ENG: ICV Controlling Excellence Award 2019 for Unitymedia GmbH

Award for exemplary controlling work: introduction of a value-oriented management / Munich Re and Metro AG on the podium

Munich, 13.05.2019 – On May 13, the "ICV Controlling Excellence Award 2019" was given to Unitymedia GmbH in Munich at the Europe's leading controlling conference. At the 44th Congress of Controllers the solution "Value Steering Roadmap, Establishment of a Value-Oriented Management at Unitymedia" was awrded. On the podium followed Munich RE and Metro AG.

Every year, the ICV (International Association of Controllers) awards exemplary controlling work in companies and other organizations. The jury headed by the Chairman of the ICV Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Weber, Otto Beisheim School of Management, Institute for Management and Controlling, Vallendar, was very satisfied with the quality of the submissions, "suitable for the digitization period". The jurors nominated the work of Unitymedia, Munich Re and Metro for the award ceremony.

In the Unitymedia solution, the Jury paid tribute to how the idea of management according to customer value was implemented. So far, the company has been managed by products, without taking the connection of products and customers into account. During the change several system-related difficulties were overcome and agile techniques were used and modified.

Munich Re's solution for establishing a "digital finance platform" was judged by the Jury to be "very well prepared" and a "successful digitization project". The solution was convincing more because of the achieved width than because of individual innovative ideas, but was characterized by the professionalism of the approach, which i.a. included an evaluation and very meaningful next steps.

The topic of the nominated Metro solution can be functionally assigned to procurement controlling, which according to the Jury Chairman Prof. Weber has so far been underexposed. Here the topic "data quality" was in focus and in addition to internal simplifications, the solution would enable new additional revenues. "So the work is an ideal case for digitization: Internal process improvements can lead to new business."

The Jury’s decision is based on the common controlling mission statement by the ICV and the International Group of Controlling (IGC). An exemplary controller work is therefore present when controllers achieve a noticeable change, the solution is field-tested and this change not only affects the controlling itself, but also makes the company more successful overall. The change must also be internally developed and innovative by the controllers.

The Jury Chairman, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Weber judges the candidates as very good, "even better than last year. In 2019 there were various 'big names' among the applicants, but also smaller companies were not missing. The focus was on digitization. There is obviously a lot going on here - finally! So we can be very satisfied overall."

WINNER Unitymedia GmbH: „Value Steering Roadmap, Establishment of a Value-Oriented Management at Unitymedia“

Unitymedia in Cologne is one of the leading cable network operators in Germany and a subsidiary of Liberty Global. The company reaches 13 million households in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg with its broadband cable services. Strom (Steering Roadmap, in English: elecricity) is a joint project of Controlling and Business Units with the goal of establishing a value-based management. New perspectives are to be created to enable Unitymedia to manage the current market developments. This requires replacing the volume-driven capital employed with value-generating capital. The prerequisite for this is that, before the targeted use of capital, the expected added value of this transaction is known. The data-driven project Strom will form the basis for a standardized value-based management. In addition to the primary goal of customer value-oriented management, the data model unites all relevant business drivers under one roof in the controlling. The management tool creates transparency and enables Unitymedia to answer relevant questions from various dimensions. Value-based provisioning can release so much savings potential. The main motivation is to understand which customer events influence the value of the customer and with which parameters these changes can be optimized. The Customer Journey, which describes the cycles of customer travel, is a strategic term in marketing. Strom connects the management world with the customer journey in a management system. The customer experience is reflected in the processes and will improve in the medium and long term. Through Strom, Unitymedia understands the phases of the customer journey and can tailor corporate activities to the needs of the customer. Strom works according to the agile project approach. It shows how cross-functional collaboration can become a success factor. Since May 8, 2018, the 13-member project team has worked to develop a holistic database in order to establish a customer value-oriented management.

Munich Re: „Digitization and automation of the financial sector supported by a virtual data platform (Digital Finance Platform)“

The finance departments of Munich Re are faced with the challenge of creating complex analyzes for the Executive Board under time pressure. For this purpose, a large amount of data from internal and external data sources is to procure and prepare, which is time-consuming and error-prone due to the high manual effort. The aim was to automate these processes in order to simultaneously improve the quality of the analyzes. With the help of an interdisciplinary team of IT and controlling experts, a virtual data platform ("Digital Finance Platform") was developed, which enables fully automated data transfer from various internal and external data sources (eg SAP BW, Bundesbank) into the analytical models. The analysis results can thus be automatically generated and stored in a single click in a database and made available to the Board in real time via a dashboard. The project objectives are to improve operational decisions by providing more data-based, timely, analytically broadened and improved recommendations for action to the Board of Management. In addition, efficiency improvements and complexity reductions of the existing reporting and product landscape can be realized. The concept was designed with a as lightweight, easy-to-maintain IT architecture as possible. Thus, data access takes place in real time against the source systems, so that apart from the analysis results, no separate data management is required. Furthermore, the platform is open to almost any source system and a variety of analysis tools. The platform is already being used internally by more than 100 users in a wide variety of financial and business applications, both nationally and in the Group's international units. The use of the platform is neither limited to the insurance industry nor to Munich Re and can in principle also be used in all other companies.

Metro AG: “Brand Data Excellence – A global solution for business and finance”

Metro is a leading international wholesaler. 24 million customers worldwide buy food and non-food goods here. The customers are independent entrepreneurs or small kiosks. Metro operates in 36 countries, including 25 in wholesale markets, and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. Essential for the business are branded products and increasingly also the own label products, their development, sales, supplier analyzes and internal reporting. The brand information for the individual products that were already included in the item description could not be used. The stated need: to create a brand listing that maps all the information to create quicker, easier reporting, data re-processing, and a global view of the brand performance of each product, for Metro and its suppliers.

The solution: a tool with consistent brand information, which is linked to the article listing in the merchandise management system. The Brand Data Management Tool (BDM Tool), developed by Controlling, brings together all key brand information. The BDM tool helps Metro to use the brand information in multiple ways. For example, various departments, such as purchasing and controlling, gain visibility into each brand's operating revenue, earnings performance and market share internationally, across all 25 metro wholesale countries. Evaluations are now possible that help individual departments understand how each brand performs and make assortment decisions. The knowledge about the performance of the individual brands also helps Metro in supplier negotiations. Brand information is an important part of all digital interactions with customers. The entire company, from offering to own brand management, marketing and customer relationship management and controlling, benefits from the project, locally and internationally. The single brand attribute, directly in the source system, secures the benefits for all departments.

ICV CONTROLLING EXCELLENCE AWARD – WINNERS
Sick AG (2003), Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbH (2004), T-Online International AG (2005), Kaufhof Warenhaus AG (2006), Hansgrohe AG (2007), Lufthansa City-Line and Wittlinger Therapiezentrum/Dr. Vodder Akademie (2008), Fiege Gruppe (2009), Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2010), McDonald’s Deutschland Inc. (2011), Otto Group (2012), Lufthansa AG (2013), Elite Medianet GmbH (2014), RWE AG (2015), Covestro Deutschland AG (2016), Edeka Südwest (2017), Robert Bosch GmbH, Division Powertrain Solutions (Diesel Systems) (2018).

The International Association of Controllers (ICV) has in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and 12 other countries in Central and Eastern Europe around 6,000 members active in practical controlling. The key objective of the ICV controlling philosophy is reaching permanent economic success. With its honorary chairman Dr. Albrecht Deyhle the Association, founded in 1975, has shaped the controlling in German speaking countries placed and influenced. The ICV merges controllers, CFOs, managers and scientists and  it is strictly oriented on its members’ benefit. Experience, communication and being focused  on future-oriented trends are foundations of the ICV. The ICV combines practical experience with the latest research results and prepares its knowledge for practical implementation. The ICV makes personal contribution to the success of its members and to the sustainable performance of companies. Prof. Dr. Heimo Losbichler, FH Steyr, is the Chairman of the ICV, Vice Chairman of the ICV is Matthias von Daacke, BLANCO GmbH & Co. KG.

For more information:

• H.-P. Sander, Presse ICV, EastWestCom, Ammersee Denkerhaus - Coworking Space, Sonnenstr. 1,  D-86911 Diessen am Ammersee, Tel. +49-(0)176-63 722 680, presse@icv-controlling.com
• ICV, Office, Münchner Str. 8, D-82237 Wörthsee, Germany, Phone +49-(0)8153-88 974-20
• www.icv-controlling.com