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.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀?
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. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄?
In the Indian context, on average, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝟵 (𝟵.𝟬𝟮, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲) 𝗖𝗫𝗢𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗺/𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗨 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀. 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, 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 – 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.
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢, 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹.
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: 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.
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