Interview with Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer, ICV Executive Advisor Universities

The controlling community may have last become acquainted with Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer as an avatar in the Metaverse. This is because he was very involved in the virtual ICV event, the Controlling Competence Spaces. But he can also be found offline in the ICV network. Since this year even in a new role.Find out more about Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer and his voluntary work in the ICV here.

ICV: How long have you been a member and how have you been involved since then?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: I became an ICV member during my doctorate in 2009 because I was interested in a specific specialist group. I joined the Work Group Franken directly and took over its co-leadership in 2020. In 2024, I co-organized the Controlling Competence Spaces and now, at the beginning of 2025, I have taken on the new role of Executive Advisor Universities.

ICV: What is your position outside the ICV?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: I have been a professor of controlling and accounting at the Würzburg Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences for several years. Before that, I worked for many years in controlling and in commercial management positions in an international group.

ICV: How do you see the interaction between science and practice?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: In my view, the two go hand in hand. This is also evident in the ICV: numerous scientists are involved both on the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees and, above all, in the work groups. Through our involvement in the ICV, we from the scientific community are aware of the issues that are currently affecting controlling in practice. And for our part, we have the opportunity to feed back solutions developed in academia into practice.

ICV: And now, at the beginning of the year, you have taken on the newly created position of ICV Executive Advisor Universities. What can we expect from this?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: As a scientist, I conducted a study on the ICV last year and presented it internally. This gave rise to the idea of institutionalizing this interface. In other words, to create a position to coordinate contacts between the ICV and the scientific community. Of course, I’m not the only one who maintains these contacts – quite the opposite. But I coordinate contacts in both directions. For example, I accept inquiries from the scientific community and circulate them within the ICV. However, I am still in the process of defining my new role.

ICV: As a university professor, how do you rate the ICV network?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: The network has always been very important to me – even when I wasn’t yet a university lecturer but working in practice. In the many different work groups, you have the opportunity to network and exchange ideas at both a professional and regional level. This is an offer that creates great added value for everyone who takes part.

ICV: In your opinion, what is important in university education to prepare students as well as possible for practical work in controlling?
Prof. Dr. Björn Baltzer: This is a question about the skills of prospective controllers – and here, of course, the basic rule is: more never hurts! There are many skills that are helpful and important, and these have been described very well in the updated Controller Mission Statement. I would like to pick out just two that are very important to me personally. One is a comprehensive understanding of economic issues. It is fundamental to understand how your own company and the industry work. A basic understanding of macroeconomic relationships is also essential. The second is openness to new things. Lifelong learning is incredibly important, because even we at universities cannot predict with certainty what skills controlling will require in 10 or 20 years’ time!