Aug 3, 2023 | AICDP News
AICDP, the leading Credit Organisation created to support Directors and Credit Professionals in their careers, is delighted to announce the establishment of the AICDP Business School.
This initiative signals an escalation in our commitment to provide exceptional development training, consultancy, coaching and mentoring, as well as a stimulating resource for career management, to all Credit Professionals. The AICDP Business School will be our principal vehicle for the delivery of professional development to Credit Directors, potential Credit Directors and Credit Professionals, adding momentum to our core aim of propelling Senior Credit Professionals to board positions within, and beyond, our discipline.
The AICDP Business School has designed Development Programmes with technical and behavioural components, ensuring that Credit Professionals are aware of the complex interplay between Task, Team and Individual in every aspect of working life, enabling them to adopt a considered, informed, intelligent, energetic, creative and professional approach to all aspects of their work and career. This high-level development results in uniquely skilled and able individuals.
Our work recognises that organisations have little time to spare. All AICDP development, training and education is sharp, focused, relevant, uses time efficiently and ensures that what is delivered is of immediate practical use to participants. The core of the AICDP Business School Prospectus, is the Credit Director Acceleration Programme, offering advanced technical and behavioural skills, supported by expert coaching and mentoring.
The programme debuted in Ireland in May with Crisis Management and Crisis Leadership, with technical and behavioural modules. This was planned and delivered in collaboration with Irish Credit Management Training (ICMT). This inaugural module received an enthusiastic response and established an inaugural cohort.
In September 2023 the AICDP Business School Prospectus will be announced; in November, we will deliver Module Two of the Credit Director Acceleration Programme (CDAP) in Ireland and Module One in UK. In 2024 the programme will expand to Europe. AICDP Business School Development Programmes, along with our established training, and that of our partners, will generate students for CDAP.
Bill Dunlop, AICDP President added: ‘AICDP is proud to announce the AICDP Business School, an initiative that will revolutionise professional development for Credit Professionals. Through our targeted programmes, expert guidance, and practical approach, we equip Credit Professionals with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles and progress to management and leadership positions. We are excited to launch this endeavour and look
forward to supporting the future leaders of the credit industry.’
With the AICDP Business School giving Credit Professionals practical support in the management and development of their careers, AICDP is furthering its mission: Shaping the Future of International Credit.
For further information, please email info@aicdp.global
Jul 20, 2023 | AICDP News
The Association of International Credit Directors and Professionals is dedicated to empowering credit practitioners with essential skills and networking opportunities across the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Mike Diette as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
With an outstanding track record in the field of credit management and an unwavering commitment to advancing the profession, Mike Diette brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as CEO.
AICDP is confident that his leadership will propel the organisation to new heights and provide its members with unparalleled support and training opportunities. AICDP plays a vital role in fostering the growth and success of credit professionals worldwide. By offering a comprehensive range of resources, training programmes, and networking events, the organisation equips its members with the tools they need to navigate the complex world of credit management effectively. With Mike at the helm and working closely with Bill Dunlop, AICDP President, AICDP is poised to expand its offerings and reach an even broader audience, empowering credit practitioners across various industries.
Bill Dunlop added: “Mike Diette’s extensive background in credit management, during which he has successfully navigated numerous challenges and driven substantial improvements in credit practices. His strategic vision, coupled with his dedication to professional development, aligns perfectly with AICDP’s core mission of empowering credit practitioners and enhancing their competencies.
Expressing his excitement for the role, Mike Diette said, “I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as CEO. This organisation has been supporting credit professionals in their pursuit of excellence for many years, and I am eager to contribute to its ongoing success. I look
forward to working closely with our members, partners, and stakeholders to advance the profession of credit management and provide the resources necessary for our members to thrive in an ever-changing business landscape.”
By fostering a vibrant and supportive credit community, AICDP will continue to be the go-to organisation for credit professionals seeking growth, knowledge, and career advancement.
Jun 26, 2023 | AICDP News
Recently, while working on a Workshop, I encountered a problem with how delegates reacted to a given situation. We were working with an imaginary scenario where a Greek distributor, having been the subject of an undisclosed internal fraud was seeking their vendors’ assistance; their vendors’ Credit Management was being role-played by our training delegates.
The Distributor, role played by the trainer had not admitted to the fraud and was asking for their payment terms to be extended to offset their growing overdue receivables. The brief given to the delegates was to work as a team of three, meet with the Distributor and:
- Establish the real cause of the problem.
- Come up with a solution agreeable to both parties.
- Thereafter create a report to their Board of Directors summarising the solution.
The group worked diligently before, during and after the meeting they identified the root cause and produced a credible report. However, there was one major defect contained therein. As a part of the overall solution they had agreed to the Distributors request to extend their payment
terms from 60 to 90 days.
During my long career as a Credit Professional, I can say without fear of contradiction that I never once extended payment terms on a customer’s request. That does not mean I did not successfully negotiate numerous distressed customer situations to mutually agreed solutions and there are sound principles that support that position.
- When dealing with distressed customers you will have to accept that you will rarely be paid the amount you want and when you want it. Acceptance of this fact and of the errant payment behaviour it brings does not require a change of payment terms.
- Credit Lines, when set properly should approximately be in-line with the rate of goods or services supplied during the period of the payment terms. Therefore, a knee-jerk reaction to change payment terms would likely necessitate a corresponding change in the Credit Line. This would lead to an increase in exposure at a time when a progressive reduction in exposure is the desired direction.
- These changes would also have negative effects operationally and legally. From an operational standpoint, you would be restricted to only applying a credit hold after the Credit Line or Payment Terms had been breached putting further pressure on outstanding
exposure. The legal complication is that any legal action and the application of remedies such as penalty interest can only be done after the contract has been breached.
In this case that would occur when the 90 days payment terms had been breached as this is viewed as an integral part of the contract. It would not apply to the credit line which is granted and amended at the discretion of the supplier and is not contractually binding.
Lastly there is a geographic and cultural dimension to this particular example. The countries in Southern Europe are typified as expecting and having longer payment terms and payment performance to match. So, if you have a customer on 60 days, the likelihood is you will be paid on 90 days.
Correspondingly if you extend it to 90 days, guess what? You will be paid in 120 days. This view may be regarded as cynical but it is borne out by extensive hands-on experience.
In conclusion, I would say that I don’t want to claim a monopoly on wisdom in these matters and I’m sure that fellow professionals will have extended payment terms and achieved acceptable results by doing so. It is however a dangerous place to operate and gamble with your enterprises’ money. I hope that anyone grappling with this dilemma will find these writings helpful.
Bill Dunlop
May 22, 2023 | AICDP News
This century will be shaped by the human world reaching Peak People, immediately followed by populations beginning to get smaller. The future never turns out as the experts predicted. The problems we will have throughout the rest of this century, and well into the next, will not be ones of over-population but managing shortages of people in human societies across the world. Our economies will find it immensely difficult to change from an outlook of ever-increasing growth to one of shrinkage. However, we are resilient, creative, imaginative, adaptable. We will find ways to make a different future work. We have to.
First Demographic – Shrinkage
This concerns the sting in the tail of Capitalism: under this socio-economic system, people choose to have smaller families. This is currently the demographic of all developed capitalist economies: ageing populations and falling birth-rates, combining to ensure a shortage of suitably qualified, adequately skilled, experienced workers in sufficient numbers to maintain growth in a country’s economy. Attracting, inducting, skilling, training, managing, motivating, rewarding, developing, retaining, promoting and leading enough suitable employees is the business megatrend for the rest of this century . . . and beyond.
Population shrinkage is not something which can be rectified easily, cheaply or quickly. Immigration can ease some shortages. AI and robots will mitigate the problem, not enough to solve it. Women, still busy with the hard work of achieving equality in developed economies, and having distant dreams of it in the developing world, are unlikely to want to go back to being baby machines for the sake of helping the economy. We will have to learn to manage economies which do not have, as their main feature, the aim of untrammelled growth. We will have to start focussing on improving quality, increasing productivity, depth, profundity and other measures which we do not yet use to measure
economic success. We will have to begin to consider the concept of economic maturity.
For Credit the implications are immediate: how and where will you source the Credit Professionals of the future? The profession must be made more attractive, more high-profile and transferrable skills must be emphasised.
Second Demographic – Managing
Generally, management is getting worse. There are, for starters, fewer managers, they are less well-trained and are not supported enough as they start out. The prevailing development model for managers nowadays is Sink or Swim.
New managers are often thrown into a supervisory, team leader or management position because they are either technically able or they have been there longer than others. There is less mentoring and learning from others with experience of the company, of the sector/specialism or, simply, with hard-won experience of good, and bad, management practise.
Organisations are far too stretched and pressured to spend time and money in planned training and development of their managers. And it is beginning to show in major ways around the globe.
In addition, social media has heightened an emphasis on presentation and the surface impression, rather than on depth of experience, competence, achievement, ability, credibility and authenticity. You can fool some of the people – and with a multitude of PowerPoint presentations and an assured social media presence – you can go on pulling the wool over their eyes for a considerable amount of time.
Education, development and training is expensive . . . until you try the alternative.
Credit should focus on the comprehensive training of managers who are both technically and behaviourally outstanding. The recognition that these Credit Managers are outstanding professional managers will help the reputation of the profession, will attract people to train as Credit Managers as a sure route to managerial excellence and will raise the profile of Credit as an integral part of any successful business.
Third Demographic – Geopolitics
The world is not becoming less complex. Increased media for communication has not meant better communication between countries, power blocs, political entities, corporations, companies, organisations, groups, families and individuals. As the speed and ease of communication has increased, and the media have proliferated, the quality, depth value and truthfulness has been compromised.
Globalisation has encountered unexpected problems and there are myriad difficulties involved in trading internationally, offshoring, governance, regulation, competition and trust. War, cyber warfare, nationalist movements and political populism have ensured that movements to Make Wherever Great Again have been on the rise, although cost, incompetence, corruption and poor delivery will give these a short (ish) shelf-life. They are a clear sign that people want competent leaders, able to solve problems and lead decisively.
There is a massive lack of these.
Political leaders are visibly struggling to know what to do and visibly use all their energies for their own political survival. While thus engaged they are failing to lead their countries effectively. Life is likely to become more difficult before it becomes easier. On the plus side, it’s harder than ever, in this brave new world, to be a dictator or authoritarian leader.
The realistic parallels with George Orwell’s 1984 are more clearly visible now than 40 years ago in 1983, or even 20 or 10 years ago. This should worry us. There is a geographical arc of potential conflict, actual conflict and/or political and economic instability running down through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through the Indian sub-continent and continuing to the Pacific Rim. Shared Service Centres located in or near these areas may be at risk of future disruption of various kinds.
Credit should think carefully about where it locates itself geographically to ensure stability and to be in a position to leverage maximum influence over the responsible stewardship of successful companies which want to perform financially, deliver consistently impressive results, grow their products and services . . . and still be around in 50 years.
Nick Kell
Copyright © 2023 Nick Kell – The author adopts a robust approach to any form of copyright infringement and will seek, at their election, appropriate remedies for breach of their copyright including injunctive relief, costs and a public apology.
May 2, 2023 | AICDP News
On the back of the gloomy forecast for global economic growth by the IMF, the high profile failure of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, and the controversial takeover of failed Credit Suisse by UBS, stubbornly high inflation and subsequent interest rate rises, the main question that goes through my (admittedly Credit-focused) brain is, “are we headed for another Credit Crisis?
Banks, believe it or not, are generally risk-averse. Oh, when times are good they throw money around like confetti but when times get tough, they (and Credit Insurers) are the first to pull back and tighten up lending policies, reduce credit lines or even worse, pull debt cover entirely. This was how they behaved during the 2009 crisis and I’m concerned that history, as it often does, will repeat itself.
This would have a disastrous impact on the global economy. Governments, businesses and consumers, used to a decade of historically low borrowing rates, have managed to rack up unprecedented amounts of debt but have also helped fuel global economic growth. If sources of funding dry up or are constricted, government and business investment would be severely impacted, revenue opportunities minimised, crumbling infrastructure left to deteriorate, the markets would stagnate and we would enter a global recession.
I am (somewhat) hopeful that the lenders and governments have learned some lessons from the last financial crisis. As the macro-economic data, albeit mixed, points to an easing of inflationary pressures by the end of this year and while a recession is still likely, it may be shorter and less severe than originally forecast. Governments also seem poised to be more proactive to act when necessary to avoid the worst case scenario. However, things move rapidly and we must prepare for all potential outcomes.
As I said in my last article, do not despair! These are career-defining times for all Credit professionals. The trials and tribulations that we face now only serve to bestow the fortitude, knowledge and experience that we all require to perform well in our roles and give us the confidence to face further challenges in the future.
“Out of adversity comes opportunity” – Benjamin Franklin
Apr 18, 2023 | AICDP News
AICDP is delighted to welcome Martyn Brooke to our Executive Committee who works hard behind the scenes in shaping the agenda for international Credit Professionals. Martyn’s appointment follows on from the arrival of Esker as a Corporate Partner and we welcome Martyn to the team.
Our Executive Committee has been designed to bring a wealth of expertise, training, and experience of working at all levels within the Credit industry to shape the agenda of our members, our events, and our knowledge bank and offer specific industry support to our members.
Martyn joined Esker in 2022 as a Credit Management Specialist. He offers a wealth of key advice to end-users on the application of order-to-cash processes. Before joining Esker, Martyn was a popular facilitator and speaker at credit industry events and ran his own successful credit management and advisory service.
Bill Dunlop, President of AICDP added: “With over 30 years of practical experience, Martyn is a respected authority within the credit industry, and we are delighted to welcome him to our Executive Committee. We already have several AICDP events and training schemes planned throughout the year and Martyn will be on hand to support our members.”
For further information on AICDP please visit – https://www.aicdp.global.
