Jany will replace Carolina Dybeck Happe, who left after less than a year in the role.
Maersk has been seeing lots of change to its executive team. Most recently, an incoming addition- Patrick Jany will take the spot of outgoing Carolina Dybeck Happe as CFO.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Jany is expected to shift the Danish shipping giant’s efforts towards more controlled spending and revenue growth during a time of decreasing demand and slowing global growth.
Jany, who is leaving Clariant, will be replaced by Stephan Lynen. The appointment of Lynen is evident of a growing shift towards CFOs with more diverse skillsets- Lynen holds a broad range of experience including internal audit, finance, and information technology.
In a recently published article, the Wall Street Journal stresses that finance chiefs today are responsible for so much more than just the books, with responsibilities ranging from HR, to IT, to risk management. General managers are therefore more equipped to handle the changing role.
“The person in that position just needs to have an evolving skill set,” regardless of their initial training, said Bob Ryan, an executive adviser at Shields Meneley Partners, a career-transition firm that advises executives.
CFOs with operationally oriented backgrounds rather than pure accounting backgrounds will continue to be in demand, and increasingly so, as finance chiefs continue to grow in their role as a strategic partner to the CEO who is integral to the organization’s growth and success.
For example, The Global Treasurer named the FP&A profession as a good place to start if you want to reach the position of CFO. This is because the role involves facing change, risk, and thorough analysis, all while guiding the executive team towards improved decision-making.
"CFOs are now on the front line of technology innovation, and it’s a unique position for them. They’re accustomed to driving process innovation, but technology hasn’t always been a part of it. With the push for digital transformation, CFOs will be more dependent on data analysis to deliver organizational value. This will require them to rethink how they leverage not only technology but people as well." - Terrence McCrossan, Oversight Systems
When bringing together the brains of FP&A professionals with modern financial analytics like DataRails, finance professionals become indispensable, valuable assets to the organization.