C-Suite Executives’ Gold Standard

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) has churned out some of the most outstanding CFOs, CEOs, and CMDs towards building a Viksit Bharat. They do not operate in a narrow band of financial reporting and observing compliances. Instead, they have moved beyond these traditional parameters, and become a Gold Standard of Partners working in organisations for world-class sustainable performances. The Institute visualizes the contours of a Viksit Bharat C-Suite Executive through a prism that constitutes nine important CMA dimensions. They operate beyond their traditional role, and excel in one or more of these dimensions that results in sustainable performances. These dimensions, according to us, constitute a Gold Standard for a Viksit Bharat C-Suite Executive. This Special Issue of showcases profiles of 21 such CFOs, CEOs, and CMDs, who passed out of the Institute decades ago, and work across sectors in both public and private companies. The Issue highlights how their professional achievements, either currently or in the past, encompass the various dimensions, which include:

CMA Dimension 1: Managing Key Performance Drivers

This includes deep insight of values that need to be created through robust engagement with stakeholders, balanced with the cost of delivering the value that comprise key performance drivers.  A Viksit C-Suite Executive integrates these perspectives into a strategy that is executed well with an IT enabled architecture. For example, CMA Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya, former CMD of Coal India, emphasizes the country’s need to re-strategize coal policy to enhance the CMA Dimension of value discovery to enable us to make the fuel less-polluting, and more acceptable to the growing crowd of Climate Changers. The journey of CMA S. Varadaraj, CFO & Head (IT and Legal), Godrej Agrovet, demonstrates the effective use of stakeholder management to achieve better performances through ‘Emotional Ownership.’

CMA Dimension 2: Strategic Planning & Execution

Formulating an articulated strategy, and its effective implementation is an important dimension towards sustainable performance. A Viksit C-Suite Executive emerges as a center of excellence in this dimension. CMA Harjeet Kaur Joshi, former CMD, Shipping Corporation, used innovative solutions, which fall into the Dimension of strategic planning and execution. The Corporation’s Business Continuity Plan, formulated during Covid, was successfully copied, and implemented by other departments and organizations under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

CMA Dimension 3: Stakeholder Reporting From Shareholder Reporting

In the past, most CFOs and CEOs spent enormous time to evolve, and excel in highest world-class standards of shareholder reporting. However, an understanding of the stakeholders, beyond shareholders, and building a reporting framework for the former is the hallmark of a Viksit executive. CMA Prasanna Kumar Acharya, Director (Finance), NLC India, made a drastic shift from mere shareholder reporting to a larger set of stakeholder reporting.

CMA Dimension 4: Scoping Up Governance by Shifting from Compliance to Performance

In the past, while catering to corporate governance requirements, CFOs and CEOs spent significant efforts to comply with the legal requirements. Contemporary manager, however, understand the need to shift gears to ensure sustainable performance. This is evident in the approach of CMA Rajneesh Jain, President & CFO, Reliance Jio Infocomm, whose FCA model and strategy reflects a thinking that pushed finance as the main driver of growth.

CMA Dimension 5: Measuring and Managing Value Creation

Value creation for stakeholders, in sharp contrast with financials, creates a new pillar of management and reporting. A Viksit C-Suite Executive understands this, and specialises in practicing the management accounting tools meant for managing and reporting of value. CMA Pirooz Movdawalla, CFO, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd, deploys the tools of cost-competitive strategy by adopting new tools of management accounting to measure and manage value creation.

CMA Dimension 6: Deploying Cost-competitive Strategy

Businesses that compete in the marketplace based on cost excellence require a specialized cost-management architecture. Starting from its inbound supply chain, encompassing the channels of distribution, and final customers, the entire value chain needs to embrace a cost-competitive strategy. The Viksit C-Suite Executive  understands the value chain architecture, and specializes in contrast to an entity-specific cost-accounting. Among the profiles in this Special Issue, several CMAs such as Kewal Kundanlal Handa, who handles two pharma start-ups, Hari Nagrani, CFO & EVP, Delhi International Airport Ltd, and Sunil Shivaling Bagi, Director (Finance), Goa Shipyard, have deployed cost-competitive strategies to manage operations.

CMA Dimension 7: Deploying Modern New Tools of Cost Management

The contemporary tools of cost and management accounting effectively focus on every stakeholder, from supplier to customer, including channels. To enable value creation or cost optimization, these tools enable a good decision-making process. A Viksit C-Suite Executive deploys them effectively and appropriately as per the strategic needs.

CMA Dimension 8: Harnessing Information Technology

Information is power. Well-informed organizations, equipped with tools such as analytics and artificial intelligence, effectively leverage them for sustainable business performances. CMAs understand this, and participate in the creation of robust IT architecture, and its implementation.

CMA Dimension 9: Bringing Excellence in Supply Chain Function

Today, businesses are about being robust links, from the origin of materials or resources till the delivery of products or services to customers. To effectively understand the profile characteristics of the links in the chain, procurement and delivery have become more a center of excellence in an organization’s supply chain. A Viksit executive effectively contributes towards it.