Published: 15 February 2024
Only a minority of ongoing business actions align with corporate strategy, too often making already-set corporate strategy obsolete. CFOs should use this research to identify the high-leverage points where they can drive better strategic alignment via their business-facing finance staff.
Often, business actions are not aligned with already-set corporate strategy. Only 46% of business executives and managers believe their own efforts align with corporate strategy, and only 30% of corporate strategists report their organizations’ execution efforts align with corporate strategy.
Strategic misalignment occurs for two primary reasons: Business decision makers lack ongoing visibility into critical project interdependencies and make poor in-the-moment choices when under pressure to react to change.
CFOs themselves can’t and shouldn’t intervene in the everyday decisions that drive strategic misalignment, but they can act preemptively to alert their business-facing finance staff (primarily business unit CFOs and finance
Clients can log in to view the entire document.
Analysts:
Finance Research Team
Gartner research, which includes in-depth proprietary studies, peer and industry best practices, trend analysis and quantitative modeling, enables us to offer innovative approaches that can help you drive stronger, more sustainable business performance.
Our independence as a research firm enables our analysts to provide unbiased advice you can trust.
Not only is Gartner research unbiased, it also contains key take-aways and recommendations for impactful next steps.
Our research practices and procedures distill large volumes of data into clear, precise recommendations.
We provide actionable, objective insight to help organizations make smarter, faster decisions to stay ahead of disruption and accelerate growth.
We offer one-on-one guidance tailored to your mission-critical priorities.
We work with you to select the best-fit providers and tools, so you avoid the costly repercussions of a poor decision.
Connect directly with peers to discuss common issues and initiatives and accelerate, validate and solidify your strategy.
Gartner clients can log in to access the full library.
Attend a Conference
Experience Information Technology conferences
With exclusive insights from Gartner analysts on the latest trends, sessions curated for your role and unmatched peer networking, Gartner conferences help you accelerate your priorities.
Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit
Las Vegas, NV
© 2026 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and its affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner's prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of Gartner's business and technology insights organization, which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartner business and technology insights may address legal and financial issues, Gartner does not provide legal or investment advice and its insights should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by Gartner’s Usage Policy. Gartner prides itself on its reputation for independence and objectivity. Its insights are produced independently by its business and technology insights organization without input or influence from any third party. For further information, see Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity. Gartner publications and other content may not be used as input into or for the training or development of generative artificial intelligence, machine learning, algorithms, software or related technologies.
