16th international
Starnberg Management Days
A brief review
March 6th and 7th, 2023
Leading companies confidently through turbulent markets and developing them in a change-oriented manner
How much strategy can be saved – or will the implementation turbo be switched on now?
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How do you lead in turbulent times without losing sight of vision and strategy?
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What do successful transformations look like in turbulent times?
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Why do some companies win even in difficult times – and some do not?
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With which key issues are we now setting out into the future – what can we learn from others?
The most important statements of the event at a glance...
After the corona-related break, Werner Seidenschwarz was pleased about the large number of B2B and technology companies represented at the iSMD, which play a pioneering role in their respective industries. In addition, he emphasized in his opening speech the extremely positive corporate purpose pursued by many B2B companies, which is of particularly high importance for the younger generations - just like good interaction in daily activities across all levels in the company.
Markus Asch made it clear in his presentation that even the most successful companies are not "immune" to internally or externally caused imbalances and, in this context, underlined the high relevance of innovation and customer centricity - both in Rittal's ecosystem and across other industries and sectors.
Thomas Bieringer provided an exciting insight into the first successful approaches to curing diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and diabetes. He also outlined how Bayer is now working beyond the industrialization of gene and cell therapy towards a broad breakthrough in the direction of "curing instead of repairing".
Siegfried Russwurm described in his speech that the influence of politics on companies is increasing and does not always make their lives easier. He also emphasized that companies have become more resilient in times of crisis. However, the association structures in Germany, but also in other countries such as France, are often still too complex and thus do not ensure sufficient scope for quick action with regard to political developments of a national or international nature.
Volker Wissing, as a liberal pioneer of self-responsible action, represented the credo "Freedom needs allies" and, in the best of moods, not only provided interesting insights into his office as Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, but also showed his private side as a long-time church organist with a broad Bach repertoire and as a responsible family man with government responsibilities in times of crisis.
Birgit Keil captivated the evening's audience with her charm and eloquence from the very first minute. She took the audience on the journey of her life: from her escape from the Sudeten German land to her appearances as a world star on the most renowned international stages.
Michael Köllner showed the facets of the development of young soccer players at the professional level - from the influence of player advisors and players' wives to dealing with the pressure to succeed in the public eye. He also outlined how to "tame" traditional clubs and shape experienced and young players into successful teams.
In his lecture, Uwe Häberer exuded pure sales energy in the room and showed that the role and standing of sales must be massively strengthened, especially in technology-oriented B2B companies - particularly in times of rapidly changing customer environments.
In his closing presentation, Jens Stadter discussed, among other things, how closed cycles can be used to link ecology and economy for the common good, and illustrated Jokey's sustainability strategy in practice by means of a comprehensive transformation cooperation with the WWF, among other things.
Nikolai Zaepernick from EOS in Krailling illustrated the diversity practiced in a company whose management includes three women in core functions. He also underlined the sustainability impact of 3D printing on the way to the "Sustainable Production" of the future.
Markus Asch, CEO of Rittal International and Rittal Software Systems, the world's leading system provider for enclosures, power distribution, IT infrastructure, climate control, and related software and services, told the audience how the company was able to evolve from an enclosure manufacturer that was originally strongly focused on the automotive industry into future industries such as energy and information technology: with a clear focus on innovation and customer centricity.
But how do companies manage to survive in turbulent markets, become market leaders, remain market leaders, develop markets or, in the best case, even dominate them in the long term?
What is certain is that such a journey is accompanied by major challenges for companies. In the case of Rittal, this concerns, for example, the handling of 18 terabytes of data produced daily in Haiger, one of the most modern factories in the world, the availability of energy for managing peak loads in production, and even dealing with the competition and the important markets in China, India and the USA.
From Mr. Asch's point of view, a central lever lies above all in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the customer and grasping him in his applications and depth.
It's about recognizing ecosystems and "hooking" with the customer, becoming a fundamental part of their system and processes - rather than focusing on solving one or more isolated problems. It's about creating functionality that is relevant to the customer and often goes far beyond the original application.
This has gone so far that Rittal now even offers a superlative climate-neutral data center for customers in a fjord in Norway. In it, 100% renewable energies are used. Cooling is provided by seawater from the adjacent fjord.
Rittal's next steps are thus clearly tangible: the next level in the ecosystem is always a combination of hardware and software and will always be designed to increase the speed, flexibility and competitiveness of Rittal's customers.
In the subsequent contribution by Thomas Bieringer, it became clear once again why Werner Seidenschwarz emphasizes the economic and social contribution as well as the importance of B2B and technology companies so positively, especially in the current turn of times.
Thomas Bieringer from Bayer Pharmaceuticals - a company whose products reach more than 1 billion people worldwide - followed up directly with the extraordinarily positive company purpose "Health for all, hunger for none" and took the participants on an exciting journey into the future of healthcare.
He illustrated initial successes in curing diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and diabetes for the first time. And above all, he outlined how the industrialization of gene and cell therapy is now also working towards a broad breakthrough in the direction of "curing instead of repairing".
This is a scenario that will not only have a fundamental impact on healthcare in the future, but will also present the entire pharmaceutical industry with massive changes - and make more than a few researchers and start-up founders billionaires overnight.
Driven from North America and based on highly complex procedures, where the one-time sequencing of the human genome at the turn of the millennium still took 13 years and cost € 3 billion, this is now possible for € 1000 within one hour.
The technology is now so advanced that cellular processes can be understood so precisely that they can be programmed and, for example, sick cells can be replaced by healthy ones as part of cell therapy. Nevertheless, only 5% of about 6000 genetic diseases can be treated today. Furthermore, it is not (yet) certain that the immune system will accept replaced cells.
The next steps are therefore aimed at orchestrating the available tools, from genetic scissors to complex big data analyses, in such a way that those affected can also be led into a healthy future on a broad scale - it could hardly be more motivating.
Siegfried Russwurm, currently certainly "the" opinion leader in German business, reflected on how much influence politics has on companies - and vice versa, how much influence companies have on politics.
In his role as a supervisory board member, investor as well as the numerous leading positions he has held in the German economy, he took different perspectives. Even though he was not speaking at the 16th iSMD as President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the umbrella organization of 35 industry associations, these experiences certainly also paid a role in his contribution. He highlighted four fields of action in particular:
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Decarbonization ("we have to take many partners and countries along with us" and "we need hydrogen-powered gas plants, because sometimes it's nighttime and there's no wind"),
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Digitization ("the enabler of modern business - also in public offices!, by the way, in private these public servants work as digitally as we all do ..."),
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Demography ("for 70 years you can read that we are getting less ...") and
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Diversification of global economic relations: "Do I make green technology cheaper than in the US or do I make brown technology more expensive than in Germany? - Which motivates more?"
Werner Seidenschwarz was visibly touched at the end of Siegfried Russwurm's lecture - because with a certain corona-conditioned tolerance range he referred to several anniversaries to be celebrated these days: 10 years of Leading Sales, 20 years of Seidenschwarz & Comp. as well as the world's first monograph on Target Costing by Werner Seidenschwarz 30 years ago.
Furthermore Siegfried Russwurm said about Werner Seidenschwarz: "People know you from different perspectives. We have also known each other for a good 20 years now, you in the role of a consultant, as a friend, as a colleague with whom one can write books together, as the boss of your employees, as a family man. Born in Starnberg, grown up in Possenhofen, at home in the world. Thank you very much for what we were able to achieve and experience with you. And a very warm Ad Multos Annos."
"With a lot of professional substance and respect", that was also the credo of Werner Seidenschwarz in his contributions: "I don't want to make the responsibility for companies and managers too big. But there is one thing I would like to bring in: that companies should not only focus on performance, but that it should also be a matter of course to treat each other well." That's in everyone's own hands.
It was very, very positive how quickly many - perhaps even most - companies managed to adapt to the major challenges of the Corona years. Dealing with supply shortages, supplier insolvencies, the energy crisis, raw material shortages, production relocations, price increases, and an intermittent "anarchy" in master agreements. Some of the issues will gradually dissipate, some have a lumpy character, such as the previously mentioned collateral effects from the Ukraine war.
But conversely, there will be plenty of reforms, changes and fundamental developments. Probably more than ever before. The best time for big leaps forward. First of all, there are lots of new and developed business models. And lots of positive developments like the contributions of Rittal, Bayer, Jokey and EOS. And these are all just a few examples from the upheavals and groundbreaking developments we are seeing right now in the energy sector, in artificial intelligence, in automation and digitization, and in many other industries and areas.
The accompanying change processes are far-reaching and certainly not self-propelling. They have a positive and formative character. Accompanying this, Werner Seidenschwarz highlighted three topics:
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Sales in B2B companies is not only becoming more important as an omnichannel, but more diverse and interesting every day.
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In the "generation skirmish", the following applies: "You are never too young to take on responsibility. You're never too old to keep learning."
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In strategy implementation, Seidenschwarz & Comp. has achieved an implementation speed with its partners that sets standards in a highly competitive market: sales restructuring in a company spanning 45 countries in 4.5 months.
There are two ways to look at companies from a performance standpoint. You can have good performance by focusing solely on that. And there are companies that are very performance-oriented, but at the same time always pay attention to good interaction and mutual respect.
In the former companies, hierarchy, organization, controlling, pressure and power dominate. In such companies, a crisis in results is often followed by a crisis in standards. In the other companies, the focus is on encouraging others, radiating positive energy, supporting one's direct reports in doing their job better. Such companies go the last mile not only in achieving performance, but also in getting along well with others.
The organizer of iSMD, Seidenschwarz & Comp. as well as the partner company Leading Sales, are clearly committed to this type of company with their work in the management circles, in the community and in project work. And it is a great pleasure to be able to work with many such companies now over many years. One of these companies is Würth, which stands 100% for what I have just said.
And with Bernd Herrmann there is a person from the group management who is responsible for the fact that many of the values mentioned before have found their way into the Seidenschwarz Leading Sales community. He is someone who knows that sales has to be simple. Sales is the perfection of the banal. This sentence comes from him and is one of the central guiding principles of our community. He is someone who, because he is a trained computer scientist, also knows the value of digitalization and automation for sales and has a formative character for this in his company.
Bernd Herrmann is the first person to be nominated for the highest award in the Leading Sales community at the 16th iSMD. A festive ceremony will follow.
For an extraordinary personality from Würth, from our Leading Sales community, who makes a valuable contribution every day to helping others develop.
Federal Minister Volker Wissing came directly from the government summit in Meseberg for the 45-minute intensive evening talk. He was in almost every news program with his current topics in the two weeks before the event as digital and transport minister. Here at Lake Starnberg, however, he also showed his private side: as a long-time church organist with a broad Bach repertoire and as a responsible family man with government responsibility in times of crisis.
"Freedom needs allies" was his credo as a liberal champion for self-responsible action. After his talk with Werner Seidenschwarz, Volker Wissing stayed much longer than planned to discuss the substantive issues of immigration law, digitization, transport and charging infrastructure.
But he also had a lot to say. And the participants also took the opportunity before and after the evening talk with Werner Seidenschwarz to discuss the topics addressed with him in depth.
As the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, the Ministry of Infrastructure is already a Herculean task in itself with the topics of automobiles, railroads, digitization and much more. And as the inventor of the €9 ticket, Volker Wissing also attracted a lot of attention.
But nevertheless, Werner Seidenschwarz and Volker Wissing also took the time to address other issues: On the situation that after 10 weeks of government responsibility one comes directly into a war and crisis situation with one's ministerial office. How do you deal with that not only as a minister, but also as a family man? What do your family and your daughter think about the fact that you may be involved in deciding on escalation strategies in cooperation with NATO?
And finally, the two discussed how, in a society that is always calling for subsidies and aid, one can once again strengthen the self-responsibility of the individual. The active person will always work on the chance to take his life into his own hands. That's when the discussion became intense.
And Volker Wissing felt well taken care of in an atmosphere for which the event has in the meantime become known beyond the state borders.
Birgit Keil, the 78-year-old grand dame and greatest German ballet prima ballerina, also made her contribution to this in the evening talk. She captured the audience with her charm from the first to the last second. Originally a refugee from Sudeten Germany with her family, she became a globally admired superstar with unique charisma and a lifetime of extraordinary discipline.
That the most challenging audience in the world, in her opinion, sat at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow was, in light of the current political situation, an almost sad side aspect of the conversation. But the fact that her best dance partner was not Rudolf Nureyev, but her husband, Vladimir Klos, originally from the Czech Republic, culminated in a very touching Magic Moment: "We were a dream couple. We are a dream couple."
You have to have a whole lot of trust with dance partners in ballet. "You have to be able to close your eyes and everything has to work out."
The fact that Birgit Keil is an exceptional artist and an exceptional person was underlined by Klaus Göldenbot, whom Werner Seidenschwarz took along to the conversation. Klaus Göldenbot, also an outstanding manager with the greatest success at companies such as Würth, RS Components and Nisbets, has attended around 1,000 ballet performances by Birgit Keil. And throughout his life, he has not only successfully supported the Stuttgart and London Ballet, but also accompanied the UK's oldest theater in Bristol through the Corona crisis and successfully brought it into the digital age.
He compared Birgit Keil: "What Matisse was among painters and Audrey Hepburn among actors, Birgit Keil is in ballet. An angelic being, graceful and elegant."
And ballet is not considered the most difficult and demanding of art forms for nothing. It requires not only extraordinary discipline in training and a physicality and agility. It also requires a special musicality. And for the best of the best, an expression and charisma that infects the audience during the performances. Of course, a special talent helped, which is why Birgit Keil, when she arrived at the Württemberg State Theater as a young girl, was nicknamed "little pocket knife" because of her agility.
And that, although the story could have ended quite differently, because as a young girl she was rather "frail" and "sickly". But this was the beginning of a turn for the better: her mother said that if she was going to devote herself to physiotherapy, she might as well switch to ballet. Then one would kill several birds with one stone. And that's what happened.
Today, Birgit Keil still devotes a lot of time to training young people, including in her foundation. The Starnberg Management Days naturally made their contribution to this.
By far the most difficult part was for Michael Köllner, former professional coach of 1. FC Nürnberg, TSV 1860 München, responsible for the youth teams of the DFB and now at FC Ingolstadt for the professional soccer team.
Werner Seidenschwarz's plan was different: that after talking to Michael Köllner and his Munich Lions, everyone would tremble that 1860 would finally be promoted to the 2nd division again. And then, after 3 ½ years in Munich, he was briefly pulled out of the event. "But that's the way the game goes." And perhaps that's why the third evening's contribution was particularly resolved, unforced and backed by a lot of laughter.
Michael Köllner's stories took the guests into professional soccer and the realms behind it. And he did this in the same likeable manner in which he wins over large stadiums for his team and himself. It's no coincidence that he has an extraordinary talent for bringing calm to difficult environments at traditional clubs, for dealing excellently with a complex press landscape, and for shaping experienced and young players into a functioning team.
The fact that being able to "preach" well has a certain significance actually played a role for Michael Köllner at one time: he definitely wanted to become a pastor. But as so often in the Catholic Church, celibacy stood in the way. And freedom has always been one of the most important things in life for Michael Köllner.
Perhaps that's why he's so popular with his former players and his current teams - and why many young players trust him more than others when it comes to their personal development.
In addition to many questions, Michael Köllner and Werner Seidenschwarz were therefore able to talk about such sensitive issues as what influence the immediate environment has on young players. Nothing was left out. Not even the role of the partner. Because even if people don't like to talk about it, a not so good partnership in private also has a clear influence on acting confidently in a professional environment. Whether you like to hear it or not.
On the second day of the event, Uwe Häberer, Global Head of Sales and Marketing at Siemens Smart Infrastructure Building Products and an active member of the advisory board of Leading Sales, described how sales can be given greater acceptance and recognition in classic technology-led B2B companies. His pure sales energy and passion for the cause was palpable in every second for the eagerly listening group of participants.
As an estimated 35% of buildings in Europe are more than 50 years old and around 40% of energy is consumed in buildings, it was not difficult for him to emphasize the great importance of his own business in the areas of building technology, building security, building automation and sustainability, and at the same time to show how his unit Siemens SI BP is positioning itself for this complex sales task.
A prerequisite for sustainable success of the sales activities is always a cleanly set up blueprint, which Uwe Häberer implemented together with the team from Seidenschwarz during Covid-19 in a purely digital way in 4.5 months in 45 countries. Among other things, a finely tuned support concept consisting of Inside Sales, Territory Sales and Account Sales made it possible to develop a previously stagnating customer from €50,000 to €1.8 million in annual sales in just 2.5 years, while always making the "right jump" when handing over customers. In order to achieve the ambitious sales and growth targets in the future and to strengthen the market position, effective and efficient control of the activities in sales with clear objectives and a pronounced willingness to change are required.
What is needed are not only strong key players in sales management, but also frontline sales managers who guide and motivate the sales team and carry the joy of sales into the organization on a daily basis.
Because one thing is certain: the idea that "the customer will find us", which is firmly anchored in many places, will no longer be a stable pillar for the many hidden champions and B2B companies that are historically more technology-oriented than market-oriented, especially in view of the commoditization of hardware and software.
"Lived diversity is a journey with participants from all generations with a lot of professional substance and good interaction." This is how Werner Seidenschwarz opened the contribution by Nikolai Zaepernick, long-time and experienced Managing Director of EOS, Krailling.
For EOS, it has therefore no longer been sufficient to "only" be at the forefront of comprehensive further developments in the technology of additive manufacturing, but also to achieve a top position in modern, diverse and sustainable corporate management - not only on paper, but in the everyday life of the company.
The company is led by a management team consisting of three women (38-year-old CEO Marie Langer, a trained psychologist, a Spanish chief sales officer and an Iranian-born chief change manager) and two men. All of them are different personalities with different origins, different histories and different professional backgrounds.
Niko Zaepernick, one of the managing directors, answered how diversity is lived in everyday life: "It is indeed a journey. But when you recruit someone, for example. we make sure you have five applicants who are diverse. No quotas. In the end, the person who can do it best has to get the job."
For feedback from the EOS team, Niko Zaepernick spontaneously pulled the "audience joker" Vanessa Seidenschwarz, Product Manager Polymer at EOS, Krailling: "It's completely fascinating how three years ago, with the generation change, there was more focus on the 'why' and on 'how do we actually live together in this company?'"
Jens Stadter, CEO of Jokey, a world market leader for innovative packaging solutions, embodied another example of contemporary and future-oriented company management in the area of tension between economy and ecology.
While the effects of global (over)consumption on the environment, climate and resources are increasingly noticeable, and a study by the German Federal Ministry of Economics puts the costs of climate change at up to €900 billion by 2050 in Germany alone, the responsibility of entrepreneurs and companies is increasingly becoming the focus of public interest alongside the "License to Operate". At the same time, regulatory requirements and documentation obligations around the topic of sustainability and the European Green Deal are growing.
Although Europe still resembles a patchwork quilt here, it is important to set the course early on and get all stakeholders on board for a future mission that is attractive both from a business and social perspective. In the case of Jokey, the management team around Jens Stadter won the WWF for a comprehensive strategic transformation partnership during the Corona period to credibly address the issues of sustainability, reporting, circularity and climate neutrality in full.
In addition, Jokey is already working very intensively during the design process to enable a high level of recyclability of the products and to strengthen the circular economy. For example, the weight of a paint bucket has already been reduced by 40% since 1990. This in turn helps companies like Knauf save up to 120 tons of CO2 annually and massively improve the carbon footprint of the entire value chain.
At the same time, starting from a base year of 2021, Jokey is working at full speed to reduce its own CO2 emissions by 42% by 2031 as part of its eco strategy of 700 tons per year across all production sites - regardless of the defined growth and sales targets. And in the reusable sector, too, another important step is being taken in the direction of environmental protection and resource conservation with investments in innovative startups and the launch of the KeepIn brand - a showcase example of the implementation of an ambitious sustainability strategy!
So that the participants could take home three good ideas from the event again this year, which they can also implement directly!
Shortly after the event, we received the first feedback from our participants:
"I enjoyed the international Starnberg Management Days very much. The lectures came from practice with current topics and at a good "flying height". The discussions following a lecture were also very valuable. The location by the lake was very nice and encouraged very nice conversations during the breaks outside."
Even for us as a banking institution from outside the industry, it was really exciting and interesting presentations from national & international top companies. Personally, I was able to take away some helpful impulses for our business activities and was thrilled by the ambience and the many great conversations with participants!