James Tucker
Managing Director & Senior Partner; Global Leader, Center for CFO Excellence
Toronto
James Tucker is the leader of Boston Consulting Group’s People & Organization practice in Canada and a member of the Corporate Development, Health Care, Consumer, Financial Institutions, and Marketing, Sales & Pricing practices.
Since joining BCG in 2006, James has worked extensively with corporate finance functions to determine their vision, mission, strategy, organization structure, capability profiles, engagement models, and supporting processes and systems.
He also has extensive expertise on a broad range of organizational projects across industries, including running project management offices, creating and launching transformation programs, and driving organization redesign efforts. James is a Six Sigma Black Belt and an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management. He is active in the community as a director on the boards of the West Park Healthcare Centre and the Facility Association. In addition, he has worked with numerous charities, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Out of the Cold program, and Junior Achievement. He has also supported youth education by helping to develop a Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Toronto.
In 2010, he was presented with the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship by the lieutenant governor (the province’s second-highest honor).
Prior to joining BCG James spent more than 15 years in a variety of industries, including work at Molson Coors and CTV, as well as owning and operating his own business.
Our new global CFO survey during the COVID-19 crisis reveals that many CFOs are less pessimistic than they were when we first conducted the survey in April. In fact, half of the respondents have a more positive outlook, while about one-third have more negative expectations. This change in outlook naturally varies by industry: semiconductor, retail, and software and services CFOs are much more optimistic about the revenue and profit impact of the pandemic than they were in April, while CFOs in industrial goods industries (such as automotive) still see relatively little cause for optimism. (See the sidebar “About the Survey.”)
CFOs, though surprisingly pessimistic, are making the right moves to keep their businesses viable. To prepare for the future, they should take a scenario-based approach to balance financial discipline with strategic flexibility.
Only a few CFOs lead finance functions that truly outperform in both efficiency and effectiveness. Here’s what sets them apart.
CFOs can maintain a relentless focus on value creation by serving as strategic advisors to business leaders, overseeing performance, and communicating a persuasive equity story to investors.
CFOs are under the gun. They need to manage the growing burden of regulatory controls while being proactive advisors to the business and ensuring a focus on the bottom line.
Managing risk involves more than complex financial models and formal systems. Here are ten basic principles that should govern the art of risk management.
Before investing in new performance management systems, leaders need to identify the metrics that really matter and design processes for translating data into effective decision making.
