No. 1 CFO Concern: Understand Customer Needs
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"No. 1 CFO Concern: Understand Customer Needs"
"Spending more time understanding customer needs" was ranked as the No. 1 issue by CFOs for 2000, according to 37% of the respondents to a KPMG survey. Other important themes for the year are to:
- Determine how the Internet will affect profits and growth (33.3%).
- Better understand the impact of the company's Internet strategy (30.2%).
- Improve analyst relations (19.0%).
- Increase time spent with family (17.5%).
Additional findings:
- 66% of CFOs see a reduction in their stress levels in the year ahead vs. 34% who expect stress levels to increase.
- 62% of CFOs say their firms will devote equal time to reducing costs and increasing revenues vs. 20% who expect to pay more attention to reducing costs and 18% whose firms will spend more time increasing revenues.
- 60% of CFOs have no specific target for reducing their company's effective tax rate, compared to 16% who will attempt to reduce the corporate tax rate by 1%.
Writer: Tom Truman
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