In­ter­nal Au­dit­ing and Joint Ven­ture Man­age­ment De­part­ment

In accordance with DLR Corporate Governance, the Internal Auditing and Joint Venture Department combines internal auditing and consulting with the consulting and controlling tasks of Joint Venture Management. Information about the staff members of the Internal Auditing and Joint Venture Management Department is available here.

Internal Auditing

As a fundamental part of the management process, internal auditing is recognised by the Division as the task of risk-oriented, process-independent corporate monitoring. In addition to conducting conventional audits, the department increasingly provides audit-independent consultancy services and, as such, is a modern, internal service provider for DLR. The primary focus of auditing and consulting is to ensure adherence to legal provisions and stipulations of regulatory entities, specifically by DLR's funding bodies; the functionality, effectiveness, economic efficiency and adequateness of the internal control system; risk management and risk control systems; finance and accounting; IT systems and the reporting system, as well as the efficiency of business processes within DLR. Find out more about the Internal Auditing department here.

Joint Venture Management

The Joint Venture Management Division is responsible for the management and controlling of DLR’s various joint ventures and memberships. As such, it is the main point of contact for, in particular, administrative questions that involve a DLR joint venture or membership at any stage – from the start through to the end. The Division is also the main point of contact for specific liability risks under company law that might result from DLR’s institutional collaboration under its networking and membership activities. Find out more about the Joint Venture Management Division here.

Quality management

The Internal Auditing and Joint Venture Management Department was first certified DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 by TÜV NORD CERT GmbH in July 2009. In June 2015, the second recertification since 2012 was granted, once again without objection. The very dynamic and well-founded quality management system (QMS) is continuously being improved with the participation of all staff members. The results of the annual internal and external audits, as well as the structured customer satisfaction surveys are always taken into consideration in the continuous improvement process. In addition, the Division draws additional impetus and ideas for developing its system from regular training and benchmarking and constant internal and external exchange of experience. As part of the management assessment and strategy meeting that takes place annually, all steps for improvement are systematically combined and their implementation and effectiveness monitored and assessed. The QMS is embedded into the existing DLR management system.

EFQM activities

Since 2010, the Internal Auditing and Joint Venture Department has also been carrying out dedicated self-assessments under the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model. These are also used to further develop the management system for the department’s general improvement. Based on surveys of the current situation, respective strengths and potential for improvement are identified in annual workshops with the active participation of all staff members. Concrete measures are developed and implemented for the prioritised areas of potential. Each workshop generally focuses on two criteria of the EFQM model, and these are discussed at length and systematically assessed in a shared dialogue moderated by a trained TQM assessor. In November 2016, the dedicated self-assessment process will be fully implemented for the first time under this procedure. Building on this, the division’s EFQM activities are expected to be further strengthened.

Employees of the Internal Auditing and Joint Venture Management Department