Chief visionary officer

Role and function

The CVO is expected to have a broad and comprehensive knowledge of all matters related to the business of the organization, as well as the vision required to steer its course into the future. The person in charge must have the core-competencies of every executive, and the visionary ideas to move the company forward, defining corporate strategies and working plans.

The role has expanded to include formalizing the company’s strategic-planning processes, forging new working relationships and synergies across the organization, and establishing greater transparency and accountability for those people carrying out the company’s strategy.

Companies add CVOs to their management teams, or sometimes a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), for different reasons :

• Changes to the business landscape;
• Complex organizational structures;
• Rapid globalization;
• New regulations;
• Need to innovate.

These reasons make it more difficult for CEOs to be on top of everything, even in areas as important as strategy execution and vision direction.

Strategy development has become a continuous process, and successful execution depends on rapid and effective decision-making. Further, as Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Bower has noted: "Iron-fisted control of execution often eludes the top team’s grasp, as line executives seek to define strategy on their own terms."

References

References

1. Bower, J.L.. (2007-06-26). "How managers' everyday decisions create or destroy your company's strategy". Strategic Direction.