Striking the Right Balance: Finance Executives Combine Growing Optimism, Continued Financial Discipline
CFOs temper pursuit of growth with focus on profitability and rigorous oversight of discretionary spending; looking at investments in finance, accounts payable and procurement
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Optimism Propels Renewed Focus on Growth
Seeking Efficiency, Maintaining Discipline
- Cash and working capital management discipline — 79 percent;
- Focus on profitability — 72 percent;
- Balance sheet scrutiny — 70 percent;
- Administrative discipline — 69 percent;
- Project and investment ROI requirements — 69 percent.
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Tying Increased Spending to Growth
- 49 percent plan to increase investment in the development of new products and services;
- 46 percent aim to expand through increased sales and marketing activities;31 percent expect to increase investment in M&A activity to drive growth.
- Advertising, marketing and PR (29 percent);
- Labor (28 percent)
- Enterprise-level IT systems (28 percent);
- Computer hardware (24 percent).
