The Institute of Management Accounting and Control (IMC) of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the world’s leading, largest professional body of management accountants, have joined forces to promote and elevate competencies and professions of management accountants in Germany and to cooperate in the field of research, offering and delivering study programs, courses and events.
CIMA president Steve Swientozielskyj and IMC director Professor Dr. Utz Schäffer officially opened the CIMA Centre at WHU Campus Düsseldorf in a ceremony.
Steve Swientozielskyj gave as the first speaker a general overview of "The Future of Finance." He was followed by Dr. Nils Kaschner, CFO of AXA Germany, and Wolfgang Zellerhoff, Head of Global Accounting at Covestro, who gave insights into the practical experience of implementing digital transformation from their daily work. Dr. Kaschner advised, for example, to establish an ecosystem for integrated corporate planning, which should have three core properties: It should be simple, customer-oriented and reliable. This was followed by a panel discussion on "Competencies of the future." Moderated by CIMA representative Jakub Bejnarowicz, Mark Benedickter, Konecranes GmbH, Tina Herud, Luxoft Holding, Inc, Dr. Nils Kaschner, Professor Dr. Utz Schäffer, Steve Swientozielskyj, and Wolfgang Zellerhoff gave insights into their daily work, discussing necessary steps for the future. The guests also used the opportunity to hear about plans for CIMA development in Germany.