Management consulting
The starting point for sales planning is the marketing plan, which sets the general conditions for all further activities. Due to the strategic and long-term nature of sales decisions and the associated high costs and risks, the sales process must be planned systematically. The following planning phases need to be considered:
Analysis of the sales situation
Sales planning usually begins with a systematic analysis of the most important (internal) strengths and weaknesses as well as the expected (external) opportunities and risks (SWOT analysis). The key is to generate the most objective representation of one’s own position compared to the competition as a basis for the definition of realistic sales goals.
Determination of sales goals
The sales goals are not only derived from the needs of the end customer and the company, but should also consider third party service providers such as wholesalers, retailers, or freight forwarders and warehouses, and competitors. The goals are distinguished in the following categories:
- Economically oriented sales targets, such as increasing sales volumes, ensuring price levels and reducing sales and logistics costs
- Ecologically oriented sales goals, such as increasing energy efficiency
- Logistically oriented sales goals, such as increasing the degree of distribution, reducing delivery times and increasing readiness for delivery and reliability
- Psychologically oriented sales goals, such as ensuring a good sales image and maintaining or improving the willingness of trade to cooperate
- Competitive sales goals, such as the suppression of competitors
Development of the sales strategy
The sales strategy serves as a guide for all sales activities. These include the segmentation of the end customers and the distribution channels, such as the sales channels, the type and number of sales agents and the design of relationships with them (see also the main article of the sales strategy).
Determination of the sales budget
Here the financial scope is determined, that is available for e.g. field sales and promotional sales and so on.
Implementation of sales measures
The sales organization design should be realized based on the strategy and budget. The questions to be considered are how the sales agents are to be bound to the company, which incentive and compensation systems are used, and at which locations warehouses are to be set up.
sales controlling
At the end of the planning, it must be checked whether and to what extent the sales goals have been achieved (or not), and what adjustments are necessary. This performance review requires the determination of suitable key figures.
Our experience in the areas of controlling, rating and compliance shows the large field of tasks that are only partially and reluctantly tackled in this area, but are incredibly important.
We therefore support you with our practical experience and with the outside view in order to build up the basis for your sales in a sustainable way and to observe important elements.
The position of purchasing in the company organization depends on the size and structure of the company, as well as the importance of purchasing for the company. For example, this can be measured by the ratio of purchasing volume to total sales. In manufacturing companies, the share of externally purchased goods and services regularly exceeds 50% of the total costs. However, this importance is not always reflected in the design of the purchasing organization in practice.
For globally positioned companies with high purchasing volumes (e.g. the automotive industry), purchasing is generally a division organized under the CPO (Chief Procurement Officer), which bundles the purchasing power centrally for all plants or branches of the company (central purchasing). The CPO is not always a member of the board. He then reports regularly to the COO, CFO or CEO, sometimes to the production board. For companies that purchasing has less importance, individual plants or branches may have purchasing departments assigned to them (decentralized purchasing).
The current trend in the industry is the centralization of purchasing. In the context of this centralization, compliance with purchasing guidelines is an important aspect in order to promote the standardization of purchasing processes and their control. Fully automated approval processes today ensure that, especially in large companies, prior to the actual ordering process, a professional approval and prior to placing an order, a commercial license is issued. In this way, purchasing can be centralized, but the necessary competence decisions can be decentralized. The necessary business processes and rules are specified centrally and can be followed worldwide.
Due to globalization and digitization, purchasing among others gains by networking with warehousing, customs and distribution (to name but a few key areas) increased importance. Take advantage of our national and international experience in these areas.
Finance and accounting (F & R) is the heart of the data flow in a company and therefore particularly important. The quality of the data is of essential importance for the company and the management, as legal regulations such as GOB, HGB, EStG, KStG as well as many other laws have to be considered and adhered to here.
On the one hand, the F & R has to fulfill the legal requirements and on the other hand pursue operational goals. Thus, the database in connection with the cost center and cost unit invoicing is important for internal cost accounting and costing. This database is fundamental for controlling.
Even a successful company cannot exist without the necessary financial resources. For this reason the treasurer (financial administrator) in many companies has a similar importance as the controller. In the F & R, all the data flows of Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, General Ledger Accounting, Internal Cost Accounting, Personnel and Asset Accounting, and many other areas come together.
Not infrequently, the employees in this area work much more such as dealing with the insurance companies, for which it is necessary annually, to transmit key figures to the insurance company for the calculation of the contributions. In addition the contact to the lawyer, tax consultant and accountant is often in these areas as well since here also all laws must be complied with.
Due to the importance and complexity of these areas, a particularly high level of expertise is absolutely necessary for qualified advice. We provide this expertise with hands-on experience and qualifications as accountant, IAS accountant, controller and compliance officer (to name but a few) for a successful development of these areas.
A particular strength lies in our experience in the construction of all necessary systems and instruments in accordance with international laws in many parts of the world.
Human resources is also referred to as Human Resource Management, Personnel Management (PM) or Human Resource Management (HRM). The fields of personnel management and personnel administration are fields of action within personnel management.
The personnel management includes the following areas:
| Personnel management includes the following areas:
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Modern human resources management aims at sustainable success, including aspects of social and environmental compatibility. For this purpose, the knowledge, methods and instruments of quality management (TQM, EFQM) and corporate governance are applied. Sustainable success means value retention and long-term value creation for the HR department of the future. For this, the needs of all stakeholders must be taken into account.
In order to achieve corporate goals, goal-oriented measures and resource planning in the area of human resources as well as a suitable corporate culture are required. The specific design of the individual areas in the individual company is also called personnel policy. In the context of company policy, the behavior and the way of acting are thus determined to achieve the operational goals. In part, such provisions are enshrined in a corporate mission or prescribed by means of work instructions. Economic and social processes are causally related.
High employee satisfaction, for example, causes
- higher labor productivity,
- more creative research and development,
- lower operating costs,
- longer term of employment,
- long-term retention of highly qualified employees (“talents”)
- increased interest of high-quality applicants,
- less sick leave and absenteeism,
- lower personnel costs,
- higher benefits,
- faster response to changes in the market
Goals are:
- Securing jobs, sufficient income and working capacity
- Attracting and retaining the best employees without spending too much money
- Designing and improving the working environment and leadership culture as well as
- Bundling of all forces on the company goal
Some requirements – such as fulfilling the duty of care as an employer, job safety (fire protection, emission protection, environmental protection) and employee participation – are mandatory. From a strategic perspective, concrete goals can be derived for the executives, the teams and the employees.
People are the success of a business.
The ideas about working time and the division of labor have and will continue to change significantly. The current globalization and digitization has changed employee composition and jobs much faster than in the past.
With our international and intercultural experience, we can help you meet your requirements and achieve your goals better, more sustainably and with greater satisfaction for you as an business owner or manager and your employees.
Company foundation (start up) & sale
Starting a new business, as well as buying or selling a business, is a complex undertaking that involves performing different tasks simultaneously.
Careful preparation is crucial for future success. Of course, this applies especially in cases where the new company operates in a dynamic market with rapid changes. In addition to the intensive study of the potential target groups and the product benefit, the analysis of the current competitive situation is particularly important. The recognizable developments of the foreseeable future should also be taken into consideration.
You should under no circumstances underestimate the effort for careful planning. Lead times of over one year are quite realistic.
However, starting a business, buying or selling a company or restructuring abroad pose a special challenge.
Here, not only other laws and regulations, but also customs, languages, mentalities and country-specific environmental conditions in politics, culture and behavior are a constant challenge even for the most experienced companies.
With our practical experience in many parts of the world and countries as well as a worldwide network of consultants, we can advise you and your company on the swift implementation of your project and help you to avoid mistakes through a variety of complex relationships as much as possible.
We can also offer you temporary interim management after consultation and analysis.
Controlling
Take advantage of controlling as an exercised control function as well as a management and information system. Controlling manages the planning, coordination and control of the company to provide the company with the necessary tools and information. A distinction is made between operational and strategic controlling.
Operational controlling involves the management of profitability and profitability as well as liquidity of the company through budget management and corresponding detailed planning. In order to exploit all the potentials of a company for economic success, operative controlling refers to the current financial year.
Strategic Controlling uses market analysis to build new potential for the company and occasionally warns against misjudgments of the market.
Controlling and the instruments listed below can, as described on this website as well as in the literature, only make sense if it is implemented and implemented in practice in the company. Especially here are the strengths of our advice!
An important area of planning is corporate planning. It belongs to the operational factors of production and to the so-called dispositive factors. Important features of the planning are the following:
| Planning Item | Planning Subject | Planning | Planning Data |
| For example, future jobs in a company | the decision maker responsible for the workplace planning | for example, the future required personnel capacity | determines the temporal scope of the planning and is an essential design feature of any planning |
Depending on the operational function, there are procurement planning, production planning, financing planning, personnel planning and sales planning.
The controller organizes cross-departmental reporting and expands it into a comprehensive management information system. This refers to the regular transmission of business management information in a structured and condensed form to executives. These reports form the basis for monitoring profitability and assessing business performance based on targets such as profit, profitability and contribution margin.
In accounting (financial and operating accounting), the figures are first provided in an evaluable form for all past economic transactions (actual values). Controlling accesses this data base, consolidates it further, compares the values achieved to those specified in the planning and prepares them for user-oriented management reports. In addition, the Controlling provides key figure systems that serve to substantiate operational decisions. For example, the profitability of investment projects can be assessed using the capital value (total of discounted revenue surpluses). For the controller, the information provided by the cost accounting, at least in the operative business, represents the essential working basis.
In addition to the periodic update of the reporting system, the basic design and further development of the computer-aided controlling systems is also part of this area of responsibility. In addition, the controller is available as a consultant to executives, helping them to make business decisions and estimate their impact on earnings. On the other hand, he supports the management in the identification of procedures and issues that affect the profitability and explores their causes.
The so-called management cockpit (also called management cockpit or key performance indicator cockpit) is a special visualization of the basic economic key figures of a company, which provides the basis for controlling to the corporate management as promptly as possible. The controller – as the bearer of transparency responsibility – has the task, in addition to the pure presentation of these key figures, to select a form of presentation that shows as directly and clearly as possible the extent to which the company goals are currently being achieved. The development of defined key indicators can help to respond quickly to changing trends inside and outside the company. A defined system of measures helps the organization achieve its long-term goals.
The cost and performance calculation (KLR), also referred to as cost and revenue account (KER), cost accounting (KoRe) or statement of operating performance, is a task area of business administration.
For example, cost accounting is part of the internal accounting system and is generally not subject to such legally binding regulations as financial accounting. The KLR primarily serves the internal provision of information for the short-term (operative) planning of costs and revenues as well as their control on the basis of planned, target and actual data.
It provides important basic data for the calculation by determining overheads and hourly rates.
Through the establishment of profit centers and superordinate areas within a company, as well as allocations and internal allocations, further diverse insights can be made transparent for the management as well as parts of the company.