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Case Study:Tic, Tac, Toe, Who Can Be The CFO?

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<div>Jeetun Patki looked at the CV before him and back at the candidate.  Arjun Setalvad — articled in one of the finest audit firms in India, a rank holder CA, a company secretary and a graduate cost accountant. And well spoken and confident. Overall, ‘good chap’ as one would say. But all was not well. Something about the overall feel of this candidate bothered Jeetun. Jeetun was an associate VP at First Bench, a placement firm in Mumbai and he was hiring a CFO for a client. While all things matched, he had only now noticed, Arjun had changed jobs almost every 2-3 years. Jeetun was not happy. He saw that with every change, Arjun’s choice of company had become more non-descript and vague. Placing the CV before Rajam Rajanna, the senior VP, Jeetun said, “I don’t know what to make of this chap...” Rajam stared at the CV, took in its variations, and said, “Fine academic profile... any MNCs?” Jeetun ran his eye over the sheets and said, “Yes, eight out of the 12 employers were MNCs.” Rajam: Hmm... Vinayak Morro will not touch a full MNC fellow. He is like his father, Vittal Morro, and will take only what he wants. What is your other candidate like? Nakulaa Simha (another associate VP): Sudarshan Krishnan. Two employers in 20 years, no Indian company experience, and he has worked in India only five years. His US roots are strong, may not stick. Jeetun: He wants to come back. His son is studying Indian classical music, and has found a guru. They are finalising housing right now. Nakulaa: Not strong reasons. Morro won’t buy. Go for this Arjun fellow. Jeetun: Too many job changes. And not gathering moss. Importantly, I don’t see good reasons for the changes. Not even money. Nakulaa: In today’s scenario, two years in a job is a long time. Must be a restless sort; But question is, what is Morro's horizon? Rajam: But then neither does Sudarshan have listed company experience, which Morro insists on. He is pure MNC, whereas Arjun has a few years of Indian companies. Jeetun: It’s not rocket science: if you have functional intelligence, you can pick it up, but the other things you cannot ‘learn’. And Sudarshan has all that. And resilience! He has stayed with the same organisation 20 years; he comes across as a good leader... Rajam: First check this Arjun. I still think he will work well for Morro. Maybe even Morro will work for him. Nakulaa: I am not going by Sudarshan’s 20 years. Afterall they posted him to the US. Send me to the US, I will never come back! Rajam: What’s your point of dissent with Arjun? Jeetun: I am not sure his heart will be in any job. He lacks passion. He works, earns, lives. Does not define himself by his career. No passion. With Morro you need to be able to jump when told. Arjun will quit. I have seen his reasons so far... Nakulaa: And why will Sudarshan stick? Jeetun: He has a reason now, see? His son. Arjun and Jeetun chat Arjun left marketing and trading organisation Arcalite (his first job) in two years,  to accept his ex-boss’s offer to work in his new consulting firm because, as he explained, “I was quite bored as Arcalite was almost entirely internal audit and I had done enough of that.” Jeetun: Then you left your ex-boss Pillai by 1993; what happened? Arjun: The firm was being run more by Pillai’s brother, and this guy was fudging numbers and making wild projections to foreign companies and I was not comfortable with that. As it happened we were doing some work for Raltier’s (clothing company) India entry strategy... they were very impressed with my qualifications and I joined as their head of accounting and finance. <a href="http://businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/analysis-a-discussion-gone-waste/670936.37535/page/0">Analysis: A Discussion Gone Waste</a> <a href="http://businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/analysis-the-inner-bank-account/671394.37535/page/0">Analysis: The Inner Bank Account</a> <a href="http://businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/analysis-no-time-to-gather-moss/670730.37535/page/0">Analysis: No Time To Gather Moss</a>  </div><div>break-page-break</div><div> Jeetun could see that Arjun’s academic list was captivating. In the early 1990s, a company secretary was much sought after in liberalised India, to decode entry laws. By mid-1990s, a number of mergers and acquisitions crowded the market as foreign companies bought Indian brands, Indian firms sold brands, Indian companies bought Indian brands to dilute them... Jeetun saw a pattern would emerge now. 1994-95 was when many foreign players entered India; the salaries offered were definitely far greater than the value that Indian market placed on an Indian manager. Mass scale movements to the new foreign companies abounded. <img width="200" vspace="7" hspace="7" height="200" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=e23f0d73-a54f-4d45-8814-dedd2c2c06e5&groupId=222852&t=1355126421684" alt="" />From internal audit to consulting to being finance manager, Arjun had coasted without gathering much value addition. Jeetun to Rajam: It was the time everybody was trying to book profits fast — salaries were negotiable across the table. Good people were willing to leave an established place if you were willing to make it worthwhile. Many encashed their experience and took home a fatter salary. Nakulaa: But our friend here did not have experience that counts for much — all of eight years then and that too across four organisations.  Rajam: I think the market was unusual then. With the best managers being in demand, firms hired good chaps quickly before they were lost to foreign players. So what did he do next? Jeetun: Joined Albary Venn, the food company, as their taxation manager. Did 22 months and went to Abu Dhabi as financial controller (FC) of a hotel business; but he left them in 9 months. Arjun (about Albary Venn): I found the culture beyond me. It was pretentious, almost encouraging a work-life imbalance, too much beer and a lot of posturing... Jeetun: Was there a compulsion to adhere to the beer drinking, etc? Arjun: In an unspoken way. If you were not with them, you were not one of them; you stood out. After quitting Albary Venn, Arjun moved to Delhi to Bank Information Technology as its VP finance. Jeetun read the job description: Budget management, costing and pricing (after promotion as CFO for South-east Asia). Managed global budgets equivalent of Rs 300 million; installed SAP across locations. Now the CV was beginning to sound good. But two years on, when they asked Arjun to move to Nigeria to the Chairman’s office, he quit. Arjun explained: “The transfer to Nigeria was an unnecessary demand. The work conditions were bad, security is so bad in Lagos... I was willing to work out of India but did not see any reason why I needed to be near the Chairman!” Next Arjun joined Pleats Garments’ India operations. It was a small foreign company. “Focussed business; just garments, but retail, and retail was new to India in 2007. “Unfortunately they lost steam, and courage. Many foreign players were struggling. Lot of media hype about how some companies were not breaking even after five years. Then the madness about the estimate of the Indian middle-class being rubbish. Pleats didn’t want to have any of this. Their clothes were for kids, and very expensive. The Indian mother was not ready to spend Rs 700 for a little dress that a 3-month old would outgrow in a month...” Jeetun could not fault his arguments. Soon Arjun entered the IT industry, thanks to his tryst with BIT. But here too, he changed jobs thrice in five years... Once it was because his mother was falling ill too many times; staying in Hyderabad with her in Bhopal was not working. Arjun quit Tesystema in Hyderabad and moved to Informajor in Delhi as financial controller. Jeetun did not understand this move. Arjun explained, “Actually, I was planning to bring my mother to live with me but my wife hated Hyderabad and wanted to move to Mumbai — she is from Mumbai. So I decided to move to Delhi.” Jeetun: How did moving to Delhi help? Arjun: It did not, but at least we were not in Hyderabad, and I needed to work, and had to take what was reasonably good job content! Here was a guy with good academics and a confusing life story. But the wife angle confused Jeetun even more. “You would not have considered living away from the family?” Arjun did not approve. “I am not the sort who gets obsessed about work. I work to earn; it is a means for me. If it disrupts my peace of mind, I will recalibrate!” Jeetun: There are employers who will seek a longer term of relationship. Yes, we must consult family and factor in all discomforts. But once he joins, I think the employee needs to be fair to the employer, deliver the agreed period and so on... Later... Jeetun to Nakulaa: He does not seem to be a chap who tries hard. Or that he does not care about trying hard... nine changes in 21 years! Nakulaa: But if someone could find continuity of purpose in that change, I would find that understandable. I am not getting emotional about the changes... I think we share it openly with Morro and ask Vinayak what he thinks. This chap has something unique. Why does he want to leave his current job? Jeetun with Arjun Arjun: I am the group FC — there are 5-6 companies: one in hospitality, one in cargo management, one in education, one in IT... Jeetun: And what are their revenues? Arjun: The hospitality business is new. A turnkey engineering company, they build hotels for a brand. This business is reporting Rs 675 crores. The cargo management does 295 to 350 crores — varies year to year, it is a high fluctuation business. The IT business does 270 crores... Jeetun: What is the nature of the IT business? Arjun faltered. “I am not too familiar with that but I guess mostly body shopping...” (Later, Jeetun told Rajam, “I have been hiring for the IT vertical far too long and I know who is doing what and who is capable of what. I know the businesses pretty well. It is not adding up.”) Jeetun to Arjun: “You know this is a tough business. Pardon my saying so, but this looks tricky. You say you are the FC... you would know something about the business even if you have been there just seven months. May be you want to tell me why you really want to leave?” Arjun: You are right. All is not right with this group. They hired me telling me that they were growing and they needed someone to manage the finances. The chap who hired me told me he was from IIM-A; I had no reason to doubt him. Jeetun: So what is not right about this place? Arjun: The cargo business; something is wrong there. I don’t have the nerve to probe; I want to quit fast. Jeetun: Your qualifications are covetable. It is not easy accomplishing this level of academic excellence. How could you not have known there was something shady here? It is written all over! Arjun: Well... They agreed to my terms, the remuneration was very good, the CEO who interviewed me was very professional. Later, when I examined the books, I began to realise that I was hired to help with concealing much more. Then, one day, the CEO sent me a note saying he was appalled to see that HR had undervalued me, and that my remuneration should have been 50 per cent more. I was perplexed, but I was fighting fires daily, I did not pay attention… Jeetun: And what alerted you? Arjun: Our banker told me at lunch one day, ‘Surely you know, every banker knows your assets have to be discounted by 65 per cent...’ Jeetun: And this came as a surprise? Arjun: No no... I began to see how we were perceived. I began to see how I would be perceived... He was already seeing me as the mastermind... It was humiliating and scary.  </div><div>break-page-break</div><div> Jeetun to Nakulaa and Rajam: I have put all the pieces together. Arjun does not ‘fit’. His acads are exemplary but his attitude is not working for me. Next, he has mostly controlled finances, but he has not been responsible for funds. “The unfortunate part of the MNC-isation of India is that every CA ranker ends up going to an MNC. At an MNC you are just being controlling finances, managing budgets, watching where money goes, where it should not be allowed to go. MNCs in India do not have to raise funds. No bank relationships, managing investors, etc., because budget is assigned and thereafter it is more about running a budget! “Yes, there is P&L and cash flow management — how to issue dividends, how to expatriate funds without real outflow, there is financial strategy like reducing excise duty, managing slow-moving inventory... But in a publicly listed Indian firm, there is raising funds, IPOs, investor relation skills, etc. Morro is operating internationally in Latin America, Turkey, Romania; so they need someone with Indian company experience, who has been a CFO than an FC! “I think Arjun has made a lot of poor judgements in his career and such a person cannot make a good leader. A CFO position is more about leadership and less about how much functional excellence you have attained. Sometimes, when your skills as a leader show poorly, the academics cease to matter. All the finance skills you can get done from people below you; but what you cannot delegate is your leadership. And this is why Sudarshan fits best! And leadership is about how well you judge people, how well you judge circumstances, how well you make decisions, problem solving... I didn’t see any of this in Arjun.” And as Jeetun thought, Morro was a company for the long haul, they wanted continuity especially since Morro was expanding in a big way in the next four years. Personality-wise they would not take kindly to a chap with Teflon coated soles. Yes, they were looking for a mature person, with 20 years in the function, and Arjun had 20 years. But it was not the kind of 20 years that Vinayak would find appealing. Vinayak’s CFO had to have skills that went beyond controlling finances to raising finance, managing fund flow, parking surpluses, etc. Vinayak Morro was worse than his father Vittal Morro, who was such a stickler for precision that he had once even driven Rajam to tears.  Jeetun to Rajam and Nakulaa: Vinayak had said his CFO must know how to meet shareholder expectation on financial gearing and that would not be possible if he has not gone beyond financial controllership. All that requires a kind of mentality which has to be unrestrained by the ordinariness of life, whose life reveals a sturdy, steady outlook, definitely not one who would say he left a job because his wife did not like the city. Nakulaa: That is very male. You do not know what the real truth is. Jeetun: The truth for me is what he tells me. For that is what I will use to decide for my client. If you tell me there is more to it but I cannot tell you, then that does not exist for me. Please understand I am not forming an emotional relationship with the candidate... Nakulaa: But you must... candidates do not reveal the truth at times and the real personality hides in that truth. Jeetun: I am sorry but this new wave method of hiring does not wash with me. This is a clinical situation: client needs candidate, candidate comes with a personality. A client hires a personality finally, not his certificates or baggage. We all have a personal life and it comes with challenges, but those are not up for trading. They cannot become your stock-in-trade. What you get evaluated and compensated for is your intrinsic worth and your personality that fits the job. Rajam: What is your analysis of this chap? Jeetun: Simple. If his first two jobs were just testing the waters, then the third is typically where he needed to have pitched his flag and set up home. Maybe there are people like that... who drift and are unsure and are not very particular about the career bit but give first place to family. Very nice. But I know my client and I know what will work best for him and I can say with conviction that Arjun Setalvad does not fit the bill. Jeetun picked up Sudarshan Krishnan’s CV and slapped it on Rajam’s sticky board. “That’s your guy. We must tell Arjun we are sorry....” Krishnan was a fellow who had worked in two (sister) companies in a 20-year career life. Both companies, 10 years each almost. In the first he had worked across three of their locations in the same function, which made him a very interesting candidate. He had gone through their leadership programme, and that was terrific because it seemed to make up for everything else. Jeetun liked the fellow despite the fact that he did not have a listed company experience. Nakulaa: His academics are terrible. Not a patch on Arjun. Is a management accountant, but not a Company Secretary. Took four turns to pass his CA exams... Jeetun: That does not mean a thing! Isn’t it greater that his organisation kept him for 10 years? Clearly he meant a lot to them! Arjun had problems with “job content” or “boss” or “company culture”. Yes, Nakulaa was right, he was a restless soul. “But I am not in the business of counselling!” said Jeetun. “So either he had not developed a sense of figuring out these important factors when evaluating his next organisation, or he was unable to make the adjustment in each new organisation.” Rajam wondered about both candidates. “Is there anything about their personalities that tells us which one is a better candidate?” Classroom Discussion Do we track the trail we leave behind to see the character sketch it makes? What does our trail say about us? casestudymeera(at)gmail(dot)com Now, discuss case studies on Facebook (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 17-12-2012)</div>