Concept-to-
Customer
Functional
emphasis
Process
Emphasis
• Transactions,
costs, time
• Costs, quality,
speed
• Satisfaction,
cust. success,
share, anecdotes
• Today, Relation-
ships, Employee
empowerment
• Linkages, insight,
comm, groupware
• Ideas-thru-
funnel, patents
• Tomorrow,
Product
Portfolio, Ideas
and Risks
Information
emphasis
Key
metrics
Key
concerns
Customer
analysis, linkages
• Trends (past),
Transactions
Employee
tools/tasks
Air Asia Apple Ramly

16. • Operational Excellence
• Move know-how from top performing
units to others
• Benchmark against best in class
• Ensure operations training for all
employees
• Use disciplines like TQM for continuous
learning to reduce costs and improve
quality
Alignment & Consistency:
Market Disciplines

17. Alignment & Consistency:
Market Disciplines
• Customer Intimacy
• Capture knowledge about customers
• Understand customer needs
• Empower front line employees
• Ensure that everyone knows the
customer
• Make company knowledge available to
customers

18. • Product Leadership
• Reduce time to market
• Commercialize new products fast
• Ensure that ideas flow
• Reuse what other parts of the company
have already learned
• Ensure there are multiple sources of
funding
Alignment & Consistency:
Market Disciplines

19. #2: Building Blocks
People, Strategies, Structures, Culture

20. CFO: What is Expected of Me?
Transactional
Cost reduction,
Efficiency, Agility,
Fast Copy
AP, General Ledger,
B/S analysis,
Accounting, Fixed
Assets, AR, Facilities
Value-added
Budgeting, Reporting,
Financial Analysis,
Forecasting, Tax,
Legal, Treasury
Consistency, Analysis,
Value creation,
customization
Systems, Standardize,
Benchmarking, ERP,
Streamlining,
Automation, Governance
Best Practices
Process improvement,
service innovation,
secondary KPIs, internal
customers
Transformation
Market Leadership,
Competitive Differentiation,
Business model, M&A
Direct Business
Impact, primary KPIs,
external customers

21. CFO: What is Expected of Me?
Transactional
Cost reduction,
Efficiency, Agility,
Fast Copy
Value-added
Best Practices
Consistency,
Analysis, Value
Process improvement,
service innovation,
secondary KPIs, internal
customers
Transformation
Direct Business
Impact, primary KPIs,
external customers
Time
Cost
Quantity
Quality

22. CFO: What is Expected of Me?
Transactional
Cost reduction,
Efficiency, Agility,
Fast Copy
Value-added
Best Practices
Consistency, Analysis,
Value creation,
customization
Process improvement,
service innovation,
secondary KPIs, internal
customers
Transformation
Direct Business
Impact, primary KPIs,
external customers
Time
Cost
Quantity
Quality
Innovation
Service

23. CFO: What is Expected of Me?
Transactional
Cost reduction,
Efficiency, Agility,
Fast Copy
Value-added
Best Practices
Consistency,
Analysis, Value
Process improvement,
service innovation,
secondary KPIs, internal
customers
Transformation
Direct Business
Impact, primary KPIs,
external customers
Time
Cost
Quantity
Quality
Innovation
Service
KPI

24. CFO: What is Expected of Me?
Transactional
Cost reduction,
Efficiency, Agility,
Fast Copy
Value-added
Best Practices
Consistency,
Analysis, Value
Process improvement,
service innovation,
secondary KPIs, internal
customers
Transformation
Direct Business
Impact, primary KPIs,
external customers
Time
Cost
Quantity
Quality
Innovation
Service
KPI
Impact

25. Business Model: Profit
Model
Revenue
Cost
Margin
Cash
Flow
Assets

26. Growth Strategy
Base
Retention
Share Gain
Positioning
Adjacent
Market
New
Business
GROWTH
“Double-Digit Growth”, Michael Treacy
•Increase switching cost
•Customize products
•Preempt Defections
•Brand
•Neutralize Competitor
advantages
•Superior Value
•Buy market share
•Spot growth opportunities
•Organized search
•Promising Market?
•Make or Buy?

27. Side Notes on Cost
Reduction Strategy
Cost Reduction
Business
Model
•USP
•Profit Model
•Market Discipline
•Invest/Divest
Operational
•Finance, HR, IT
•Supply Chain
•R&D
•Sales & Marketing
5% -
30%
30% -
80%

28. Operational
Excellence
Customer
Intimacy
Product
Leadership
Organization, jobs,
skills
Management
systems
Information and
systems
Culture, values,
norms
Business Model x Focus

29. Operational Excellence
•Central authority, low level of empowerment
•High skills at the core of the organization
•Disciplined Teamwork
•Process, product- driven
•Conformance, 'one size fits all' mindset
•Integrated, low cost transaction systems
•The system is the process
•Command and control
•Quality management
Organization,
jobs, skills
Management
systems
Information and
systems
Culture, values,
norms
Business Model x Focus

30. Organization, jobs,
skills
Management
systems
Information and
systems
Culture, values,
norms
Product Leadership
•Ad hoc, organic and cellular
•High skills abound in loose-knit structures
•Concept, future-driven
•Experimentation and 'out of the box' mindset
•Person-to-person communications systems
•Technologies enabling cooperation
•Rewarding individuals' innovative capacity
•Risk and exposure management
•Product Life Cycle profitability
Business Model x Focus

31. Organization, jobs,
skills
Management
systems
Information and
systems
Culture, values,
norms
Customer Intimacy
•Empowerment close to point of customer contact
•High skills in the field and front-line
•Customer-driven
•Variation and 'have it your way' mindset
•Strong customer databases, linking internal and
external information
•Strong analytical tools
•Customer equity measures like life time value
•Satisfaction and share management
•Focus on ‘Share of Wallet’
Business Model x Focus

32. Revenue
Base
Retention
Share Gain Positioning Adjacent
Market
New
Business
Financial
Learning & Growth
Internal
Process
Customers
Cost Margin
Strategy x Alignment
Cash Flow Asset
Operational
Excellence
Product
Leadership
Customer
Intimacy
Investment
Strategy
Competencies Information
Systems
Motivation,
empowerment,
alignment
Satisfaction

33. Alignment: 4-Wheels Model
Business
Model
Strategic
Planning
Structure
Person
Leadership
Resources

34. Alignment: Framework
• Org Structure
• Job Design
• C&B
• Policies & procedures
• Decision making
• Job fit
• Management Systems
• BSC and KPIs
• Decentralized & Empower
Structure

35. Strategy: Framework
• Role modeling
• Vision/Mission/Philosophy
• Leadership Style
• Delegation & Empowerment
• C&B, Promotions
• Sense of Urgency
• Speak regularly about Performance
Leadership

36. Strategy: Framework
• Recognition
• Recruitment
• Training
• Profit sharing
• Values
• Motivation
• Self Efficacy
• Awareness
• Useful Competencies
• Career aspirations
• Attribution (control)
Person

37. Strategy: Framework
Enablers
• Technology
• Equipment
• Materials
• Human
• Intellectual
Property
• Partners
• Property
Resources
Funding
• CAPEX
• OPEX

38. Alignment: 4-Wheels Model
Business
Model
Strategic
Planning
Structure
Person
Leadership
Resources

39. #3: Managing the CEO

40. “Cow don’t drink water cannot
push cow head down”

41. Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
Unspoken Problems faced by Bosses (1/2)
1. Too much communications (Email <yahoo, google,
outlook, intranet>, IM, mobile, office phone, blackberry,
etc….)
2. Uncooperative Heads from other departments/business
units
3. Conflict among subordinates
4. Too many meetings to attend
5. Follow up on tasks (especially tasks delegated to
others)
6. Lack of resources
7. Incompetent subordinates
8. Unbalanced family life

42. Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
Unspoken Problems faced by Bosses (2/2)
9. Pressurized career progression
10. Too much information to read, store and retrieve
11. Need for more influence and power
12. Multiple and conflicting accountabilities (some are not
even recognized officially)
13. Monitoring the performance of multiple
projects/committees
14. Forgetfulness
15. Stress
16. Lack of Time

43. My Boss, the Client
1. Make them look good and they will make you look
good
2. What ever you give to the CEO’s Boss, give it to
your CEO
3. You better be more prepared than the client
4. The client wants results, not activity
5. No matter how much I hated my client, he is still the
one buying rice for my family

44. My Boss, the Client
6. Clients don’t to hear the word “No”. They prefer
“Maybe”. The best is “Yes, can be done.”
7. Clients will pay you for one job but request ten other
jobs for free if they can.
8. You have to produce first, then only get paid.
9. If you want a big project, aim for the small project
first.
10.A client will pay you the rate that they think you
deserve, not what you think you deserve.

45. My Boss, the Client
11.A client won’t pay for your development. They expect
you to get better by yourself. If not, they just look for
another consultant.
12.You are not the only vendor/consultant they can
hire. Are you better than the rest? How do you
know?
13.The client is always right. Agree first, try to change
later.
14.Clients hire you to solve problems that they
cannot solve or do not want to solve.

46. End Notes
The end of the Beginning

47. “Abraham Wald’s Work on Aircraft Survivability”,
M. Mangel and F.J. Samaniego
Where would
you focus
reinforcement?
The logical error of only concentrating
on a sample that survives or passes
some kind of process and ignoring those
who don’t. This form of bias can lead to
optimistic beliefs and incorrect
assumptions because failures are
ignored, and in this case, the failures
were most important to look at.
End note: Survivorship Bias

48. Dangers of Best Practice
and Benchmarking…
Company
Performance
high
low
‘Best Practice’
theories
low high
zero
Perfor
mance
Trend
line
“Selection Bias and the Perils of Benchmarking”, Jerker Denrell, Harvard Business Review 2005

49. Dangers of Best Practice
and Benchmarking…
Company
Performance
high
low
‘Best Practice’
theories
low high
zero
Perfor
mance
Trend
line
“Selection Bias and the Perils of Benchmarking”, Jerker Denrell, Harvard Business Review 2005

50. Dangers of Best Practice
and Benchmarking…
1. Selection Bias
2. Big vs. Small company
3. Selective success stories
4. Correlation vs. Causal
5. Practical vs. Glamour-to-have

52. Thank You.
soft copy of slides:
https://www.slideshare.net/kennyong