Agile Controlling

Abstract

This master thesis examines the impacts of agile transformation on financial controlling activities. Today, markets are becoming more dynamic, and customer needs are more volatile. Large corporations often respond to this with agile transformation, which promises more flexibility and a higher speed of implementation. This is of great importance, especially for companies in the banking industry in Switzerland, as the banking business is becoming increasingly digitalized and new digital players are entering the market. However, such a change also impacts the processes and activities outside of the actual software development, for example, the controlling department. This case study examines the controlling activities at Swiss bank PostFinance, which is undergoing an agile transformation. For this purpose, interviews are carried out with project leaders who regularly interact with the controlling tools and processes. In addition, an outside-in-view is conducted to examine how another company of comparable size is dealing with this challenge. Based on the findings from the literature, the interviews with the project leaders, and the outside-in-view, recommendations for improvement are developed on how PostFinance can improve its controlling activities.