Sometimes, just when you think the coast is clear, it isn't. The slow fade of the chief operating officer role from corporate C-suites may have left some CFOs with less competition as heir apparent to the chief executive, but a faster-moving trend is threatening to spoil the party.
According to a new white paper by recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles, more than 200 companies worldwide have appointed a "chief commercial officer" since the title first appeared a decade ago. And the pace is really picking up: At least 56 of those jobs were created in 2008 and 36 more followed in the first half of this year, says John Abele, global managing partner of the firm's marketing and sales officers practice. The vast majority are split evenly between North America and Europe, and they're also found at both start-ups and well-known companies like Coca-Cola, MillerCoors, Hasbro, JetBlue, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Ball Corp., and Calpine.
The position, often filled by someone with both general-manager and functional (such as marketing) experience, generally forms a bridge between the product-innovation and customer-facing sides of the business. The goal is to make sure that companies turn their best ideas into products that actually make money. Historically, the CEO has been that integrator.
As such, the CCO is a logical successor to the chief executive, often more so than the CFO, at least according to Abele. "In my experience, CCOs with that broad skill set are brought in partly as a succession-planning option," he says. "Now you've got someone else in the C-suite with a broad set of responsibilities who is looking at the P&L. Depending on your point of view and on the company, that person might be more strongly positioned, given their exposure in and knowledge of the marketplace."
On the other hand, the financial crisis has buttressed CFOs' claim to the status of most-important C-suiter, and their stature frankly isn't likely to diminish much when the economy is humming again.
Still, should CFOs who want to move up to the top slot consider campaigning for an interim tenure as a CCO? Maybe, but it's a rare occurrence. Among the CCO appointments Heidrick has identified, just 3% were filled by a finance chief. It apparently happens even less often in the United States. On a list of such people that Heidrick provided, only one ý Kevin Mooney of Blackbaud Inc., now in his second commercial chief job since leaving the finance chair at Worldspan in 2006 ý was at an American company.
Sadly, I couldn't learn what makes Mooney tick, as he declined my request for an interview. A couple of the overseas folks that I contacted did, too. Now, I'm assuming there's nothing inherently cloak-and-dagger about this job, so could one of you CFOs-turned-CCOs please give me a call?
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