Indian CFOs champion innovation to secure business growth: Survey

NEW DELHI: Indian CFOs are championing innovation to secure future business and growth, with 81 per cent of them saying they are focusing on making significant investments towards this goal, says a survey.

According to the American Express CFO Future-proofing Survey 2015, innovation was widely acknowledged as an important factor by companies to retain a competitive edge over their peers.

As per the survey, 81 per cent of Indian CFOs said they are focusing on making significant investments towards innovation in products and services followed by systems and processes (72 per cent) and technology (70 per cent).

"Smart businesses know that constant innovation and evolution is a central strategy towards future-proofing. CFOs today are maintaining focus and carefully weighing each investment decision to ensure they remain competitive in an extremely dynamic business environment," said Saru Kaushal, Country Business Head (Global Corporate Payments), American Express.

Around 56 per cent of CFOs saw improving their efficiency and business performance and being GST ready (50 per cent) as key to future-proofing their company.

Strengthening their bottom-line also emerged as the top business priority on most CFOs' agenda, followed by growing revenue and market share.

The survey further noted that one-third of CFOs believe making the right choice in terms of new investments will be a key focus area in the next 12 months.

Some of the key focus areas for companies going forward include diversifying into new products and services and implementation of new technology.

Overall, 69 per cent of CFOs believe their organisation is doing more to future-proof their business than their competitors.

Future-proofing is a strategy an organisation takes in anticipating or responding to the fluctuations/changes in the short or long-term, so that they continue to be successful.