Perhaps Generation Y can process information faster, but that does not make them better business controllers, says Professor of Accounting Information Systems Arco van de Ven in an article at CMweb.nl. "The jury is still out there," notes the website when Van de Ven is asked whether Generation Y controllers are better controllers.

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According to Van de Ven, there has been a discussion going on for fifty years about the controller as business partner. "Technology changes, but the problems remain the same. Twenty-five years ago, IT was alien to the controller. That is still true. Generation Y might perhaps use an iPad sooner, but if you ask them what that means for the integration of control and organization, they are also entering new territory. The skills they exercise privately are not reflected in their work. On the contrary. They see a discussion about the impact of social media on the controller as strange. You get that information from your business processes, don’t you?"

Van de Ven continues: "They [Generation Y] make contacts faster. They are very accessible. Word and PowerPoint have no secrets for them, but they are not any better at writing a paper. They find it equally difficult to translate IT possibilities into strategy. The differences may become more pronounced in five years’ time when fifty to eighty percent of RC students consists of Generation Y. Then we will see."

Does Generation Y provide better controllers?

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