Icv bulletin, march 2012

International
Controller Association

In this issue:
 Invitation to two ICV
Congresses
 Higher Level - for Controllers
for Controlling
ICV Bulletin | No. 2 | March 2012  Review of the Work Group
„Modern Budgeting”

Dear Readers!
1000 international guests
Spring is almost upon us! Inspired by the
good vibes and motivated by your positive
response to the last issue of the ICV Bul- 40 speakers from all over the world
letin we prepared the second one - a little
thicker this time. 100 controlling issues
On the spring map of the ICV there are
two major events prominent: two Interna- 2 cities: Poznań, Munich
tional Controller Congresses. The first one
takes place in Poznań (p. 6) on April 26-
27 (all presentations will be either held in
2 International Controller Congresses
English or simultaneously interpreted into
English). And the second one, the Ger- One ICV
man ICV Congress, which is due on May
7-8. We warmly invite you to both of them as we firmly be-
lieve that our experts’ presentations and our international
guests will greatly contribute to your professional and per-
sonal development.
In the last issue we published 10 core elements of sustain-
able controlling for a reason. We have decided to assess all
our member companies according to these values. We have
started with Volkswagen Poznań (p. 3-4). However,
examining a company as a whole is not enough so we
publish in this issue an article (p. 2-3) which is aimed at
assessing the value system of individual employees - the
DNA of a company. We are going to conduct serveys based
on that article among our company members’ employees. In
that way we will have examined the ’’body” of a company with
10 core ICV elements and its DNA with serveys conducted
among its employees.
For regional events let us take you on a trip to Spain (p. 5).
And on pages 6-7 you will find a review of the work group
“modern budgeting” by Prof. Dr. Ronald Gleich, which con-
tains many practical insights into the recent methods of budg- MUNICH POZNAÑ
eting.
I have recently become the feeling that we the Board need to Nachhaltig Erfolgreich: Controller as a Business
become a bit more approachable for you. And is there a bet- Controller als Business Partner in Volatile Times
ter way to approach a person than with a bit of humor? That Partner
is why we have started a series presenting all ICV Board
Members with tongue in cheek. This time its Chairman Sieg-
fried Gänßlen’s turn, but the rest (including me) better be
wary - you never know what the next issue of the Bulletin may Do plenty of networking with financial directors,
bring :-). managers and controllers from all over the world

I am looking forward to seeing you in Munich or Poznań Exchange knowledge and experiences with
Yours the best professionals out there
Dr. Adrianna Lewandowska, ICV Board Member
Get to the cutting edge of controlling solutions

www.controllerverein.com Controlling - Shaping the Future
Publisher: International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office

ICV Bulletin | No. 2 | March 2012

Higher Level – for Controllers,
for Controlling
by Jens Hofacker

Controlling has become more important in recent years. Yet
some controllers still feel underestimated or undervalued. They
think that they are not enough appreciated personally as well
as professionally. In this case, it is useful to critically examine
our personal contribution to controlling, cooperation with other
controllers and cooperation with other company branches.

1. Are you a team player? Growing demands make suc-
cessful controlling effective only in a team. Criticism within a
team is necessary for development, criticism of individual
colleagues destructs the basis of cooperation. When did you
last time help – actively and unasked for - a colleague with
something?

2. Do you meet the standards? Controller tasks can be de-
scribed using two criteria: quality and quantity. Quality always
remains subjective to a certain degree, quantity does not. That
is why all arranged appointments should be kept. When did you
last time fail to keep your appointment? Did you have an ex-
cuse or did you make one up?

3. Do you constantly improve your skills? With the fast
changing tasks it is indispensible to set a high priority on
further education in order to avoid the risk of becoming ex-
pendable. We are not talking here so much about funda-
mental questions as about concrete command of certain
tools. Also superiors need to know about the tools which are
used by their staff. An important report should not be aban-
doned because a colleague has gone on leave and his/her
stand-in is ill. Which controlling tool not already used last 8. Do you cooperate with other company branches? It
year do you use today? involves working together, not side by side. Tasks can in
consequence last longer and result in higher costs, but the
4. Are you constantly engaged in improving yourself? skills and contacts to be gained from that will in longer terms
Not more, but better information is required. Special reports more than make up for it. When and which other staff units
should not be changed quarterly, however ongoing sugges- did you help to improve their own performances?
tions can be collected for a yearly adjustment. Tasks are
seldom documented and learn effects recorded. When did 9. Do you place highest standards for cooperation with
you last time improve standard of your information? other parties? The reputation of the department as well as
of the individual persons requires it. Not only the promises
5. Do you complete special tasks quickly with a report? are to be kept, but also the personal friendly relations with
After the information has been collected and evaluated, the our contact persons and the quick and clear reaction on
report recipients should receive first results after three days, inquires are to be defined and it has to be guaranteed that
at the latest. In two weeks’ time the final results should be they will be kept. How long does it take you to react on a
ready and possible measures implemented. Are all special question?
tasks accomplished with a report or is there still need for clari-
fication and improvement? 10. Do you set high standards? Best individual achieve-
ment pales when compared to the average results of the
6. Do you hold your convictions and values on every next task. The recognition of the individual controller is
hierarchy level within the company? Especially by critical inseparably connected with the department.
questions which cannot be wholly quantified the top manage- The impression you make is equally important as the rest of
ment accepts as equal only contact persons having clear your work. Are your standards defined and does regular
convictions. When did you last time represent the views of a verification take place?
minority group?
11. Do you always provide top performance? Controllers
7. Who do you work for? Each staff member has superi- work together with manifold company hierarchy levels. A
ors, controlling department reports usually to company man- controller that provides the recipient of the information with
agement. But what is the relation to the units that accom- value-adding information is not overseen long when inter-
pany controlling in everyday business? Only those who re- esting tasks appear in the company. After realizing that con-
gard themselves as real partners and service providers trolling is a good springboard, the attention of potential can-
will gain confidence and also find and carry through joint didates increases and a self-reinforcing cycle develops.
2 solutions. Where do you simplify tasks, where do you com- When did you last time provide unexpected added value
plicate facts? for the top management?

© International Controller Association ICV | Poznań Office


12. Do you treat your partners in a polite and respectful these actions result in. It is not enough to deliver standard re-
manner? We are not talking about the information recipient ports. Ongoing communication enables controllers
from the top management, but about colleagues in the com- to also adopt once in a while a different method, look for new
pany units. Unfortunately, bad behavior becomes more of- solutions and communicate openly a possible failure. Do your
ten the reality of everyday work. Nothing makes long-lasting service recipients really know, what you are doing?
enemies as good as belittling somebody or, even worse,
belittling somebody in front of other parties. Certain things 14. Are you ready for changes? Many professionals have
can remain unnoticed in the thick of the action. That is why been working in controlling for many years, without losing
controllers should give also each other feedback. Is there the necessary enthusiasm and they still infect their informa-
zero tolerance for belittling? tion recipients and colleagues with their engagement. How-
ever, it can still be the case that we lose the enthusiasm.
13. Do you notify your information recipients regularly Then you should allow your profession, colleagues, and
about your tasks and results? Both the superiors within the most importantly yourself a favor and grasp for a new task.
department and the company management want to know what When did you last time assess your personal engage-
controllers do, what the aims of their actions are and what ment? How has it developed in the last three years?

Volkswagen Poznań – a Paragon of ICV Values
by Małgorzata Podskarbi and Piotr Buza

10 core elements of sustainable controlling by ICV Board member Prof. Dr. Losbichler published in the last issue of the Bulletin
can be treated as a benchmark for all companies dealing with controlling issues. It would be perfect, if these 10 elements were
indeed at the “core” of all companies, especially at the core of ICV member companies. The 10 elements look at a company as
a whole - at a company’s, so to say, “body”. Whereas the 14 questions stated in the above article by Jens Hofacker are aimed
at assessing individual employees, “the DNA of a company”.

This time the Bulletin team Sustainable value creation
have taken on its sights
Volkswagen Poznań, one The word “volatile” seems to have dominated all media in
of our recent company recent years. The Oxford English Dictionary describes the
members. In this issue we adjective, for example, as: ’’showing sharp changes in price
look at the “body” of Volks- or value; unstable.’’ Volatility has in fact become a new nor-
wagen Poznań by con- mality. Be it politics, economics or even climate - we have to
fronting it with 10 core deal with volatility. However, this by no means positive word
elements of sustainable has got competition now. One of the its definitions in the
controlling. And in the next OED is as follows: ”Able to be maintained at a certain rate or
issue we will examine its level.”. Yes, you’ve got it - we are talking about the adjective:
DNA by carrying out a sustainable. These two words are jockeying for the first place
survey among its employ- in the media, often running head-to-head like in the sen-
ees. Our insider in VW tence: sustainable growth in the volatile times. And the
Poznań was Małgorzata Podskarbi (photo), coordinator for team at Volkswagen Poznań is rooting for ‘’sustainable’’
investment controlling and head of the ICV work group wholeheartedly.
Poznań-Brandenburg, who provided us with concrete and
undeniable examples of her company implementing the Volkswagen Poznań is set on keeping its quality standards at
ICV values. She fleshed out all ten ICV values with exam- the highest level, honing its processes to perfection. By do-
ples leaving no doubt that for Volkswagen Poznań control- ing so, they have managed to sustain their position as a
ling is a matter of high priority. Let’s look at some of them. leader in the car industry. This is what they do every day in

3


ICV Bulletin | No. 1 |2December 2011
ICV Bulletin | No. | March 2012

the matter of sustainability. However, if you want to guar- to be response-able, to be able to respond appropriately VW
antee a sustainable growth in your company, you need to Poznań has introduced a transparent reporting system for
have a wider perspective - to forecast the future and ana- its internal partners such as KPIs (key performance indica-
lyze the past. That’s why they have implemented into their tors). Volkswagen Poznań makes also use of measurement
financial structure the ROI ratio (return on investment) and tools and ratios which are relevant to its strategy and mis-
the EVA (economic value added) ratio – both telltale indica- sion statement. Last but not least, if we want to be success-
tors. Sustainable value creation can be weakened by all fully proactive, we need to act with common sense. And
kinds of risks and there is no way to wish them away. The Volkswagen Poznań makes an impression of a company
only possibility is to manage these risks effectively. Thus with common sense.
VW Poznań implemented strategic management in 2010
and since then the VW team has taken a professional ap-
proach to it. These and other measures guarantee in VW Representing the company's values
Poznań sustainable value creation, even in such highly
volatile times as we are living in now. Małgosia Podskarbi, our insider at VW Poznań, has actually
herself greatly contributed to spreading the values of her
company across all organizational levels. She has created a
Taking actions above all project that aims at raising awareness of the VW Poznań
values among all its employees. The idea behind her pro-
In his perennial bestseller „The Seven Habits of Highly Ef- ject, which will be implemented at Volkswagen Nutzfahr-
fective People” (Time listed it as one of "The 25 Most Influ- zeuge in Hannover, is to get more “entrepreneurs in the VW
ential Business Management Books") Steven R. Covey ana- enterprise”. She believes, and so does the team of the ICV
lyzes habits which help people reach personal and social bulletin, that educating internal business partners is a good
success. The first habit he gives is surprisingly similar to method of ratcheting up the company’s profitability. For ex-
one of the ICV core elements. It reads: “Be proactive”, ample, providing employees with basic knowledge of con-
whereas the ICV fifth core elements is: “Taking actions trolling boosts economical attitudes which has an impact on
above all”. the financial situation and liquidity of the company.
Małgosia Podskarbi left us with the impression that VW We are proud to announce that Małgosia Podskarbi is go-
Poznań has got much to say in the matter of being proac- ing to be one of the speakers at the International Controller
tive. Being proactive means not only taking initiative, but Congress in Poznań on 26-27 April (look page 6), where
equally important is learning from one’s own experiences she will present her innovative project in more detail.
and, above all, being responsible for your actions. In order

FILL THIS SPACE UP BY BECOMING
THE 50th MEMBER OF THIS COMPANY

Arguments in favor of a company membership:

 The company belongs to a widely recognized and the biggest (more than 6,000 members) Controller Association in the German
speaking region
 The company promotes the International Controller Association through its membership fee: the Association has gained a reputa-
tion as a non-profit organization
 Exchange of experience with other controllers from different business sectors and companies
 Free of charge participation in meetings organized by a chosen regional work group (the work groups meet, as a rule, two times a
year for one day. Profits: two free of charge seminars annually!)
 Free subscription to the Controller Magazine (6 issues per year), subscription included in membership fee
 Free special subscription to controlling statements
 Preferential price for visits at the Controller Congress, regional conferences as well as branch conferences
4
 The possibility to use the ICV Office as a competent support



ICV WORK GROUP SPAIN
by Ulrich Müller Bosom and Piotr Buza

The Spanish ICV work group gathers monthly on its meetings called “Stammtisch” in the
hotel Regina in Barcelona. By organizing these meetings Ulrich Müller Bosom (interview
below), the leader of the work group Spain, wants to give people the opportunity to
improve their controlling knowledge. Getting people together and making them do
something is all but easy, but the Spanish work group is determined to promote the
controlling philosophy and values represented by the ICV. Apart from “Stammtisch” they
have twice a year a funny dinner in a nice restaurant near the beach and other events
such as Breakfast Meetings at Ernst&Young.

perspectives, leaving no stone unturned. The event ended
Creative Tension in Barcelona with a breakfast, it was after all a Breakfast Meeting, spon-
sored by Ernst & Young. The breakfast proceeded in a
The last Breakfast Meeting took place on February 9 at 8:30 pleasant atmosphere best suited to do a bit of networking.
o’clock, sharp. As the venues for the meeting served, as The next Breakfast Meeting is due on May this year.
usually, the top hall of the office of Ernst & Young Barce-
lona. The hall enjoys a commanding view of Barcelona with
its incredible cityscape - so the good vibes of the place im-
mediately put the participants into a good mood with crea-
tive tension hovering over their heads.

There were 47 participants and Mr. Cyril Helbert, Vice Presi-
dent Finance & Controlling from Schneider Electric Spain,
the global specialist in energy management, took the
floor. He took the plunge and talked about the topic that is
being struggled with by all kinds of specialists worldwide: he
talked about controlling in volatile times and managed to
“tame this pretty large beast of a topic”. After his full of fasci-
nating insights presentation the Breakfast Meeting partici-
pants had a round of discussions. They looked at the issue
Members of the ICV work group at their summer meeting
of controlling in volatile times from all possible angles and

U.M.B.: What about the language barrier, I know you
An Interview with speak German, but it is probably quite an issue for the
a Man with three Spanish ICV members that all materials are in German

Mother Tongues U.M.B.: The language is obviously a big barrier for our
members in Spain and this is mainly the reason why we
What do you get by joining German don't have so many ICV members here. I hope this will
character with Spanish mentality? change in the future with more content and articles in Eng-
The question sounds like the begin- lish.
ning of a good joke, but not this time.
With this unusual mixture we get a P.B.: Are there any cultural differences in managing
people in Spain and Germany?
person with international edge, having three mother tongues
- German, Spanish, Catalan - feeling at home in at least two
U.M.B.: In Spain people aren’t used to planning in advance
cultures. Ulrich Müller Bosom (photo) is his name and he is
their activities as, for example, the Germans do. The Span-
the head of the ICV work group Spain. The Bulletin team
iards are more flexible if necessary. The Germans tend to
had the pleasure to talk to him
hone things to perfection, and the Spaniards do not care
P.B.: How did you manage to establish in Spain an as- about it so much. But if something goes wrong, no problem,
sociation with German roots? What proved to be the they look for a solution and solve the problem. In Spain peo-
biggest challenge in the process? ple are used to working later than in Germany and the lunch
time is longer than in Germany, for this reason in Spain the
U.M.B.: The association was established in 2003 under the working day tends to be much longer than it is in Germany.
name of Circulo Controller between the German Chamber of
Commerce in Spain and a group of people, mainly of Ger- But in the end it’s difficult to make this kind of comparisons
man origin. The idea was to bring people together to ex- because as you know, Spain is a very big country with dif-
change experiences and to network. It was an informal ferent cultures and also four different languages.
meeting once a month called "Stammtisch" in a Hotel in
Barcelona. Later in September 2010 we had our Kick-Off-
Event in Barcelona where we established the ICV work P.B. - Piotr Buza, translator/editor, ICV
group Spain. We wanted to be a part of an international U.M.B - Ulrich Müller Bosom, head of the ICV work group Spain
community of controllers and we wanted to provide our 5
members with the association’s knowledge.



CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE ADVENTURE IN POZNAŃ, May 26-27, 2012
The Road is More Important than the Goal
We are proud to announce that the special guest of the International Controller Congress in Poznań will be Sławomir La-
chowski: manager, visionary of Polish banking, member of the Balcerowicz group for Polish transformation, the man behind
the success of mBank and Multibank, member of various supervisory boards, named Top Manager of the year 2007 by the
Manager Magazine, traveler, mountain conqueror, author of the bestseller : “The Road is More Important than the Goal.”
Happiness is somebody to love, something to do and something to
I was destined to experience and take active part in the funda-
mental transformation of the country I hail from. It was an up-
heaval on a political, industrial and social scale. The world I
knew was gone. A whole new world opened up before me, I
found myself doing things I had not imagined in my boldest
dreams and having adventures I had not even dared to plan.
More often than not I had the feeling that it is an incredible gift
to live in the right place at the right time and to have an idea for
how to realize your plans and deepest dreams. Now I have
decided to share with others my experiences and knowledge
that I earned on my full of ups and downs road. I firmly believe
that it is worth doing, even if I should help others just a little.

Sławomir Lachowski on his PanAmericana trip

MEET THE SPECIALISTS OF THE CIA CONGRESS IN POZNAŃ

Dragica Erčulj Lothar Kuhls Andrzej Derkowski Dr. Tomasz Cicirko Karol Sikora Michał Plit
CRMT Institute, WEGe Managementberatung Neuca S.A., Poczta Polska S.A., Poczta Polska S.A., Lux Med Sp. z o.o.,
Slovenia GmbH, Poland Poland Poland Poland
Germany

Ulrich Müller Bosom Jakub Tatak Prof. Toomas Haldma Małgorzata Podskarbi Dr. Stefan Olech Dr. Walter Schmidt
Frape Behr S.A., Lux Med Sp. z o.o., University of Tartu, Volkswagen Poznań Sp. z o.o., ODiTK Ask,
Spain Poland Estonia Poland Poland Germany

This year’s CIA (Controlling Intelligence Adventure) attracted many speakers, both As an Official Airline of the Congress,
form Poland and abroad. They are the best specialists in their fields. The motto of LOT, a Star Alliance Member, prepared
the Congress is: “Controller as a Business Partner in Volatile Times” and our for the first time a special offer for the
speakers will talk about such topics as: making your company fit for change; how participants of the Congress.
do modern analysis tools and methods contribute to smarter controlling?; control-
ling risk management in volatile times; Controller’s Academy as way of raising cost We are happy to inform you that all our
and profit awareness among production employees; ABC costing in service com- guests who would like to take up the
panies. offer of LOT Polish Airlines on their way
to the Congress or back, will receive a
We will also discuss controlling trends, challenges and our tasks as controllers and special discount dedicated only to
CFOs. We will present the future shaping themes that our ICV specialist work its participants.
groups deal with, e.g.: sustainable/green controlling; quality standards in control-
ling; IFRS in controlling; modern budgeting (our answer to the debate Beyond
Budgeting); communication controlling and behavior-based controlling.

We invite you to engage in all these topics. We kick off on 26.04 at 10:00 a.m. and
6 finish on 27.04 at 14:00 p.m.
You will find all information about the venues of the CIA Congress at: www.icv.pl

The Congress is sponsored by:

© International Controller
Association ICV


Review of the ICV Work Group "Modern Budgeting"
by Prof. Dr. Ronald Gleich

On December 2, 2011 the ICV work group "Modern Budgeting" completed its work. More than 15 members met at EBS Uni-
versity in Oestrich-Winkel to discuss solutions which they have worked out together, to tick off some remaining points or to talk
over the Statement - the paper closing the specialist work group's activities.

Academics, consultants and managers have been working The members of the five established work groups met very
together for four years analyzing, assessing and publishing often, sometimes even monthly through all phases of the
work in the field of Modern Budgeting. As befits engaged work group, (cf. image 1 with the presentation of various
controllers, the most important results were compiled in a work groups and their leaders). One work group deeply ana-
successive key performance report (cf. table 1) - a short lyzed the current state of scientific research on the issue
summary on each of them will be given in this paper. "budgeting". Its aim was to collect data which could be help-
ful while preparing a concept of modern budgeting. Another
Overall, the ICV experts met six times. In each meeting, group critically dealt with the issue "beyond budgeting", and
usually lasting one day, they discussed the development of the third work group with the requirements and solutions
one approach to modern budgeting and its practical applica- from the company practice. Six comprehensive case studies
tion. Three meetings took place at universities, one at the were prepared and more than 30 complementary interviews
invitation of a company and two were organized by consult- were conducted with company controllers.
ing companies.
These three work groups built the bases for the preparation
key performance indicators ratios of six principles of modern budgeting. The principles are
number of work group's meetings 6 divided into two categories, as shown in table 2 (cf. "One-
number of work group's members: 48 Pager" MB 2010). First the principles were developed, ex-
practice 32 plained and discussed. In April 2009 at Joanneum in Graz
consulting 10 the specialist work group was ready to write its first White
science 6 Paper. The White Paper was published a few weeks later.
number of work groups 5
number of white papers 3
number of publications: 31
books 1
book articles 16
magazine articles 10
web entries 4
Table 1: Performance Report by the Work Group "Modern
Budgeting"

Siegfried Gänßlen imagined the work groups as diverse
teams. This suggestion could be provided thanks to the ICV
members' readiness to join in and participate in the project.
Almost 50 academics, consultants and managers took and
are still taking part in the final works. These three groups of
experts are represented in the work group's management.
Prof. Dr. Ronald Gleich from EBS University headed the
team, his representatives are managers (Udo Kraus, Hans-
grohe AG) and consultants (Dr. Uwe Michel, Image 1: WG-members in the work group's final meeting
Horváth&Partners). on 02-12-2011 in Oestrich-Winkel.

recommendations for shaping
simple: lean procedures, limiting to management-relevant contents, using only suitable tools and methods, only
a few input values, finding optimal level of detail, "top-down" approach may also come in handy
flexible: readiness for changes, sensitivities and scenarios, also relative aims in accordance with benchmarks,
(rolling) forecasts, flexible and controlled regrouping of resources.
integrated: strategy, planning, reporting and forecasting must be combined. Concrete, but just a few guidelines that
can be derived from one another. Budget and incentive systems linked loosely. Aims should not be lim-
ited to short-term ones.
fundamentals:
mapping the organization: concrete, explicit aims, orientation on the main objective, the organization must find short and quick
ways of making decisions.
mapping added value: understanding your own value added chain. Aims, bottlenecks and restrictions determine planning
clearly making and communicating making aims and intentions clear, communicating the core of the plan and transforming it according to
our aims: the level of performance, conveying the responsibility for implementation, forestalling planning loops
through standards and top-down instructions.

Table 2: Principles of "Modern Budgeting" 7



It should again be emphasized that modern budgeting re- ten by the specialist work groups' experts. Four WG articles
turns to the core of planning. The budget implementation contributed to publishing two other books.
concept should be incorporated into the strategy, aims and
managerial system. The implementation should be conse- Worth mentioning are ten further magazine articles in spe-
quent, simple, and above all flexibly adaptable to the chang- cialist magazines and four longer publications in Haufe Con-
ing environment and at the same time remain consistent troller-Office. In the Controller Magazine alone six articles
with the strategy. Modern budgeting does not entail invent- were published, and other e.g. in the magazine Controlling
ing new tools and concepts. It must be strongly emphasized or in CFOworld. A wide range of topics was covered in
that there is no one modern budgeting which would be suit- these publications. Along with the basic ideas of modern
able for all companies. Principles and resulting from them budgeting also special topics were dealt with and published.
budgeting tools formulated by the specialist group have to There appeared such titles as: "Budgeting in the Tense Re-
be tailored for the company to suit its culture and strategy. lation between Motivation and Coordination" or "Systematic
Selection of IT-Solutions for Planning", to give 2 examples.
Another White Paper was required to develop this idea. It Apart from distributing the output of the WG in a written
was published under the title “Best Practices” in the spring form, the WG management and plenty of WG members
2011. The article discussed and outlined 12 examples of engage themselves as lecturers at various ICV controlling
modern budgeting. The examples may be used as a refer- conferences (e.g. two times at the Controller Congress and
ence paper for controllers and help them to better under- each time on the regional conferences in Bonn and Stutt-
stand "how to work with modern budgeting". They can use it gart) or at other controlling events (e.g. more lectures in
to implement modern budgeting in their own companies. planning specialist conferences organized by
The third White Paper by the specialist group “IT” is cur- Horváth&Partners or in special seminars on modern budget-
rently being finalized. The core objective is thereby to de- ing organized by ZfU in Switzerland).
scribe an optimal IT support for modern budgeting. It should
assess available tools in order to help the user select the The common conceptual work was indeed a source of much
best one. pleasure and the cooperation is slowly bearing fruit, but the
members of the work group agreed some time ago that:
The output of a work group is not only judged by its White after working diligently for four years and producing much
Papers but also by its further publications. As table 1 shows output on "modern budgeting" the work group should "put up
the WG members could be called all but idle. Especially the shutters" in its best moment. A final highlight for the par-
worth noticing is the joint book project "Modern Budgeting", ticipants shall be the statement "Modern Budgeting". It is
which was published in volume 3 of Controlling-Guides by headed by Prof. Dr. Martin Tschandl and should be avail-
the Haufe publishing house. It contained twelve articles writ- able by the next ICV Member Meeting, at the latest.

Image 2: Work groups of the specialist group "Modern Budgeting"

8



This is the first in the series of profiles presenting the Members of
the ICV Board with tongue in cheek. Of course, we start with
Chairman Siegfried Gänßlen and the turn of the rest will come in
the following issues of the Bulletin.

Yours Bulletin Team - in the hope that the Board has got sense of hu-
mor …
We hereby announce that all original pictures will be sold by auction
and the bidding for Mr Gänßlen’s picture starts NOW!
(to place your bids please contact ICV Office Poland: piotr.buza@icv.pl)

A Down-to-Earth Man of the World
by Hans-Peter Sander

A.D. 2012; South-West Germany; The Black Forest; The
City of Schiltach; Location: Headquarters of Hansgrohe AG
Main Character: Chairman of the ICV Board Siegfried is a
down-to-earth man at the helm of a globally active company,
enjoying full respect of his people. Siegfried is loath to wear
ties and loves Baden-Swabian cuisine. You can bump into
him on the whole surface of the globe.

A record worth of €1.6 million in bonuses
The bathroom and sanitation manufacturer Hansgrohe AG
had recorded in 2010 a turnover of €693 million and
awarded its employees in the last year with a record worth
of €1.6 million in bonuses. Hansgrohe CEO Siegfried
Gänßlen praised on that occasion his colleagues in a way
typical for him - without stint: "Without the commitment and
willingness of our employees, it would not have been possi-
ble. So it is only natural for us that our employees should
have a fair share in the success of their company and we
want you to treat these bonuses as a sign of our gratitude portrait that ICV Chairman’s "rule of the game" is to manage
for your work." a company basing on ratios: "And everybody accepts it. In
any case, he can always blow his whistle, and indeed
"Always handle all tasks with due care" loudly. And a good ref doesn't need to make use of his pen-
alty cards all too often."
Siegfried Gänßlen was born in 1946 in Stuttgart. "Always
handle all tasks with due care" is what his mother used to “He has got enough stamina to set high
say to her little plucky lad and Siegfried has been living ac-
cording to this motto since then. Add to that his high punctu- growth targets for the ICV”
ality standards and you will get Siegfried's blueprint for suc- It's a real pleasure to be able to accompany Siegfried
cess. Gänßlen at his work as the Chairman of the ICV Board. Af-
The company legend has it that his school peers used to ter a few moments in his presence you can see that he lives
say about him that "this bloke wants to breach a brick wall and breaths the ICV. He has been privately investing great
with his head"; Siegfried Gänßlen as a CEO has lost not an amounts of his energy into his non-commercial, and indeed
ounce of his determination and consequence. Gänßlen him- successful activities at the ICV - more often than not devot-
self once said that he had been ambitious at school, but ing his already limited free time. Since May 2007 Siegfried
what drove his ambition even higher was soccer. Soccer Gänßlen has been the Chairman of the ICV Board of Direc-
was and still remains his great passion. He managed it once tors. He has been engaging himself voluntarily in the asso-
to the 3. German league and afterwards was active as a ciation for over 30 years. He was leading the regional ICV
referee - many experiences gained in that period came in work group "Südwest" for the area of Stuttgart/Blackwood,
handy later in his working life: "Quickly and precisely recog- until he became in the year 2000 a member of the ICV
nizing and assessing a situation is what has helped me in Board and then in 2004 its deputy Chairman. Both in his
my later work", he once said in an interview for the business company and in the ICV Board Gänßlen comes across as a
newspaper "Handelsblatt". down-to-earth and consequent person. He places also here
much trust in his board colleagues and active members. At
“A good ref doesn't need to make use of the same time he has got enough stamina to set high
growth targets for the ICV. It does not come as a surprise
his penalty cards all too often” that one of his main focal points is the professional interna-
tionalization of the ICV, especially when you consider the
Soccer jargon offers accurate expressions for describing fact that he is all the time on the move around the globe
Gänßlen's ways of doing things. So as he was asked in a fulfilling his duties as the Chairman of Hansgrohe AG. Trav-
magazine interview about his growth strategy for Germany eling is, by the way, his best pastime activity: to experience
and Europe he used the following metaphor: "You must win different cultures in far-away regions. A down-to-earth man
all matches on your home turf if you want to get to the top of of the world. 9
the table." A journalist fellow wrote recently in a newspaper



10



Our values ICV Mission Statement

we develop and represent the social image of a controller as: The ICV being a non-commercially
oriented association is the biggest
 a future-oriented intermediary between different interest groups within controller organization in Europe
enterprises and organisations as well as between them;
 an “interpreter” between the different “languages” attributable to the different
perception of various tasks, responsibilities and cultural experiences as well as ICV Key Objectives
discrepancies concerning the sector-specific and technical knowledge base;
 a person responsible for transparency and a partner of the management in the The ICV as an active
decision-making process on all management international network
levels; enhances the function
 a competent expert who owing to the solid of practically applied
basis of generally accepted education controlling and the role
remaining in line with practical requirements
of the controller
(e.g. IGC Certificate) embodies an
independent professional image; in sharing the responsibility
 a person co-responsible for “Business for successful
Economics“. company management.

All work groups in non-German speaking countries:
Bulgaria
Denko Yamboliev
denko@excite.com

Croatia
Lublin
Jasmina Očko
Pawel Rafalski
jasmina.ocko@kognosko.hr
pawel.rafalski@icv.pl
Estonia
Łódź
Karolina Zielińska
Lithuania karolina.zielinska@icv.pl
Edita Gimžauskienė
edita.gimzauskiene@ktu.lt
Poznań
Romania
Dariusz Gulczyński
Hungary Bukarest
dariusz.gulczynski@icv.pl
Budapest 1 Cristina Hodea
Ervin Nemesdy cristina.hodea@gmail.com
Szczecin
nemesdy@mce.hu
Aleksander Socha
Sibiu
aleksander.socha@ramirent.pl
Budapest 2 Nicoleta Thomka
Andreas Kovacs n.thomka@gmx.de
Toruń
akovacs@mcskft.hu
Andrzej Derkowski
Russia
andrzej.derkowski@icv.pl
Poland Valentin Usenkov
Gdańsk zoom@mail.ru
Warszawa
Robert Panufnik Karol Sikora
r.panufnik@vector.com.pl Serbia
karol.sikora@icv.pl
Bojan Šćepanović
mcb@eunet.rs
Katowice Wrocław
Anna Jarkulisz Honorata Ulatowska Slovenia
anna.jarkulisz@arcelormittal.com honorata.ulatowska@icv.pl Dragica Erčulj
dragica.erculj@crmt.com
Kraków Zielona Góra
Dorota Gołąb-Bełtowicz Małgorzata Lepak Spain
dbeltowicz@bonifratrzy.krakow.pl malgorzata.lepak@icv.pl Ulrich Müller Bosom
ulrich.mueller.bosom@gmail.com 11

Imprint Editing International Controller Association
Publisher and Copyrights: Piotr Buza ICV Office Poland
International Controller Association Brigitte Dienstl-Arnegger ul A.Fredry 7/1
Dr. Herwig Friedag 61-809 Poznań PL
Public Relations Committee
Dr. Adrianna Lewandowska Phone/Fax + 48 61 853 20 10
Hans-Peter Sander Mail: piotr.buza@icv.pl
Anna Włodarczyk

Icv bulletin, march 2012

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