icv bulletin march 2013
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
www.controllerverein.com Controlling - Creating Future
Publisher: International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office
Dear Readers! Can you see the signs of spring in your coun-tries? In Poland we have more and more sun and there are first snowdrops blooming! They are the heralds of all ICV events planned for the first half of the year. In this issue as always we invite you to inter-esting conferences that ICV organizes or supports. Among them: two official big con-gresses of the ICV — the traditional 38th Con-troller Congress in Munich, Germany and the 7th International Controller Congress in Poznan, Poland. More about possibilities to meet other controlling specialists on the next pages. Then the history of Poland - the first non-German speaking country in the International Controller Associa-tion. After nine years of its presence in the ICV Poland has now eleven Work Groups. The plan for 2013 it to develop the Association in our country — to gather more individual and company members and to intensive coop-eration with universities with controlling programmes. And of course to organize the Congress — we would like to kindly invite you to participate in it! How do controllers want to build the success of their businesses? How do they respond to the opportunities and threats that they investigate? What do they do to be able to say “Our effi-ciency is growing despite the crisis?“ We will try to an-swer all these questions at the Congress “Higher effi-ciency—new tasks for a Controller” (April 18-19, 2013). This month we present the next person from the ICV Board with a bit of humor. Meet Dr. Walter Schmidt — a man with philosophical nature. Much pleasure while reading!
I hope the spring will bring you much energy and motiva-
tion to develop your careers!
Yours
Dr. Adrianna Lewandowska
ICV Board Member
International
Controller Association
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
In this issue:
What makes the Controller (more) successful?
Nine years of the International Controller Association in Poland
Dr. Walter Schmidt
EVENTS FOR ICV MEMBERS
IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR
7th International Controller Congress “Higher efficiency—new tasks for a Controller”
Poznan (Poland), April 18-19, 2013
38th Controller Congress “Leistung durch Controlling steigern:
die neue Agenda für Controller” Munich (Germany), April 22-23, 2013
1st ICV Controller Convention “Controller as a business partner”
Belgrade (Serbia), May 17, 2013
5th Catalan Congress Accounting and Management
Barcelona (Spain), June 6-7, 2013
A meeting of teachers, academics, members of busi-nesses and the Government with the following objec-tives:
Presentation of innovations in accounting and manage-
ment
Promoting exchange of ideas and experiences be-
tween academic world and world of business
Dissemination of current research results
Central controlling event in Serbia The objective of the Convention is:
Practical learning
Socializing with 150 controllers
Networking
The only one ICV international congress conducted in English organized in Europe. Very high technical exper-tise each year, competent speakers and the quality of organization gave the Congress permanent place in the diaries of all controllers and financial executives for whom it is very important to enhance their skills.
The main controlling event of the Association. The Con-trollerPrize of the International Controller Association will be awarded on the Congress on April 22, 2013.
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
What makes the Controller (more) successful? The Dream Car Report of the Idea Workshop in the International Controller Association 2012 By Andreas Aschenbrücker, Péter Horváth and Uwe Michel
It was 1974 when Albrecht Deyhle illustrated the famous drawing the Controller - manager dialogue. The Controlling is first of all a behavioural control, therefore most important is what happens “under the table”. If we look at it in practice, we see that the cooperation between Controller and man-ager has a focus on rational things, that is the ones that lie “on the table”. If we are “rational”, we don’t realize how the behaviour that happens “under the table” influences the Con-trolling. The Management Board of the International Controlling As-sociation (ICV) and the idea workshop recognised that there is a need to work out the practicable knowledge and then to put it into practice. Important stimuli for the decision to inves-tigate behavioural aspects of the Controlling were delivered by new insights from psychology. They show that our ration-ality is frequently influenced by distortion: This article is a summary of the Dream Car Report "What makes the control-ler (more) successful: It all depends on the behaviour!" from the idea workshop in ICV. […] The article is divided into four parts. Just after the introduc-tion, it explains what is understood under behaviour and what is the role of rationality and the use of different ways of thinking and the cognitive heterogeneity the cooperation between manager and Controller. The answer to the ques-tion how do the manager and Controller make the decisions will depend on different understandings of rationality. The analytic model of homo economicus was strongly criticized in the last decades. The thesis on unlimited rationality of peo-ple's decisions has been replaced by the assumption of limited rationality. Therefore we need to ask the question of what does a Controller have to regard under the assump-tion of limited rationality. We will also show under what cir-cumstances using simpler forms of decision-making leads to more satisfying solutions than analytical methods. For each part of the article we would like to present recommendations for more successful and behaviour-oriented controlling. The homo economicus is dead! The decisions made by Managers, Controllers and generally people are influenced by cognitive limitations (ability deficits) and motivational factors (willing deficits). The way of making decisions depends very strongly on how we understand ra-tionality. In Economics, we understand rationality as the „strive” o the long-term success of the company and the ap-propriate assignment of the available resources, i.e. resource-benefit ratio. The concept of decision-oriented Controlling assumes that people's rationality is unlimited. Rational be-haviour means this sense, that people know how to use all the different options and always calculate which decision is the best. The Controller must give the Manager all the most relevant information, so that the Manager can take the opti-mal decision. The Nobel laureate Herbert A. Simon (1955,1956 and 1959) presented as the first thesis that people's capability of making rational decisions i s not unlimited. The rea-sons he mentions, are the of the brain and the com-plex, uncertain future. They both prevent having the knowledge of all the options and of their respec-tive benefits. Simon introduced a term for it:
Dipl.-Kfm. Dipl.-Sportwiss. Andreas Aschenbrücker Researcher IPRI, Coordinator of the Idea Workshop of the ICV [email protected] Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Péter Horváth Managing Director IPRI, Chairman of the Supervisory bo-ard Horváth AG, Co-Head of the Idea Workshop ICV [email protected] Dr. Uwe Michel Member of the board Horváth AG, Co-Head of the Idea Workshop ICV [email protected]
“bounded rationality”. The consequence of bounded rationality is the fundamental inability of peo-ple to make optimal decisions. Therefore Simon claims that people do not look for the optimal solution but search for the most satisfying one. This decision- making behaviour is described by him as 'satisfying'. As soon as the option reaches one's level of aspiration or the aspiration level of the company, it is selected and the search for the other possibilities is closed, even if better “models” were possible.
The idea of bounded rationality was picked up by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (1974) and they proved that human decisions differ from the Homo Economicus theory. Instead, people use cognitive heuristics, for example the availability heuristic, in order to reduce the complexity of a decision. The availability heuristic describes the phenome-non where decisions are made on the basis of the currently available information. People decide to buy a particular sort of coffee because it is known or they saw it on TV. The con-sequence of the reduction of complexity are cognitive distor-tions (so called ”biases”) in human behaviour, deviations from ideal of rational decisions. These arise because deci-sions can not be made on the basis of knowing all options and their benefits. Or maybe you know all the kinds of cof-fee in the supermarket and you can classify their taste and assess their value?
The only German Nobel laureate for economics, Reinhard Selten, points out that sub-optimal decisions are an integral part of the concept of bounded rationality. A rational ideal of different decision is no exception, but a rule. The ABC Group Gerd Gigerenzer and the staff of the Berlin Max Planck Institute for Human Development develop a model of human decision-making behaviour, which in addi-tion to cognitive restrictions considers also human striving for “satisfying” (see Gigerenzer et al. 1999).
Read the whole Controller Magazin Article in English: http://w w w . c o n t r o l l e r v e r e i n . c o m / i n d e x . p h p ?PHPSESSID=qoff5n1huoshv30085ug7kgca2&id=168066
© International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office
Autors:
© International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
The history of the ICV in Poland goes back to October 2004 when the first meeting took place. It was Dr. Herwig Friedag — then the Head of the Work Group Berlin-Brandenburg, now the Head of the Public Relations Committee — who enthused Dr. Adrianna Lewandowska with his passion for the ICV. The interest in the topic “Balanced Scorecard in modern managed enterprises” showed how high is the need for knowledge and experience exchange among Polish con-trollers and CFOs. Poland was the first non-German speak-ing country in the Association. And Poznan became the capital of Polish controlling. Other work groups were built soon after the first successful workshop (at first Zielona Gora and Wroclaw and then other cities in the whole coun-try: Szczecin, Warszawa, Gdansk, Torun, Lodz, Lublin, Kra-kow and Katowice). Many highly qualified employees in Po-land started discovering new and very target-oriented tasks: how to think strategically, how to act respectively and also how to report on the proceedings. This way the controlling philosophy spread. Today an increasing number of control-lers exists, strengthening corporate management.
Wroclaw 2006
There is a high variety regarding the form of the meetings. Some of the work groups prefer one-day meetings and some are keen on away meetings lasting two days. For nine years there were many topics and many trainers — from inside and outside the ICV, also from abroad (Dr. Herwig Friedag and Dr. Walter Schmidt). Polish members were interested in topics like “Role and responsibility of a control-ler in a corporation”, “NeuroManagement”., “One page only for reporting”, “Modern Budgeting”, “Time - Driven Activity Based Costing”, “Time management”, “Projects’ budgets”, “Excel in the job of a controller” etc. The evening integration is an indispensable part of the workshops. The Association in Poland is developing—not only does it have new individual members and regular participants of the workshops and the International Controller Congress, but also new company members (after Volkswagen Poznan Sp.
z o.o. — Santander Consumer Bank S.A. and Poznan Uni-versity of Economics). The plan for 2013 is to gather more company members, also among universities offering control- ling programmes. The controlling programmes of studies will be checked and then certified by the ICV so that they were harmonious with the ICV philosophy.
Lublin 2008
A lot has changes for these nine years. After many new controlling centres were established, we still have our main event of the year in Poznan — this year the International Controller Congress takes place for the seventh time. Dr Adrianna Lewandowska is no longer the Head of the WG Poznan or a Polish National Delegate—she’s now a Board Member. There are new work groups and new WG-Leaders. We have new ICV members—these from leading Polish and international companies and from small businesses. Experi-enced one and those who are just beginning their career as controllers. But it’s still one ICV—creating future.
CIA 2012, In volatile times—Controller as a Business Partner
Nine years of the International Controller
Association in Poland
Beginning of March is always time of meetings of the Polish work groups’ Leaders. This year they met in Poznan to discuss the strategy of Polish work groups and the organization of the Office in Poland for 2013. There are plans to win more company members and to intensify cooperation with uni-versities. But it was also a possibility to recollect the past — building eleven Polish work groups and organizing meetings for controllers who would like to develop their skills.
© International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
© International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
All he loves is philosophy, dispute, his family... and the ICV "Philosopher" in the Board of the International Controller Association, a graduated chemist and a doctorate in eco-nomics , a specialist in strategy development and imple-mentation, author of several publications, founder of the ICV Work Group England and… a rock man… May I present Dr. Walter Schmidt! He is the "philosopher" in the Board of the International Controller Association: Dr. Walter Schmidt from Berlin. Besides his “love for the dispute”, he is an open minded and friendly person who stirs up the sympathy of the peo-ple around him. A graduated chemist and a doctorate in economics worked initially as a planning engineer, then in the 80s as a strategical and conceptual engineer in the oil industry. In 1990 he became a consultant and the managing Director in an investment advisory company in Berlin. Since 2003 he is a specialist in strategy develop-ment and implementation, for the development of man-agement accounting systems and the dynamic busi-
ness models as well as for the assessment and recogni-tion of potential (intangible assets) and he is also the owner of „ask – angewandte strategie und kommunika-tion“. Dr. Schmidt is known among the experts through his nu-merous publications of professional books and articles about business management topics (Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, Controlling). Together with the Berlin consult-ant Dr. Herwig R. Friedag he wrote several business Bestseller for Balanced Scorecard. Schmidt and Friedag are also working together since 1996 as a consultant team. Dr. Walter Schmidt is a founding member of the Idea Workshop in the Association. Since 2002 he was the Head of the Regional ICV Work Group Berlin - Branden-burg. Finally he became a member of the Board and thus a contact person for the work groups in the region North and East Germany as well as for leading experts in “Controlling and IFRS”, ”Controlling and quality”, “Communication Controlling” and “Working Capital Man-agement”. With great dedication he pushes ahead with the internationalization of the ICV. Many controllers in non-German-speaking countries - particularly in Poland and the Baltic states - know him for numerous visits and
lectures. Dr. Schmidt was most recently founder of the Work Group England and is now preparing a first regional work group in Italy. Who gets to know Walter Schmidt closer can experience some interesting surprise. Who would suspect that as a young man he used to play rock music and mastered several musical in-struments? His preferences heard old music from the 16th cen-tury. The "pleasure-man", who became the proud grandfather these days, loves holidays with his long- standing wife in south of France and on the Baltic coast. Each year he makes also monastic vacations. The book-lover keeps physically fit with daily half-hour morning exercise and an annual bike ride through new regions. I take the pleasure to work with Dr. Walter Schmidt already more than 10 years. I had the opportunity to get to know him better through many private conversations and the trips that we made together. And I hope, that the now 62-year-old philoso-pher will soon write the exciting story of his life and his ances-tors.
Hans-Peter Sander ICV Press Manager
In this issue the next caricature of the series presen-ting the Members of the ICV Board with tongue in cheek. In this issue we have Dr. Walter Schmidt’s turn. Your Bulletin Team —in the hope that the Board has sen-se of humor...
„Who has the will for success can achieve it!” Dr. Schmidt’s motto
ICV Bulletin | March 2013
Bosna and Hercegovina Slavko Simić [email protected] Bulgaria Denko Yamboliev [email protected]
Croatia Jasmina Očko [email protected] Great Britain Milena Heim [email protected]
Estonia
Toomas Haldma
Lithuania Edita Gimžauskienė [email protected]
Hungary Budapest 1 Ervin Nemesdy [email protected]
Budapest 2 Andreas Kovacs [email protected]
Poland Gdańsk Robert Panufnik [email protected]
Katowice Anna Jarkulisz [email protected] Kraków Dorota Gołąb-Bełtowicz [email protected]
Lublin Paweł Rafalski [email protected]
Łódź Karolina Zielińska [email protected]
Poznań Dariusz Gulczyński [email protected]
Szczecin Aleksander Socha [email protected]
Toruń Andrzej Derkowski [email protected]
Warszawa Karol Sikora [email protected]
Wrocław Honorata Ulatowska [email protected]
Zielona Góra Małgorzata Lepak [email protected]
Romania Cristina Hodea [email protected]
Russia Valentin Usenkov [email protected]
Serbia Bojan Šćepanović [email protected] Slovenia Dragica Erčulj [email protected]
Spain Ulrich Müller Bosom [email protected]
Imprint
Publisher and Copyrights:
International Controller Association
Public Relations Committee
Editing
Brigitte Dienstl-Arnegger
Dr. Herwig Friedag
Dr. Adrianna Lewandowska
Hans-Peter Sander
Anna Włodarczyk
International Controller Association ICV Office Poland Ul.Fredry 7/1 61-809 Poznań PL Phone/Fax +48 61 853 20 10 Mail: [email protected]
Only until April 21, 2013 (day of the general meeting) will Dr. Herwig Friedag be the Head of the Public Relations Committee. He has actively worked in the Com-mittee for 20 years, mostly as its Head. As Siegfried Gänßlen says: "With his long years work Herwig Friedag sacrificed his lifeblood and engagement to the ICV PR-projects. He (…) raised the „digital world“ of the ICV to the next level. Until today there is no successor arrangement, but the Board will try to find a solution by the general meeting”.
The ICV-Office in Munich changed its address! The new address is: Münchner Str. 8 D-82237 Wörthsee Germany Tel.+49-(0)8153-88 974-20 Fax: +49-(0)8153-88 974-31
All work groups in non-German speaking countries
ICV Mission Statement
The ICV is the biggest controller
organization in Europe being a non
-commercially oriented associa-
tion .
ICV Key Objectives
The ICV as an active
international network
enhances the function
of practically applied
controlling and the role
of the controller
in the responsibility
for successful
company management.