CFOs are Shifting Away from Strategy

As investors, financial leaders, and global stock markets brace for Q4 ’22 earnings reports, corporate finance leaders are taking a good look at their priorities, and strategic planning is slipping down the list in terms of importance. According to the latest McKinsey Global Survey, interest rates and inflation are the top two concerns among financial leaders, followed by supply chain disruptions.

The top concerns in corporate finance are all very immediate, requiring detailed plans in the short term, leaving less time to focus on digital transformation, long-term strategy, and more. In the 2021 survey, financial leaders focused on strategy, large-scale transformation, and M&A, but this year, the tables have turned.

Further, the survey highlighted that many priorities of financial leaders are diverging from overall organizational priorities. This may be due to the fact that CFOs have direct influence on the response to economic conditions while strategic planning is done together with other members of the leadership team.

At any rate, the change in priorities this year illustrates that the world’s leading financial experts are buckling down to address short-term issues. This shift in priorities could set technological advancements and process adjustments back over the next few years, losing some of the progress that has been made in the digital transformation space.

When the global economy recovers, there will likely be new life breathed into long-term strategy and the digitization of finance, but for now, leaders feel that short-term matters are more pressing.