A business philosophy that is comprehensive, flexible, proven and ethically sound.
I am delighted to introduce myself as the new Global Industry Director for Finance at IFS. I have penned this short blog post to provide a very brief resume and lay out the topics to which I will be commenting in 2016. These have been carefully crafted into a new strategic model I am calling, “a philosophy for responsible and efficient business.“ I am convinced that every business can benefit from the introduction of this model, and actively welcome comment and debate in this area.
My philosophy for responsible and efficient business
I have spent the last 17 years of my career learning, developing and delivering business efficiency from the positions of lead finance, IT, project management or program management. This has been conducted in both blue chip and SMEs, across a number of industries and countries (for more details, please visit my LinkedIn page).
This culmination of experience and qualification, combined with my own personal interests, has led me to design a business philosophy that is comprehensive, flexible, proven and ethically sound, which I will be expanding, explaining and sharing with you during 2016 in a number of posts and papers.
The main theme of this philosophy is to expand the traditional finance function into a more comprehensive and collaborative corporate services function that encompasses finance, HR, commercial, IT, environment and ethics and explains how this combined function can make businesses more efficient and sustainable when used in conjunction with the strategic model.
Current events in global business management are increasing the focus on enhanced corporate ethical behavior and ever increasing pressure to squeeze more sustainable performance out of existing business platforms. As technology brings the world to you phone in an instant, global is no longer the playground for the large, multi-national corporations only. It is true that anything can be bought by anyone anywhere at any time.
A Time for Change
Given this backdrop, what can businesses, big or small, do to enhance their performance?
Firstly, businesses must recognize that change is needed, and not be deterred from considering new ideas. A lot of current practices are as they were decades ago when the building blocks of businesses were very different; as such the structure and processes of traditional back-office functions are still geared towards a time that no longer exists.
Change must be accepted, welcomed and acted upon if sustainable efficiencies are to be gained. None of this needs to be risky. Implementation can be done at the pace that best suits the people, market and company as long as it is supported by an agreed and communicated strategy backed up by equally agile solutions.
In fact, I would argue that not changing or performing at least some of these ideas is risky, as your competitors may be getting the edge before you.
In January, I will introduce the temple of responsible and efficient business to provide the visual and metaphorical structure around which commentary can progress and the overall philosophy explained. The series will then continue to outline an enhanced and new direction for CFOs to streamline their corporate offerings, and in doing so providing sustainable efficiencies in these areas as well as facilitating operational strategies.
Connecting the Dots
I will also lay out the historical basis upon which we are currently structured, explain why this needs to change, and suggest the right mindset and governance for the method to succeed. Each sub-section can provide solid business benefits in its own right, but when combined into a program the synergies can transform a business and provide a much more efficient and agile core structure.
This series can form the strategy for your business transformation or work alongside your existing change program. In addition to this series of papers, I will also be regularly commenting on how this model is supported by current events, and where appropriate will connect the dots to further reading, areas of interest or implementation techniques.
I would invite you to join me on this journey, and would actively encourage you to comment and get in touch on any aspect. Leave a comment here, or connect with me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetreagust) or Twitter (@stevetreagust).
