Research - HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

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Chair of Marketing Management
Research
Positioning strategies for the center? –
Leadership Talk
Can companies compete successfully in the
center or will they get stuck? The answer to
this question is at the heart of a well-known
model developed by Harvard professor and
holder of HHL’s honorary doctorate Michael
E. Porter, PhD. It, along with its social causes
and effects, was discussed during the 55 th
Leadership Talk of the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft
für Marketing und Unternehmensführung
(Academic Society for Marketing and
Business Leadership).
More than 40 top executives and renowned
marketing academics gathered in Nuremberg
in response to an invitation by the
society’s member companies Douglas Holding
AG and GfK AG. The traditional fireside
chat on Thursday evening took place at
Douglas Perfumeries’ flagship store in the
heart of the city.
Professor Dr. Helmut Haussmann, businessman
and former Federal Minister for Economic
Affairs, opened the evening with a talk on
the role and position of the center in Germany
today, looking at the subject from political,
economic and social points of view. Professor
Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg moderated the
In cooperation with the Institute for Information
Technology at the University of Leipzig,
HHL’s Chair of Marketing Management submitted
an application for a project on Topic
Maps to the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education
and Research). Topic Map technology
subsequent discussion which also considered
the effects of the current financial crisis
on Germany’s economy and society.
On Friday, the participants met at the IHK Nürnberg
(Nuremberg’s Chamber of Industry and
Commerce) to examine the topic in more
depth. The discussion was launched by two
insightful addresses, one by Professor Dr. Hermann
Diller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg,
taking an academic view on consumption in
the center, and one by Wolfgang Twardawa,
GfK AG, who provided a market research-oriented
perspective. Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Klaus
Backhaus, University of Münster, moderated
the final plenary discussion. He was supported
by Dr. Daniel Terberger, KATAG AG, and Ralf
Klein-Bölting, Deutsche Bahn AG, who reflected
on their experience in business in their opening
statements. The Leadership Talk was rounded
off with a traditional Franconian lunch.
In addition to enjoying the substantial aspects
of the event, the society’s members also attended
to formal matters, agreeing on a new
corporate design for the tradition-rich institution.
The redesign was done by the well-known
Düsseldorf-based design agency Claus Koch
can be used for data integration and data
analysis, making the exchange of knowledge
easier and information more easily accessible.
HHL’s Chair of Marketing Management
analyzed the German market in terms of its
potential and customer requirements for a
Topic Map product in the future.
For the analysis, the Chair conducted interviews
in Norway – leader in the application of
Topic Map technologies – and ran a survey
questioning German companies on their
needs and their current situation with regard
HHL NEWS – WINTER 2008/2009
Professor Dr. Hermann Diller
and found wide approval. It will soon appear on
letterheads, notepaper and the all-new website
at www.wissenschaftliche-gesellschaft.de.
Gunther Greven
New market challenges identified – HHL and University of Leipzig
reach first milestone in Topic Maps project
to data integration and analysis. As a result,
the team discovered that there is a significant
market potential among small and mediumsized
companies for competitively-priced
data integration and data analysis technologies.
A product development and business
plan will be drawn up based on these results
if the project is accepted by the BMBF.
Jenny Müller