Beyond budget and controller role
On March 16, this year's edition ended Business Management 2.0 of the stack in the old Bonnierhuset in Stockholm. Business Governance 2.0 is a conference for Business Controllers and the ambition of the conference is to give controllers practical knowledge from case and experience exchanges. Rikard Olsson, Minni Raij and Evelina Kambre Öberg represented Ekan Management who participated for the fifth year in a row. The more than 200 participants were guided skilfully through the day by today's chairman Kerstin Andersson, CFO and vice president of IL Recycling.
A recurring theme during the day was the role of the controller and the organization of the controller function as a support function for the business. Quality-assured decision-making documents, mandates and powers in combination with personal characteristics and a willingness to allow the controller to take the place of supporting the business in its mission were some of the success factors that were highlighted.
We came to participate in many exciting conversations with both old customers and new acquaintances, both in our well-visited booth and in the very popular roundtable talks that Rikard Olsson led on the theme “Proactive management adapted to the business environment”. The discussions included questions about what the revenue and cost structure looks like, what predictability exists on the revenue side and what responsiveness we have on the cost side? Is the balance right between business risk and financial risk? What does proactive governance mean and how do we get rid of the traditional budget's lock-in effects?
The latter theme also attracted much attention and appreciation during today's first lecture Driving performance management in Maersk with Jesper Krüger, Head of Group Performance & Analysis AP Möller - Maersk. He described how the company has changed to a more pure one conglomerate and how to become more business-friendly and fast-moving, they support a new governance model, beyond budgetary management, that differentiates resource allocation, goals and forecasts. The effects are manifested through increased commitment among employees and managers, while the new way of working frees up resources and provides better decision support.
Ekan Management is the Swedish representative for the network BBRT (Beyond budgeting Roundtable) and we met during the day a great interest in developing dynamic control models for the business that create the conditions for proactive governance. An interest that we often encounter from both private and public actors. Feel free to contact us if you want to continue the conversation about dynamic business management and how your business can develop.
For those of you who missed the roundtable on proactive governance, a new opportunity is provided via our webinar on the theme of April 20, which will also be published later in recorded form. You can register at the link below.
Webinar: Proactive management adapted to the business environment
For those of you who want to read more about modern support functions, we recommend the interview with Rikard Olsson in the MBA according to the following link.