Hasbro and block leaders say that there is the power to have a CFO-COO combined role: “ You cannot do one without the other ”
Assuming a double role can become the standard for financial chiefs – in particular those who are also operating heads – while being increasingly complex companies.
There is an increasing trend in CFOs assume the role of COO, and some large companies combine functions to create a hybrid position. For Amrita Ahuja de Block and Gina Goetter from Hasbro, which both hold COO and CFO titles, it is not only a question of managing the figures – it is a question of shaping the future of their companies.
Hasbro, the largest toamaker listed on the stock market in the United States and one of the largest in the world, has a significant manufacturing footprint. Each decision is intrinsically operational or financial, Goetter said during a panel session FortuneCOO Summit Tuesday with Ahuja and moderate by the next Ruth Umoh publisher.
“It’s very mixed,” said Goetter. “You cannot make one without the other, and I find that the combinations actually creates a lot of simplicity through the organization.”
As a financial director, you have the point of view of the entire company’s strategy, said Goetter. The finance chief is one of the few individuals to be able to connect all the parts together in strategy and execution. This strategy is deeply rooted in operations, she said.
Block, a Fortune 500 Fintech company, offers customers financial options such as payment plans via Afterpay, various choices of loans for square sellers and the possibility for users of applications to divide the payroll deposits between cash, bitcoin or actions. Ahuja provided an example of the value of having the double cfo-coo role.
It directs automation efforts, using generative AI and shared platforms to rationalize everything, from contract management to financial forecasts. “Because our teams are together, we can share infrastructures and ideas through the organization,” said Ahuja.
Goetter, who joined Hasbro in 2023, underlined navigation on macro prices and uncertainty. By supervising operations and finance, it can balance the daily supply chain and customer management with the financial health of the company. This helps him make practical “regrets” practical decisions – avoiding over -analysis – while ensuring that Hasbro is not found with an excess inventory in bad places, as happened after Cavid.
“I am convinced that we are not going to be in the same position as we leave Covid, where we are sitting with personalities from around the world,” said Goetter.
But the double role CFO-COO can be complex. “Tension in the role is aspiration and discipline,” noted Ahuja. As a financial director, you argue growth while guaranteeing an allocation responsible for capital, she explained. As a COO, you allow the company to move quickly but in a responsible manner. She added: “No coo role is alike.” In Block, in addition to supervising finances, she directs legal and people, supervises communications and policies and is president of Square Financial Services, the industrial bank of the company.
Goetter stressed the importance of finance as a catalyst, not as a limiter: “We want to create the business.” The wearing of the two hats facilitates the connection of strategy and execution, she said.
Finance is often considered the bureaucracy you have to spend before everyone can realize their hopes and dreams, Goetter commented. It is unfair to characterize finance as “” no people “,” she added.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
