The finance function is playing an increasingly pivotal role incorporate operations. In many companies, the leader of finance isseen as a prospective successor to the CEO, and more and more CFOsare beginning to serve on corporate boards of directors. These bitsof conventional wisdom are borne out by a recent survey byKorn/Ferry International.

The firm's Chief FinancialOfficer Center of Expertise polled 86 CFOs at large organizationsand found that these leaders' scope of influence is growing. Whenasked “Are you being asked to take on more or less operationalresponsibility?” three-quarters said they're taking on moreoperational responsibility; one-quarter said they're currentlyexperiencing no change in their level of operationalresponsibility; and not one said they're being asked to reduce theoperational side of their role. (See Figure 1.)

Perhaps even more telling were the CFOs' responses when askedwhat keeps them up at night. Their top concern—cited by just overhalf of survey respondents—is revenue growth. Cost managementworries only 16.5 percent of respondents. (See Figure 2, below.)“The natural play for the CFO has historically been around costcontainment and cost control,” says Josh Wimberley, head of theFinancial Officer Practice, North America, at Korn/Ferry. “Butright now, it's all hands on deck for revenue growth andinnovation, and the CFO has to be involved in that.”