Organizational RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS AND CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICERS
At organizational levels, Chief Financial Officers and Chief Operations Officers are fundamentally crucial for the efficient and smooth running of the organization’s undertakings. While COO undertakes the tasks of overseeing and controlling the organization’s day-to-day undertakings and reporting to the CEO, CFO is in charge of the organization’s financial matters; tracking down the organizational cash-flow and determining the organization’s financial strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and imposing the appropriate corrective measures in cases of chaos and conflicts within the organization. In cases of organizational riots, the COO and CFO are primarily responsible for restoring order and efficiency in running the organization’s undertakings.
COO sets appropriate comprehensive organizational policies which promote organizational culture and vision. Being the second in the pecking order after the CEO, the COO undertakes senior management duties to ensure efficiency in running daily organizational activities. The COO is mandated to maintain control of the diverse organizational operations by establishing policies and processes aimed at instilling the company’s culture (Buchheit et al. 2019). In cases of riots in the organization, the CEO orders COO to formulate the most effective policies to uphold the company’s culture and ensure efficiency, as well as reporting the progress to the CEO.
COO performs media duties for the organization. When overseeing the organization’s day-to-day operations, COOs set comprehensive goals to monitor the organization’s growth and performance and leads employees by serving as an example. Besides, the COO serves as the organization’s representative. In cases of riots, the COO communicates to the community and the media on behalf of the organization, leading by example, setting the right work ethic and maintaining integrity (Engel et al. 2019). As the CEO, I would ask the COO to perform the media duties, to protect the organization’s reputation and resolve the conflicts for the efficient running of the organization.
CFO is responsible for developing an in-depth knowledge and understanding of organizational products and processes. It’s the organization’s Chief Financial Officer’s duty to develop an in-depth understanding of the organizational processes and products. Hereby, the CFO undertakes to ensure a smooth relationship between the organization and its stakeholders. It’s through the in-depth understanding created, that conflicts are solved. With in-depth knowledge and understanding of the organization’s processes and products, conflicts between the organization and its primary stakeholders are resolved (Uhde et al. 2019). In cases of riots, the CFO should undertake to create an understanding between the organization and the latter.
A business should hire professionals to handle organizational crises. Owners of the business should assign distinct people to handle specific cases affecting the organization’s operations. As the business owner, for instance, I would hire professional conflict solvers, and disseminate roles and responsibilities for each staff, to enhance accountability. For instance, in cases of riots, the business owner knows which staff is responsible, and by defining their distinct roles, the staff knows what the boss expects from them; which increases accountability, and efficiency in running the organization’s operations. For instance, COO and CFO should be made aware of their roles in the organization.
Being elementary factors for organizational development, growth and performance, CFOs and COOs are required to have undisputed prowess in problem and organizational conflict solving, and excellent public and interpersonal communication. These qualities are essential for ensuring harmony and efficiency in running organizational operations, creating a good working environment for the organization and ensuring a healthy interrelationship between the organization and its immediate environment. In cases of conflicts affecting the business, CFOs and COOs are not only obliged to solve the crisis, but also undertake to protect the organization’s reputation, and represent the organization.
References
Buchheit, S., Reitenga, A. L., Ruch, G., & Street, D. A. (2019). Are CFOs effective operators? An empirical analysis of CFO/COO duality. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 31(2), 37-58.
Engel, E., Gao, F., & Wang, X. (2019). The importance of role-specific performance and sociopolitical factors for Chief Financial Officer employment outcomes. Accounting Horizons, 33(1), 61-81.
Uhde, D. A., Klarner, P., & Tuschke, A. (2017). Board monitoring of the chief financial officer: A review and research agenda. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 25(2), 116-133.