My name is Ties de Kok and I recently obtained my Research Master degree in Accounting at Tilburg University. This September I became part of the Accounting department by starting as a PhD candidate. I hope that by reflecting back on my personal experiences with the Research Master Program and my decision to accept a PhD position I can provide some insight into this, to many unfamiliar, career path. Pursuing an academic career is not for everyone. A little over two years ago, when faced with the dilemma of picking a Master program, I was convinced that the world of academia was not for me. A couple of weeks later, however, I joined Xiaochi, Nan, Xiang, Yue, Victor, Thijs, and Yusiyu to start the two-year Research Master Program in Accounting. This choice was, evidently, not driven by a direct desire to become an academic. Instead the challenge and potential opportunities lying in this, to me rather unknown, career direction had a strong emotional appeal. With the benefit of hindsight this choice, for me at least, is best described as a calculated leap of faith, one that I most definitely do not regret! I started the Research Master directly following my Bachelor in Business Administration (Bedrijfseconomie) so I did not have any previous Master experience. The Research Master in Accounting is a two-year program, the first year is focused on acquiring the skillset (e.g. econometrics) needed to do good research and the second year is mainly dedicated to building familiarity with the accounting literature and to writing the Research Master thesis. In hindsight the two-years were definitely tough and sometimes frustrating due to artificially imposed difficulty levels. I do, however, also look back on a lot of great memories and positive experiences. First of all, the Research Master programs of Business and Economics are filled with students from all over the world making for a very international and culturally diverse experience. My proficiency in the English language has greatly increased, my many Chinese friends learned me a lot about the Chinese culture, and my general perspective on the world has become a lot more global. Second of all, I feel that my personal development has advanced on many different levels, some of which I had the freedom to pick myself (for example, I learned a lot of programming). Many of the skills and insights that you develop during the Research Master program are valuable way beyond their use in an academic career. It is, therefore, not surprising that some students decide to use their Research Master degree to pursue a career outside of academia. I was fortunate to be offered a PhD position at the Accounting department of Tilburg University. I was, again, faced with the question whether an academic career would be something for me. Based on my experiences in the past two years I decided to revise my initial conclusion and accept the three-year PhD position. My biggest motivator is a feeling of compatibility between my self-concept and the concept of a researcher. In my perception, engaging in research is a way in which my curiosity and desire to learn are utilized to their best potential. In a practical sense, this translated into a PhD position offering me the freedom to find research questions and research methodologies that fit with the way that I like to think and work. It also opens up the opportunity to work with the many great researchers at Tilburg University and other universities all throughout the world. Teaching is, besides research, the other substantial part of the PhD track. This semester I teach tutorials for the bachelor course Accounting 1 which has been a great learning experience so far. My memories as a student are still fresh so I try to provide my students with extra tips and tricks that I learned when I following many of these courses myself. It is hard to say what the future of my career is going to look like. I am currently considering the option to spend some time at a university abroad, but this is still in an exploratory state. When it comes to research I am continuously trying to find interesting new topics and innovative ways to study these topics. Three years ago I had no idea that I would end up in a PhD track, therefore I think that only time can tell what the future holds for me!
Why Iceland?
Around one year ago I had to choose my destination for my semester abroad. This was an easy decision for me; I wanted to study at Reykjavik University. I cannot tell how many times exactly I am asked why of all destinations I would choose for Iceland. People could not understand why I wanted to go to such a cold and maybe even grizzled country. To all those people I would like to say that when I did my first road trip on the countryside I almost started to believe in the myths and elves Iceland is known for. It is such an amazing, breathtaking and diverse nature with all the waterfalls, volcanoes, black beaches, icebergs, hot springs, geysers, northern lights, the famous horses and all beautiful landscapes. Next to exploring the country I am enrolled in five interesting courses. Reykjavik University has its main focus on entrepreneurship and cooperation with the active business community. Those are my fields of interest, so this university suits me well. The teachers at Reykjavik University are all business people; they use their experiences in their lecture, which makes the study very practical and applicable. It is highly motivating to get teaching from such passionate professionals. They do not focus on theory, but they want to challenge you and make you find out things yourself. In my opinion this is the best way to learn and develop skills you need in further life. So Iceland is a unique country with great nature but it also has an interesting economic history. For me, as a student in Business Economics, the development of Iceland’s financial sector is very fascinating. The financial sector has grown to ten times Icelandic GDP, just when the worldwide financial crisis started in 2008. Because of the sheer size of the financial sector in Iceland, this financial crisis could have bankrupted the country. The Icelandic economy has shown they are not like most Western countries. Current developments in Iceland are mainly in the growing tourism. The tourism industry has had an incredibly positive effect on Iceland and is an incredibly positive part of their society and economy. The travel industry is bringing in a lot of money and creates jobs across the country. It is clear why Iceland is becoming more popular; it has so much beautiful things to offer. Besides the fact that the countryside of Iceland is so peaceful, the capital city Reykjavik is too. Reykjavik itself is the biggest city in the country with around 200.000 citizens. This may not sound as that are many but when you think about the total inhabitants of Iceland being only around 330.000, it is. Reykjavik is not a busy or noisy city, it is lively but it has a very relaxed atmosphere. There are the cute colored houses, the alternative bars and there are no large retail stores. Only boutiques and small shops are located in the heart of the city. This in combination with the eccentric and original bars, coffee shops and restaurants makes it a one-off city. In my opinion, Iceland including Reykjavik should stay the way they are now. I hope they will not change because of the growing tourism. The country should maintain her special value, which is what makes Iceland so unique. I hope they will put the beauty of their country ahead of earning as much as possible. Of course tourism is good for the economy but Iceland itself should not suffer from it, because in my opinion it is one of the most outstanding places in the world. I am curious about how Iceland will look in some years from now, but at this moment I am enjoying the way it still is right now. Iceland is inspiring and makes you believe in magic sometimes because of all the uncommon phenomena. I am very happy with my choice to study a semester at Reykjavik University and discover Iceland as an exchange student. So, why I chose for Iceland? I cannot name one reason why not 
How the Valley changed my life
Status quo is out Some claim that Silicon Valley is changing the world. The stretch of land between San José and San Francisco (80 km) in the Golden State of California is hosting the most influential companies in todays’ world. The “Valley” is one of the most innovative hotspots and attracts companies that alter the status quo in the field of mobility, energy, information handling, health, and shopping. Names like Google, Uber, Apple, Facebook, AirBnB and Tesla enter our daily language. The inspiring dynamic of entrepreneurship and innovation is based on a mix of elements: talent pool development and nurturing (greatly promoted by universities such as Stanford, UCSF and Berkeley), risk taking attitude where business failures are not stigmatized, financial investment culture (funds availability) and government support (both legal as well as financial). My student experience @Stanford Supported by the Belgian American Education Foundation (BAEF), I left my home country Belgium in September 1995 to start a PhD program at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) of Stanford University. BAEF started as an initiative of the Commission for Relief in Belgium during WW I by President Herbert Hoover, one of the first Stanford alumni, and is still supporting each year dozens of Belgian students to study at top US universities. After the welcome cocktails with the 25 new PhD students and GSB faculty under the Californian sun, the academic program started in full swing. The math, micro-economics and econometrics courses with multiple weekly assignments kept everybody busy, even sleep deprived. The different student backgrounds often stimulated interesting class or homework discussions, and above all generated new ways of thinking. Taking courses at other schools was another pillar of the educational experience. The resampling statistics class taught by Bradley Efron (inventor of the bootstrap method) was for me one of the best classes ever. Prof. Efron demonstrated how advances in a new area of statistics generated breakthroughs in the medical and engineering sciences. Exciting stuff, also for a B-school student. Developments in the tech sector were vividly discussed on campus, and greatly affected my dissertation research. Back after 14 years In June 2014, I had the opportunity to spend 2 months as a visiting accounting faculty member at the Stanford GSB. Together with Koen Becking (TiU President), who visited me for 3 days, I took the opportunity to learn more about new educational tools, such as the MOOCs studio, the cutting edge digital (distance learning) class rooms, the creativity and startup lab. I met with MBA students and faculty members to learn more about new teaching approaches. The link with practitioners, such as venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, is very apparent in the learning experience. At the annual 4th of July soccer game between LA Galaxy and San José Earthquakes at the Stanford Stadium (with more than 40000 thousand people attending), I was introduced to a group of Valley entrepreneurs. Interestingly, one of them was the founder of Turnitin, used at Tilburg University for thesis processing. Valley lessons learned Tilburg University can make smart decisions to enhance its position within the Brainport ecosystem while striving for international academic excellence, similar to Stanford University in the Silicon Valley setting. The data science initiative is a great example of getting cross-university collaboration (with TU/e), supported by government and the business community. That provides a fruitful soil for entrepreneurial activity. At a personal level, I greatly recommend students to have a study experience abroad, preferably in a vibrant economic area and a challenging academic environment. You will adopt an international mindset and create a global network that will benefit you for the rest of your life. Take risks, don’t be satisfied with the status quo and challenge yourself. You won’t regret it!
So you want to become an accountant..
Fall 2013 Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, two Oxford researchers, published their ‘Future of employment‘. A report that offers a grim perspective on just about any form of work in the future. Computerisation is the word they use and what they perceive as a major threat to work in – again – just about any job. IT will be computerised, accounting will be computerised, manufacturing will be computerised, auditing will be computerised. A future wherein humans are practically replaceable and redundant in order to keep this world running. The accountants work is what they call ‘susceptible’ for computerisation. Susceptible is usually a word you use in winter as in: if you don’t wear a warm coat in winter you are susceptible to catching a cold. The problem they see however is more complex. I do not believe that the entire audit and accounting profession will be made obsolete by IT. I do believe that IT will take a huge chunk out of the work that these days is still done manually. I also believe that software will become smarter. If Google can drive a car, then why would it be impossible to automatically generate an annual account or even interpret an annual account? But still, the human factor, professional judgement, seeing things that machines can’t or vice versa interpret and understand the things a machine can see but human eyes cannot. That will still require the human factor or the human touch. At least I hope. Accounting is an age old science or trick. Invented some 500 years ago by an Italian monk in Venice. And the merchants of the renaissance loved it. Debit and credit, double entry accounting was a huge step forward. The next level in accounting entered this world less than a generation ago. The spreadsheet was invented in the late seventies of the twentieth century. Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston invented Visicalc, the first real spreadsheet, back in 1979. Calculations took remarkably less time.. ‘Visicalc took 20 hours of work per week for some people and turned it out in 15 minutes,’ is what Dan Bricklin tells us in an interview and he adds a remarkable and extremely important statement: ‘and let them become much more creative.’ That is where the real challenge is!
Looking into A&F Investments
A&F Investments is an investment committee for students of Tilburg University interested in investing or the financial world in general. Most of our members study finance, economics or business administration. The mission of the committee is to learn from each other about investing. This knowledge is broadened by a number of interesting guest lectures. Throughout the year we invest jointly a sum consisting out of the contributions from our members. By doing so, the members will get experience in investing and are challenged to think about corporate values. The investment committee currently consist out of twenty-three members which are divided in to groups of three or four students. The groups will focus on specific industries to get a deeper understanding of the industry. Every six weeks, a team has the opportunity to pitch an investment idea. This can either be a buying pitch for a certain stock, a selling pitch or an alternative investment suggestion. Investment opportunities will be sealed by a voting and there needs to be a two third majority to accept the proposal. Moreover, we have a Risk Management and Macro-Economic team that challenge investment ideas and pitches in order to stimulate discussion. When the team decides to acquire a specific asset, one member of the team will have to keep track of developments of that specific stock. These individual stock watchers are then the one responsible for providing the rest of the team with important information, either in the meetings or through our Facebook page. Last quarter we have had several interesting meetings and our team was reinforced with some new members. This means new perspectives and new opportunities for our portfolio. Unfortunately the overall stock market has been in a turbulent time and was mainly driven by terrible macro-economic performance in China. Moreover the uncertainty about the United States interest rates has had a negative impact on our portfolio. Regardless of this, we have seen many interesting pitches. Our Macro-Economic team has updated us every meeting about the economic development in the world, with respect to our portfolio. Currencies and commodities have been discussed a lot in particular. Declines in gold, copper and oil have forced us to take several actions. For instance at the lowest point of the year of the oil price, we have picked up some extra stocks of a firm exposed in oil. In general, the information provided by the Macro-Economic team has been a great help for the other teams. The investment opportunities of the teams were very diversified. One team made from their pitch a small lecture about trading in options, including some interesting interpretations of investing strategies. Another team thought it would be reasonable to diversify our portfolio with a biopharmaceutical stock. They have supported their pitch with some crucial information about patent expirations of their competitors. Innovation and sustainable energy were also hot topics during the meetings. Solar-energy, technological development in the car-industry and innovation in The Netherlands have been discussed. As an important support for these opportunities, DCF methods and multiples were used to value the considered stocks. One interesting example is Tesla Motors, which besides their cars is making a major move into building battery systems. The rare element graphite will take a key role in the production of these batteries. Therefore graphite was investigated by one of our teams and even a small sample of real graphite was sent to us all the way from the Canada-based Great Lakes Graphite company. To sum up, our members have experienced in various ways what it is like to invest in real stocks. Also the next quarter promises to be exciting and interesting for A&F Investments because of the current uncertainty in the financial markets.
The ins and outs of Randstad
Could you tell something about yourself, your career and your education? After my VWO I started NIVRA. That education has had its advantages: you finance your own study, you learn to work and you get to know a lot of companies. However, on the other side, you are really young. When someone starts studying at a University they have a broader period for maturity. If I could do it again, I would have probably chosen to study at a University. Afterwards, I worked for about eight years in accountancy. The freedom you have in that profession is something I really liked. You are always on the road and the variety of clients and teams was huge. However, it was not something I wanted to do forever, because I had the feeling I was always on the side-line. I wanted to be part of a company. At that time Randstad was one of my clients and I thought it was a fascinating company. They had a vacancy for manager financial accounting, which I got, and did for five years. After that I worked for five years as CFO for Randstad Germany and for the last eight years I have been the CFO of ‘Randstad Groep Nederland’. When I started at Randstad I was recommended to do the postdoctoral controller program. I did this, and it was a good addition to my chartered accounting (CA) education, especially as CFO of a listed company. Nowadays I think the CA education coincides less with a career in the business. The nuance of the education and the work as assistant accountant has shifted a little. It is less numerical and there is a stronger emphasis on procedures and compliancy. What do you like most about your job? My role is pretty operational. In a corporate environment, the specific tasks, for example tax and treasury, are done by specialists. I am less involved in that. I think that the volatility of our business, the speed of actions and the operational tasks are the things I like most. I am constantly analyzing what is happening and thinking where and if I have to redirect. What is your experience with switching from a big accountancy firm to Randstad? You have to realize that at an accountancy firm you only see a part of the financial picture. It is certainly a good start of your career, because there is a lot of variation and you are able to see a lot of companies. However, if you make a switch to a big corporation, you will realize that the finance function in such an environment is much broader than you thought (corporate finance, M&A, business control, management accounting). You will see new things, but if you are aware of that, it should not be a problem. In which extent has Randstad suffered from the financial crisis? Our operations follow our revenue growth. The worst period for us was in 2009, when we decreased 30 percent. We had to decrease our capacity quickly. This was rather easily done because of the natural course of our consultants, but it was challenging. Besides that, you have to pay attention to your other expenses and the capacity of the offices. Our offices today are half the size they were and we have less employees. However, our revenue is still the same as it was eight years ago. This is primarily due to digitalization, which allows us to work with less people, but get the same amount of work done. Moreover, our margins have decreased a lot. How do you keep track of the financial situation at Randstad? It starts with the quality of your systems. Your primary systems should be working flawless. For example, at Randstad, this is the system where the flex workers fill in their timesheets. If a timesheet is completed there will be an invoice for the customer and the salary for the flex worker. The data is put into our financial system, which work correctly in our company. The controllers can do their job with instant data and do not lose time making reports. Subsequently, in our business we have to plan, measure, analyze and redirect. To do this, you need really good people in your finance department. And we have those at Randstad; they make the difference. How do you ensure you stay in contact with the workplace? It is important for me to put aside some free time to keep in contact with the workplace. You have to show your face and talk with colleagues, because we work in a ‘people business’. People at the workplace will communicate better if they know each other. So I have to make sure that people know me and that only happens by going to the workplaces. Next to my workplace at the main office, I visit a lot of other offices. For the workplace it is important to be approachable, and this can be done via email, phone or personal contact. If I do not go to the various locations of the firm, the colleagues will not know who I am and they will not always feel free to contact me. What are your expectations for the job market and the economy in the coming years? My expectations at this moment are positive. You see that the economy is growing, the confidence in the economy is back and, for example, because of that the domestic consumption increases. Only in certain functions at the banking industry the job market does not increase, and this is due to digitization. If no disruptive events happen, for instance with that of Greece or a terrorist attack, this increase of jobs will continue. You can already see that the number of vacancies are increasing and the number of unemployed people is decreasing. Randstad is organizing a business course, why should students choose for this business course? We organize a business course that is open for all fields of study. For a career at Randstad you