Strengthening Finance capabilities for Scaling the Business
Tatiana Simonelli, Corporate CFO at Alfasigma
Tatiana Simonelli, Corporate CFO at Alphasigma, spoke at the 2024 Life Sciences Accounting and Reporting Congress in March in Philadelphia about the company’s transition from a structured multinational company into a midsized, private company that has a very ambitious growth agenda and strong financial capabilities.
The Italian, privately owned company was in a very solid financial position, but after three acquisitions, they found themselves in a certain level of debt and would need a “significant level of financial rigor in order to run operations but then also to evaluate future capabilities,” she said.
Although financially solid, Alphasigma needed a new strategy for the company to move forward Simonelli said. She focused on four main points to convey this journey.
Defining purpose
The first point is defining purpose. This may differ from business to business, and it is important that everyone within the organization understands how their purpose is linked to the function of the company, according to Simonelli
“Function should serve the overall company mission,” she said.
After a workshop with her direct reports, Simonelli stated that they had defined the purpose of Alphasigma as creating and sustaining value for community shareholders and patients.
Engage stakeholders
The speaker explained the importance of engaging stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations.
Simonelli said that aligning stakeholders on the direction of change is especially important as it ensures the right support on the implementation of the journey.
Additionally, engaging the team is equally important. She said that together as a team they can only know 80% of the journey and the other 20% is learned through engaging external knowledge.
Transformational roadmap
Simonelli discussed the design of a transformational road map. She said that what might work for one company, may not work for another.
“It is important to understand what is needed in your specific situation in your company and then adjust accordingly.”
She explained that there is a simple theory beginning with defining the purpose of the business, breaking the business into specific business drivers, and then addressing the functional capabilities that are needed to support those drivers.
Quick wins
Keeping your stakeholders and team engaged will ensure that the business sees the additional value that is being generated. Simonelli gave the audience examples of how this has worked within her team, touching on sales reports and designing a planning process.
She further explained that it is important to have the right stakeholders and teams around the business to drive change.
"The change can be addressed piece by piece … otherwise, all of that might seem very overwhelming,” Simonelli said.
“It’s not easy, clearly it’s not, but it is fun. Every time I see that we are doing things a little better, it fills me with an incredible sense of joy and pride for my team.”
