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Tag: C-suite

  • Explaining the Importance of the C-Suite Team in a Business

    Explaining the Importance of the C-Suite Team in a Business

    The C-Suite is a popular term used to describe the executive managers within an organization. They’re known as the C-Suite since all the crucial positions have abbreviations that begin with the letter C (CEO, CFO).

    These roles are essential to the success and the working of any business, as achieving that success is their responsibility and a big part of their job description. In essence, the job of a senior executive is to create strategies and enforce them across the entire organization.

    Only people with vast experience and proven leadership skills can be the ones suitable for a C-Suite position. In addition to knowledge and technical abilities, it is important they have a vision that allows them to take multiple perspectives when dealing with a work-related issue.

    It’s worth mentioning that the senior executive positions are highly stressful jobs with around-the-clock work hours. For this reason, their compensations are quite rewarding and motivating.

    C-Suite Executives Explained

    When discussing the C-Suite, there are four positions that are the most prominent and most known:

    ●  CEO – Chief Executive Officer.

    ●  CFO – Chief Financial Officer.

    ●  COO – Chief Operating Officer.

    ●  CIO – Chief Information Officer.

    However, besides these four, there are other chief positions that are a part of the C-Suite team:

    ●  CCO – Chief Compliance Officer.

    ●  CHRM – Chief Human Resources Manager.

    ●  CSO – Chief Security Officer.

    ●  CGO – Chief Green Officer.

    ●  CAO – Chief Analytics Officer.

    ●  CMO – Chief Marketing Officer.

    ●  CDO – Chief Data Officer.

    Here are short summaries regarding some of the C-Suite positions:

    CEO

    The CEO is typically the highest position in the company. The person who has the position is usually the face of the company and speaks to the public in its name. However, this doesn’t mean that the CEO is calling all the shots by themselves. For most major decisions, the CEO consults with all the other chief officers in the organization and relies on their insights.

    There is no formal education that is specifically required for the CEO position and successful workers from any background can potentially reach it. What most CEOs have in common though is great judgment and leadership capabilities.

    CFO

    The position at the top of the financial hierarchy in an organization is the CFO. Unlike the CEO, the CFO has to come from a financial background and have a significant understanding of finances and economics. The CFO role and responsibilities include things like portfolio management, performing financial analysis, conducting research for investment opportunities, and even accounting.

    Additionally, staying up to date with the worldwide economy and maintaining an overall global perspective are important qualities for CFOs. In many organizational processes like investment decision-making and assessment of risks, the CEO and the CFO work together.

    COO

    The COO position serves as the extended hand of the CEO. COOs report directly and only to CEOs and are second in command in the company. They are responsible for the daily operations and administrative tasks across the entire organization. Some of the most important traits for COOs are good managerial abilities, an analytical mind, and strong communication.

    There are some other terms that refer to this position that might be more popular than COO like “vice president” or “operations director”. More often than not, COOs work closely with the CEO, and they are the best candidate to take their place once the CEO steps down.

    CIO

    Also known as CTO, chief technology officers are the executives responsible for computer technology and its implementation, management, and usability within an organization. In the past, this position was not considered as important as the others in the C-Suite. However, technology has taken such an essential part in the workplace, that CIOs nowadays are among the top five executives of any company.

    Business analysis, programming, management, and knowledge of mapping are the key skills that any CIO should possess. CIO’s responsibilities also include providing input into critical processes like risk management, developing business strategies, and other financial activities.

    Conclusion

    In addition to creating strategies and making sure that the daily operations are running smoothly the C-Suite is important for the future of the company. Executives need to constantly come up with new ideas and find new ways for the business to grow. This includes creating new business models, introducing new products, and any other way of pursuing innovation that will help the company to expand.

  • How Marketers Can Have a Great Voice in the C-Suite

    How Marketers Can Have a Great Voice in the C-Suite

    Marketers often think that their voice is not listened to and that there is often a disconnect with C-suite execs. Unilever CMO Keith Weed said, “I often joke with my CFO, he counts where the money’s going, I say where the money’s coming from.” How can you as a marketing executive effectively get through to others in your organization? 

    Marketing Week recently asked several prominent marketers how they ensure their voice is heard by the rest of the C-suite:

    Alex Naylor, Marketing Director, Barclaycard

    The key thing is to talk to them about how you can help them achieve their objectives rather than trying to convince them to help you achieve yours. Many people approach marketing with an open mouth but in reality, many people don’t understand it. Business leaders see it as a tax on their business. The role of a marketing leader is to help them understand that marketing is an enabler that helps them achieve their business objectives and their business strategy. Once they see it as something they own then they’ll be prepared to invest in it.

    Zaid Al-Qassab, CMO, BT Group

    The secret to having your voice heard in the C-suite is caring passionately about what all the other people around the table do. If you’re myopically focused on just the marketing then you won’t be taken seriously. You need to understand everything about the finances of the business, about how the sales channels are working, about the HR problems, and the organizational opportunities. You need to understand the whole thing.

    Debrah Dolce, SVP, Group Brand & Marketing Director, TJX Europe

    I think to be effective in the C-suite, clearly, it’s going to be about relationships and a business approach that can showcase the impact that marketing can have on the commercial side of the business as well as the long-term brand building and customer engagement that we’re obviously all responsible for.

    For me, it would very much be about the partnership and the relationships within the C-suite. As the world becomes more connected and more integrated I see that only becoming more and more important. To function as a high-performing exec team it’s going to take everybody to care about the customer. I think that’ll be critical for all marketers moving forwards to share that passion.

    Keith Weed, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Unilever

    There is no stainable growth other than consumer or customer demand-led growth and marketers should be at the core of consumer demand-led growth. If you can do that you can tell the people around the table where the growth is coming from. I often joke with my CFO, he counts where the money’s going, I say where the money’s coming from, and that’s important for business.

    Troy Warfield, President, Topgolf International

    The way marketing leaders can ensure that their voices are heard in the C-suite, number one is they’ve got to be able to talk the language. So really understand what the business is about, understand finance, and then think about you know what is core to making that business grow. If you can combine all those three you’ll have a great voice in the C-suite.

    Tony Miller, VP, Digital Marketing & CRM, EMEA, Disney

    In order to make our marketing leaders’ voice heard to the rest of the C-suite group it’s about really open dialogue, being honest with your peers, and having the ability to have debate and encourage debate and discussion around things that are happening in the industry and specifically within your brand and your sector.

    I think marketers today need to ensure that they have everything backed up through data and insight, whether it’s about kind of proving return on investment of that marketing value through brand engagement or customer satisfaction or sales and return on investment. Having the data and letting that help speak and guide those conversations.

    John Rudaizky, Partner, Global Brand and Marketing Leader, EY

    I would say from point of view, how does your marketing and your brand contribute to the growth agenda? You really have to work hard at making sure that that’s clear. Most businesses are looking at growing through very disruptive times at the moment. The next thing is from a digital transformation point of view, I think marketing has never been more relevant in the boardroom.

    When you think about the total customer experience being changed through digital and technology, marketing has probably got the best ever moment in time to have a seat in that conversation. Thirdly, I’d say trust, every business is going through change and if you think about digital things reputations can be affected overnight. From a brand point of view, marketing and brands can play an active role in helping the boardroom navigate through these disruptive times.

  • The CIO Is Now Central To The Business Strategy

    The CIO Is Now Central To The Business Strategy

    “The CIO now has become front and center and central to the business strategy,” says Aongus Hegarty, President of International Markets at Dell Technologies. “From the c-suite perspective, they are now seen as a key individual around investment in technology to enable the business from a growth and transformation point of view. There has been a fundamental change in the role of the CIO.”

    Aongus Hegarty, President of International Markets at Dell Technologies, says that the CIO role is now core to the business strategy in the enterprise. Hegarty was interviewed by Tim Crawford, ranked as one of the most influential CIOs and is the CIO Strategic Advisor at AVOA:

    The CIO Is Now Central To The Business Strategy

    If you stand back and look at the CIO role I think it’s gone from being a role traditionally which was very much in the back office. The CIO was focused on keeping the systems working and maybe often only out in the c-suite discussions when there was a challenge or an issue with systems or email, etc. The CIO now has become front and center and central to the business strategy. From the c-suite perspective, they are now seen as a key individual around investment in technology to enable the business from a growth and transformation point of view. There has been fundamental change.

    What’s driving the change is the recognition by CEOs, c-suite, and companies that technology is disrupting industries and disrupting businesses. It’s driving significant efficiency and operational enhancement and/or a brand new set of business models, products, and services enabled by technology. Companies need to quickly move forward around their digital transformation or they will be left behind or significantly disadvantaged quite quickly. There’s an urgency in the c-suite to bring the technology strategy front and center underpinning the business strategy.

    The CIO: A Critical Role Now And Into The Future

    The CIO within that c-suite is in an absolutely critical role now and into the future. The breadth of skills and competencies required has broadened significantly. Now the CIO role very much encompasses an individual who has vision and collaborates across the organization. The CIO has strong communication skills and ability and can work and navigate between obviously the tactical and executional elements of the role but also the strategic elements of the IT strategy. They they must match that and understand how it fits into the business strategy. 

    To all the CIOs out there I think it’s absolutely an exciting time and a great opportunity. You can be sure that Dell Technologies will be there every step of the way with you.

    https://youtu.be/8SXISxJj7aI
    The CIO Is Now Central To The Business Strategy
  • Reddit Co-Founder: Every Businesses is Going to Have to Be a Software Business

    Reddit Co-Founder: Every Businesses is Going to Have to Be a Software Business

    The co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, says that every business is going to have to be a software business. Our beliefs still remains that every business is going to have to be a software business in some way, shape, or form,” Ohanian told CNBC. “For us to be able to make these investments on bright engineers building software solutions still feels like the right long-term play. We noticed the turning point in the last couple of years where the C-Suite all got on Instagram.”

    “What I mean by that is they got exposed to it and there’s now a broad use of world-class software for really trivial stuff,” said Ohanian. “Once enough execs have spent time looking at selfies on Instagram, of their kids or their grandkids, they come back to work they sit at their desk and they look at the software that they’re using and that their companies are using and they can’t believe how antiquated is by comparison.”

    “So we’re seeing this new trend in startups that are selling direct to the enterprise level from jump,” explained the Reddit co-founder. “They’re people who left that world, see the problems, and are saying I can build a better solution and I’m just going to sell it back to my old buddies and then hopefully the rest of the industry. Whereas ten years ago, if you were starting Dropbox as Drew was, you’d be trying to sell the basic $10 a month package to some little startup.”

    Ohanian says that today, companies realize this existential need and startups are now able to sell to enterprise direct.

    About Alexis Ohanian:

    Alexis Ohanian was the co-founder of Reddit, one of the first social media companies in the world. He is also a bestselling author and he is currently co-founder & managing partner of Initialized Capital that focuses on very early stage VC ($22B in market value so far).