Excelling in a Rapidly Changing Environment – Best Practices for CFOs

John Feehan, a speaker at the marcus evans CFO Summit XX Spring 2010, shares his strategies on excelling in a competitive and rapidly changing business environment. Interview with: John Feehan, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Sprint Prepaid Group

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Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) today must be on top of industry trends and shifts, and how they impact consumer behavior, in addition to their usual responsibilities. As businesses emerge from the economic downturn, competition will get much fiercer, says John Feehan, Senior Vice President and CFO at the Sprint Prepaid Group. Therefore, CFOs need to be able to make decisions quickly, to ensure their business grows and takes advantage of changes. A speaker at the marcus evans CFO Summit XX Spring 2010 taking place in Miami, Florida, May 6-8, 2010, Feehan highlights the best practices and strategies for staying ahead of the competition and excelling in a rapidly changing environment.

What best practices would you recommend to CFOs?

John Feehan: The need for speed in an organization has never been more important. CFOs have to challenge themselves to create an environment where decisions can be made using the latest intelligence. Being in a highly competitive industry, it is important for us to have information at our fingertips, be able to act upon that information, guide our business appropriately and make quick and speedy decisions that give us an advantage over our competitors.
 
Companies need to foster a culture that excels in a fast paced environment. As the economy picks up pace, competition is going to get much fiercer.  CFOs must be engaged in the operations of their company and be aware of what is happening in their industry, both from a financial perspective as well as the industry trends and shifts that are occurring. They need access to data and trends on a daily basis to be able to foster an environment where decisions can be made quickly.
 
Within our organization, every Tuesday morning we have weekly operational review meetings where we focus on trends. We take a look at what is happening in real time, what happened the previous week, the feedback from our retailers and what we are hearing in our industry about our competition. Every Thursday morning we talk about our go-to-market strategies - - what they were the previous week and if they changed, and how we can remain agile enough to ensure we are taking the right steps at the right time. We are not afraid of adapting our strategies and direction based on the latest intelligence.

What are some of the opportunities that CFOs can take advantage of?

John Feehan: The recessionary environment has created a number of opportunities for CFOs, especially in the mergers and acquisitions arena. Many companies have quality products and services, but not all have a balance sheet to give them access to the capital needed to continue growing. Virgin Mobile, one of Sprint’s prepaid brands, was doing fairly well during the recession, but it became harder and harder for us to access capital. We felt that it was a good strategy and the right time to join Sprint, for us as well as for our shareholders.
 
Finally, from a talent standpoint, companies now have a very favorable labor pool. There are highly skilled people who can help the company carry out its mission and build some bench strength.
       
How should CFOs prepare themselves for any taxation changes in North America?

John Feehan: There is clearly a trend towards greater regulation and transparency, not only in the tax arena but also in the financial committees as well. It is imperative that CFOs fully understand the changing tax codes and positions, and ensure they have efficient disclosure and transparency systems in place. Whatever the tax reform changes will be, they could potentially create additional compliance costs. CFOs must therefore be well aware of what is happening, have a good knowledge of the potential impacts on their business and make sure that the business is fully prepared to deal with changes from both the financial and disclosure perspectives. The reforms are still in the formative stages but CFOs must be ready for them. Increased transparency could be positive on many fronts but the value created by that transparency should be justified by the cost of doing it.
 
What are your projections for the next few years?

John Feehan: We anticipate a return to more favorable business conditions, but we will still be facing continued consumer volatility, as they struggle with their spending habits and unemployment remains high. Our prepaid wireless business, however, has benefited from the environment as an attractive alternative to those who wish to control their spending and want to avoid binding contracts.
 
In our industry, as with many others, the challenge is monitoring how changes in technology impact consumer behavior. CFOs will have an additional unease about the rapid pace of change in the financial markets. This includes costs as a result of government regulation, coupled with both federal and state governments having an interest in increasing tax revenues collected from businesses. As local and state governments continue to struggle with budget deficits, taxes on businesses will increase. That could have a very negative impact on business growth, if the business is not prepared.

Sprint’s prepaid brands include Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile and Assurance Wireless.

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About the CFO Summit XX Spring 2010

This unique forum will take place at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida, May 6-8, 2010. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The summit includes presentations on liquidity planning, acquiring capital and preparing for changes in regulatory legislation.

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

Please note that the summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com

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