Hidden Champions and Global Players
News
For students, the most effective way to network with industry professionals is to understand their field of work, the challenges they face and how they come up with smart solutions to tackle these challenges. HSPF MBA organizes the company excursions with a similar goal to provide a good networking platform to students and allow them to develop a meaningful network in their field of interest by leaving a lasting impression on professionals. During the two-day excursion, students visited 4 different German companies- Blanc & Fischer, SAP, IONOS and Kärcher. All of which are market leaders in their core businesses.
Blanc & Fischer
The first company visit of the excursion was to Blanc & Fischer Family Holding in Oberderdingen. Mr. Markus Blümle, MD/Head of Corporate HR introduced the students to the company’s profile and its founders. It was very interesting to know how two different personalities, one a visionary technologist and inventor (Mr. Fischer) and the other, a shrewd networker and communicator (Mr. Blanc), collaborated to realize their common dream to shape kitchens as living spaces. Mr. Fahy, Head of Corporate Lean Enterprise then delivered a stimulating presentation on Digital Transformation of a manufacturing environment (Industry 4.0) and covered the topics of virtualization, networking and automation. The company’s strategies to embrace these new technological advances and develop innovative business models were also discussed by Mr. Fahy while concluding his presentation. At last, Mr. Hillenbrand took the students on a tour of ‘E.G.O.’ facility (household appliances division of B&F), where they witnessed the manufacturing process of heating systems and touch controls.
SAP
Digitization is a fundamental rethinking of how businesses create value for its customers and shareholders. As digitization is currently right at the top of the agenda for many businesses, it is an attractive field for MBA graduates to build an impactful career. The second visit of day 1 took students to Walldorf to the house of a major global player in digitization- SAP. The excitement of a few students in the group who had previous experience in this domain was a testament to the company’s reputation as an employer and to the career opportunities it offers. The guide from SAP for this visit was Andrea Tvarusko. At the Inspiration Pavilion in the main building, students spent a pleasant time experiencing not only the history, present and future of technology through augmented reality but also understanding sources of inspiration for the company in developing new products. The adorable baby seal robot ‘Paro’, which has found its application as a therapy animal across the world was the highlight of the visit to this unique space within SAP. In addition, the pavilion also gives a glimpse of the future and one can see how soon data is processed and what benefits it can have for all areas of business life. Mr. James Dymond, Manager of Investor Relations and alumnus of the MBA program spoke about how his job involves creating two-way communication between the company and the financial community with an ultimate goal to achieve increased liquidity and fair valuation. SAP’s shareholder structure and synchronization of the diverse base of investors were also mentioned. Mr. Dymond also introduced the concept of ‘Socially Responsible Investing’ and shared SAP’s goals on the sustainability front with the students. Before concluding the visit to the company our alumni Kwame Ahiabor and Sonali Datir also spoke about their field of work and motivated students to apply for the highly competitive openings for students at the company.
IONOS
The second day of the excursion started early with a visit to the IONOS office in Karlsruhe. Due to the dynamic work culture and learning opportunities, IONOS has been an attractive company for MBA students looking for internships and working student positions. The same was also reflected in the company’s efforts to make the visit a memorable one for the students. The MBA group was welcomed by Adriana Rotaru, a Senior Product Manager at IONOS and one of the most active alumni of HSPF’s MBA program. After the company introduction done by Mr. Matthias Schaufler, Head of Product Management SME, Dr. Lucie Poisson, Senior Brand & Marketing Manager first presented to students a simple but beautiful story to explain the process of product development, building brand personality and handling the success/failure of a product in the market. The students also had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Jean Sprauer, who has over 14 years of experience in the product management domain. He delivered a very crisp presentation on ‘10 Questions for a Product Manager’ that in a nutshell explained the role of a product manager to the students, while Mr. Philip Petek, Product Manager, explained the students what does it mean to work in an agile environment. Last but not the least, Mr. Ravi Kumar, also a Senior Product Manager at IONOS, had a unique and surprise offering for the students through his presentation on “Are you a good CEO/product manager of the product “YOU”?”. The students were guided in the process of creating a strategy and roadmap for one’s career, developing ‘superpowers’ to gain a competitive advantage and having a long-term vision. Mr. Ravi Kumar also stressed the importance of career mentors to young professionals and was also kind enough to recommend some good reads to the students.
Kärcher
The last company visit of the excursion was to Kärcher, a powerful family-run German company and a world leader in cleaning solutions. After being familiarized with the history of the company and the world-class Kärcher products, the students had the opportunity to witness prototyping, testing and injection moulding facilities. Kathrin Guss, currently working at Kärcher under the ‘Duale Hochschule’ system, delivered a very insightful presentation on her project to gauge the effect of online user ratings on the buying decisions of customers. Kärcher supported Kathrin in this endeavor and also worked on implementing the suggestions put forth by her. For the MBA students, it was highly motivating to see how a student through dedication and rigour was able to create an impact in such a large organization. Finally, the day was concluded by a short presentation on the employment and thesis opportunities that Kärcher offers to students.
text: Shvetang Pai Angle, class 2019
photos: MBA
