Who reports to the CEO in Indian companies? Discover the complexities and variations in the reporting structure to the CEO across Indian firms, shedding light on emerging roles and the evolution of leadership teams.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ข ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐?
Just who reports to the CEO is not easy to establish. Typically, company websites list the leadership team, but not all companies do. Even when they do, some just list the KMPs (MD, CFO, CS), while others might extend the courtesy to BU Heads. A few detail the entire team, covering the majority of the functions such as CHRO, Chief Manufacturing Officer, or Head of Ops, etc.
Hence, we have had to extend our research quite a bit to unearth the entire team, often resorting to studying the annual reports, annual returns, and open searches. ๐๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐?
In the Indian context, on average, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ข ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต (๐ต.๐ฌ๐ฎ, ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ) ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ/๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐. In comparison, the Fortune 500 seems to have a larger span of control at 11. This is understandable, as Fortune 500 firms tend to be more global and much larger.
That said, ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ โ these include Chief Accounting Officer, quite separate from Chief Financial Officer; Chief Sustainability Officer; Chief Risk Officer, just to name a few. Even the more established roles like Chief Digital Officer are yet to catch up fully with Indian firms.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ข, ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น.
๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ: The “CEO Landscape 2024” series is based on an analysis of 100 Indian companies across 20 sectors covering both manufacturing and services. Analysis is based on very detailed assessments of CEOs, CFOs, and the entire CXO team, covering nearly 1100 leaders.