BANGALORE: Infosys is creating a mini CFO structure that gives greater autonomy to finance heads within business units (BU). The mini CFOs attached to the BUs act as finance controllers complying with the framework set by corporate finance.
The new structure follows the appointment late last year of Rajiv Bansal, 41, as CFO. Bansal took over from V Balakrishnan, who moved to head the India and BPO operations. The structure was expected to go live in April but will now be rolled out in the next few months.
An Infosys spokesperson said the company would not be able to comment on the matter.
The $7.5-billion Infosys is split into four main verticals spanning manufacturing; retail, consumer packaged goods logistics and life sciences; banking and financial services; and energy utilities, communications and services.
The company's decentralization drive follows other changes in the finance department to make it more agile and accountable. The legal team comprising of 50-60 advocates headed by R Nithyanandan and the company's chief risk officer M Ranganath who used to report to the CFO now report to CEO SD Shibulal.
"Strategic business unit heads are accountable for topline and bottomline performance and need to be empowered and equipped to deliver on these two parameters. Providing resources including functional support in the form of HR and finance is part of this," said Padmaja Alaganandan, executive director for people and change practice in consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Gaurav Lahiri, MD of global management consulting firm Hay Group India, said, "The corporate CFO faces challenges in striking a balance between strategic and tactical issues with the former getting pushed back due to various reasons. The mini CFO can take charge of tactical issues on a daily basis while the super CFO can look at the larger picture."
Some IT companies are creating mini CEOs who will be responsible for their verticals and geographies and manage their own profit and loss account. Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra, for instance, plan to develop 30 young CEOs in the system by 2015. The company has launched a Young CEO programme where members are hand-picked by the management council. They nurture these leaders to take on significant roles in areas of M&A, new business initiatives, platforms, or developing a new geography.
"Our Young CEO Program is part of unearthing high-potentials from deep within, encourage the start-up mind-set, provide early leadership opportunities and reflect the theme of being the largest startup in letter and spirit,"said C P Gurnani, CEO, Mahindra Satyam and MD, Tech Mahindra.
source : timesofindia