Haider Manasawala, Regional Finance Head of Chevron, explores strategic initiatives to align procurement with finance

Haider Manasawala is the Regional Finance Head and Board Member at Chevron Products, taking charge of Europe, Africa, Middle East, & South Asia. With a total of 27 years in the finance industry, of which 23 years are in Chevron, Haider is here with crucial and insightful opinions on how in our rapidly changing world, finance professionals must embrace strategic initiatives to stay relevant.

He covers topics such as the top 3 things CFOs must focus on in this VUCA (Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, emphasis, how the relationship between procurement and finance increases the efficiencies in organizations. This is crucial as the collaboration between finance and procurement improves productivity, optimises savings with shared information, and provides a more accurate database for budgeting and decision making, among other reasons. He also discusses about integrating ESG considerations into business strategy.

Could you tell us about yourself and how you came to be the Regional Finance Head at Chevron?

Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to share information about myself and my thoughts on this forum. I have been working at Chevron for more than 23 years and I have performed a wide variety of functions in the finance industry in many countries, covering Chevron’s downstream, chemicals and upstream businesses, and corporate finance activities. My current role entails providing finance oversight for Chevron’s operations in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and South Asia region. In terms of my education, I have earned an MBA in general management, hold Chartered Accountant designations from India and Australia New Zealand, and a CPA designation from USA. I am also a member of Singapore Institute of Directors, serving on several Chevron subsidiary and joint venture boards as part of my responsibilities.

What are top 3 things CFOs must focus on in this VUCA (Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world?

Indeed, we live in a world where volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are pervasive. As businesses evolve, transform, and adopt to this rapid and everchanging landscape, finance professionals and leaders can not afford to sit still.

For financial functions to be effective and continue to be relevant to the business, they need to focus on the following three strategic initiatives:

1. Shifting emphasis from transactional to higher value adding activities, e.g. strategic partnering and planning, business analytics and decision support, forward looking analysis, making predictions, and prescribing actions. Judiciously use of technologies - Intelligent automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to facilitate this transformation. Whilst traditional finance activities of transactional accounting, reporting, and fiduciary responsibilities are important and cannot be abandoned, they cannot be the sole purpose of financial functions’ existence. These activities should be streamlined and automated to the greatest extent possible, eliminating inefficiencies and freeing up resources for more value adding activities.
2. Building a highly skilled team of finance professionals, who are commercially savvy, command respect for their expertise, and are sought after by their business colleagues for their financial acumen and insights. Lead a learning finance organisation that is constantly upgrading and moving up the value chain.
3. Exploiting data to create value by driving insightful decisions and actions, giving their enterprises a competitive advantage. Managing and stewarding data as a strategic asset. Finance functions must continue to innovate, or risk being replaced!

How can the relationship between procurement and business increase the efficiencies in organizations?

Organisations have two ways of enhancing businesses bottom line – One way is to increase revenues by increasing volumes or obtaining higher prices for their goods and services and the second way is to reduce costs of supplying those good and services to their customers and lower operating expenses.

Procurement function can play critical role by sourcing and buying goods and services at the most competitive prices and in the most efficient manner possible, resulting in cost savings and driving efficiencies. It is therefore important for the businesses to work very closely with their procurement function and ensure their objectives are strategically aligned with that of the business. Additionally, procurement functions and businesses must work together to build strategic relationships with their suppliers so that they have reliable and efficient supply chain network that delivers high quality goods and services at the most competitive prices possible.

Close relationship between procurement function and business will help business manage market, price, and business continuity risks more effectively. As procurement function and business work together exchanging valuable information, data, and trends on spending, suppliers’ performance, and changing market landscape, etc, this collaborative effort supported by technology will help organisations in identifying greater cost saving opportunities and enable more informed decision-making on pricing and on other growth and profit drivers.

How do you empower your colleagues with better buying solutions?

First and foremost, we need to provide our colleagues the right tools, technology and necessary training to enable them to make better, faster decisions, and positively contribute to the organisation’s bottom line. The organisation also needs to have very clear procurement processes and policies that are aligned with its objectives so that colleagues are clear about the expectations and actively work towards achieving and even exceeding organisational goals. Organisations must promote cross-functional collaboration between procurement and all the critical functions that work closely with procurement so there is greater understanding of each other’s expectations, and they support and work with one another in a cohesive manner.

As a Finance Head, how are you creating prosperity through local and inclusive economic opportunity?

When we invest in our business or projects there is always emphasis on supporting local communities, local suppliers and create local employment opportunities. We collaborate with government and non-governmental local organisations to support growth in the local economies. We integrate practices in our investment decision making that support environmental, social and governance goals of our company.

What is the role of Finance in exploiting data to create value by driving insightful decisions and actions?

As part of their role in the organisation, finance function has access to considerable amount of financial and operational information. They have a responsibility in organising and leveraging this data to provide meaningful analysis and insights to enable better, faster and well-informed decision making.

Firstly, they can use their querying and audit capabilities to ensure accuracy and integrity of the data.

Secondly, they can use this accurate and relevant data to identify trends and patterns and develop models that provide a forward-looking view for business to make better decisions on matters such as working capital, future investments and capital allocations, resourcing and pricing strategies. They can also use this information to provide better analysis of overall business performance, its health, strengths and weaknesses by looking at metrics such as revenue growth, profitability, cash flows, return on capital employed, cost efficiency and other financial key performance indicators.

Thirdly, they can use this data to assess risks to the businesses and recommend mitigating actions to protect the organisation’s financial health and position it for future growth. Finance leaders have a great opportunity to leverage technology and automation to collect, process and analyse valuable data and provide.

How can you implement a measurable and tangible ESG framework that meets company margins and improves innovation?

Incorporating ESG considerations into business strategy is no longer an option but an imperative. Expenditure on ESG shouldn’t be seen as costs but investments in business that will bring tangible (financial) and non-tangible benefits. It is very important the organisation clearly defines what their ESG objectives are. The next step is to articulate key targets and metrics that are in alignment with the organisation’s business and the industry they belong to. It is important to focus on ESG issues that are most relevant and impactful to the business and all the concerned stakeholders, e.g., shareholders/investors, employees, customers, communities in which the business operates in.

Ensure you have established KPIs that measure and track progress and success of the organisation in meeting these goals. Report progress on these goals and metrics regularly to the stakeholders. This is a continuous journey and therefore, organisation must constantly evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of their ESG strategies, adjust and adapt where there are challenges and promote successes.

What are some of the key topics which you are keen to listen to during procureCon Asia 2023?

I would like to learn more about the latest and greatest technologies which are available and emerging that will transform procurement processes and functions in the future.

What are 2 key benefits of joining procureCon Asia?

Firstly, hear and learn from the highly accomplished professionals, experts and solution providers in the region from the field of procurement. Secondly, great opportunity to meet, network and build relationships with them.

Haider will be speaking on the 12th July 2023, 9:30am at ProcureCon Asia on "C-Suite [CFO/CPO] Expectations Explained: Managing expectations: Is there a misalignment between procurement and business? What procurement wants to do vs. what the business wants procurement to do?" Sign up here!