Читать книгу The Controlling Concept - Horváth & Partners Management Consultants - Страница 12

In principle, we must differentiate between Controlling as a function (“controller service”, “controllership”) and the controller as the executor of that function. As a matter of fact, in terms of performance management, Controlling is a core task of management. To a certain extent, every manager performs some Controlling functions. Thus, Controlling as a process and mindset is created jointly by managers and controllers in a team and forms a type of “intersection”. In this, the controller is involved in the management processes of target-setting, planning and performance management by supporting decision-making through the provision of information and the creation of transparency, as well as being a planning facilitator. As a result, the controller is partially responsible for enabling the manager to take timely, target-based decisions.

Together, managers and controllers share responsibility for the Controlling process (see Chapter 8 for details of the Controlling process). Fig. 1.3 shows Controlling as the area of intersection between the tasks of the manager and those of the controller.

Primarily, Controlling is not the name of a position or person, but rather a remit or scope of tasks carried out by different people, or by management itself, without a specific person actually having to hold the title of “controller”. Above all, in small companies the Controlling function is frequently executed by management itself or by the head of accounting.

Is there a controller mission statement in your company?

Fig. 1.3:Controlling as intersection between managers and controllers (International Controller Association [ICV] e. V. o. J., p. 3)

The tasks, the self-image and the responsibility of the controller are described very concisely and succinctly in the Controller Mission Statement from the International Group of Controlling (IGC) (cf. Fig. 1.4). The current version of the mission statement explicitly emphasises the controller’s joint responsibility for target achievement. On the one hand, this joint responsibility stems from the fact that controllers are responsible for the accuracy of the information they collect and prepare; on the other hand, it can be derived from the fact that controllers, by designing and accompanying the management processes of target-setting, planning and performance management, make a significant contribution to management’s ability to make decisions in time and with an eye on corporate objectives. However, responsibility for the decisions actually taken, as expressed in the adoption of plans, still remains with management.

Fig. 1.4: Controller Mission Statement of the International Group of Controlling (IGC 2013)

In general, through coordination, controllers help solve problems caused by the increasing impact of these environmental factors:

•Increasing dynamism and volatility

•Ongoing globalisation

•Changes in value creation owing to new technologies

•Increasingly shorter product life cycles

•The spread of digitisation across all organisations

Controlling enables corporate management to face these challenges head-on with innovative solutions, instead of relying on old, outdated remedies.

Which concrete strategic and operative challenges does your company face?

However, Controlling is not merely a service to enable management to “cover their backs” with the information it provides. It is also an idea which all employees in a company should take to heart. This idea consists of two aspects. First, acting, and taking personal responsibility for one’s actions, to further the company’s bottom line and in line with corporate planning; and second, thinking outside of one’s specific remit and embracing the concept of interface management. Thus, Controlling is not only carried out by controllers but ideally on the spot by the member of staff directly affected. In this way, Controlling is increasingly transitioning into self-Controlling; more than ever, controllers are undertaking “missionary work” to spread the underlying idea behind Controlling.