Changing Role of CFOs

Sinan Cifci
Galatasaray University, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/eraz.2018.882

4th International Conference – ERAZ 2018 – KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Sofia- Bulgaria, June 7, 2018, CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; Faculty of Business Studies, Mediterranean University – Podgorica, Montenegro; University of National and World Economy – Sofia, Bulgaria; Faculty of Commercial and Business Studies – Celje, Slovenia; Faculty of Applied Management, Economics and Finance – Belgrade, Serbia, ISBN 978-86-80194-12-7

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study whether and how the traditional Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role has changed in today’s organizations. Changing business needs due to new (globally-driven) regulatory and compliance aspects as a result of financial crises, enhanced use of technology and digitization of key business and finance activities result in a new landscape for organizations. Previously considered as solely a Finance & Accounting job with accounting, treasury and forecasting / planning responsibilities, CFO role has continuously been gaining more strategic importance in the C-suite of today’s organizations. Increasing number of functions (e.g., regulatory compliance, M&A and Business Development, IT, procurement, investor relations) report to the CFO and this transformation results in a need to define the CFO’s contribution to organizations in a broader perspective. The research will use a grounded theory based approach with data collection through transcribed interviews with CFO’s mainly from Turkey and some other countries across a wide range of industries. Data will be analyzed through constant comparison across data sources and a grounded theory will be developed from the data.