IDES Controlling and Enterprise Controlling (CO-EC) role

In the Business simulation, one of the players should control the
modules
Controlling (CO) and Enterprise Controlling (EC). Both these IDES
modules strongly involve economics, therefore it would be a benefit
for the player if he knows the basics in this area. Some knowledge in
marketing and sales would also be good. In the simulation the player
will use
the Controlling Module for planning, managing and monitoring overhead
costs.
Since overhead costs cannot be assigned directly to cost objects, they
are
assigned to the cost centres at which they occurred, or to the jobs that
raised
them.
Having these data, which are in the cost centre, the player can, with
the provided tools in IDES, make sure that the data are allocated to the
correct source. The player can for example, at the end of a posting
period —
which will also be a posting period in the simulation — see whether
the planned costs
(adjusted to the operating rate) are right compared with the actual
costs. Would
this not be the case, the player will have to change the data for the
next coming
posting period. The idea with this is that the player will have to
analyze any
discrepancies between planned and actual costs that exceed a predefit
ned threshold. The player will also work with cost controlling, and
solve
questions like: Did the company calculate the right price for a product
that is
manufactured, or a service that is provided? If the company did not,
what price should be the right in the future? To get this "right" price
the player
has been provided with important information for pricing and pricing
policies, controlling the cost of goods manufactured, stock evaluation,
and profit tability analysis.
Another major part in the Controller's role is to work with Profit
atability Analysis, which is as the name suggest, analyzing the
company's future profit, what it depends on and what parameters are the
main reason behind it. To be able to do this the player will get help
from a
range of on-line, multidimensional reporting tools which gives him key
fit gures
and numbers. Succeeding With this data and with these queries, the
player
handling the Controller role will hopefully have an encouraging and
educating
assignment. How the player succeeds and on which basis this should be
measured is not very easy, but it will be calculated with the parameters
the player changed during the simulation session. Hopefully, the player
will get
the right data from his companions which will make his job a lot easier.