BASF Global | E-Business | Sitemap | Deutsch | Contact

Feldmann: Successful customer orientation affects all units

Dr. John Feldmann, member of the Board and sponsor of the guideline
"Help our customers to be more successful"

Dr. Feldmann, about a year ago perspectives - The BASF forum to accelerate success was launched. How has perspectives progressed since

In the course of the past year, perspectives has become firmly established within the company and plays an important role for many Business Units in further developing their business models.

perspectives , together with our "Help our customers to be more successful" guideline, has to be seen against the background of the "Fit for the future (FFF)" initiative. Within the framework of "FFF", BASF has reorganized its activities and above all made regional and some global Business Units the responsible drivers of operative business.

Building on this, we have with perspectives created a forum that not only promotes but indeed encourages a critical review and enhancement of the business models in the individual Business Units.

What does this enhancement entail and how does it work?

With "Help our customers to be more successful" and perspectives , we have triggered a focused dialog within which the Business Units first of all perform an in-depth analysis of the market, the competition and their business position.

This aims to identify what customers really need. We must examine whether we properly understand our customers' requirements and are able to offer them an optimal service accordingly. That means, do we design an offering that allows our customers and BASF to create added value in an optimal way? Are we really setting the right priorities and concentrating on the things that make our customers and ourselves more successful? And, of course, we must also ask how we can obtain a fair share of the added value that we generate together with our customers. Do our customers duly appreciate the services we offer them?

All this and much more is discussed in detail within the framework of the so-called BU Dialogue. The entire process is supported by the perspectives team, by senior BASF executives as well as internal and external trainers who critically challenge our previous assessments, approaches and ways of thinking.

How many Units are already actively involved in this process and how far are they?

Following the Impact events last year, all regions, nearly all divisions, as well as many Functional Units have taken part in perspectives. To date, 33 Business Units have completed such a BU Dialogue, 12 are in the process of doing so and a further 14 are currently arranging one.

As a result of these BU Dialogues, more than 100 project teams, so-called Impact Groups, have so far been formed, which are now working on defined tasks and developing concrete proposals for realization.

What topics are the various Impact Groups currently dealing with?

We make a fundamental distinction into 2 categories. Under the term "Value Innovation", we subsume all topics that focus on the development of innovations. We understand innovations in this context not only as new products, processes or technologies, but also new methods and approaches for marketing our products and services. These groups develop new solutions which we can leverage to create added value for ourselves and our customers.
A second category headed "Business Optimization" deals among other things with the question of what is the right business model for the respective business, and how the Business Units can better orient themselves towards their customers' requirements.

In both topic categories it is important to clearly and objectively analyze where we stand in comparison to the competition and how best to maintain and improve this position.

Are Functional Units also involved in the Impact Groups?

Yes, as well as employees from the Business Units, employees for example from the Competence Centers and the Functional Units also participate in the Impact Groups - and it's very important that they do, because successful customer orientation affects all units.

When enhancing our business models, it's not sufficient just to define or select a Customer Interaction Model, because the decision in favor of a new business model often entails a reorientation of the Business Unit and therefore it has consequences - for example for stock management and logistics. For this reason, it is very important that Functional Units are involved and contribute to the optimal realization of the chosen business model.

What is done with the results of the Impact Groups?

The results and proposals of the Impact Groups are discussed in the Business Units and the necessary steps taken to implement them.

Some results from the Impact Groups are in the implementation phase or have already been realized. To enable us to measure the commercial success of these processes and learn from them, it is essential to monitor them systematically and over the long term and to define the respective target agreements.

Monitoring and assessing the quantitative results is therefore also an important task of the different Impact Groups.

What have been the reactions from the Business Units and the members of the Impact Groups so far?

The reactions are positive. For the Business Units it is important that perspectives is specifically tailored to solving their present challenges and managing their existing tasks. Like this, it is possible to reliably support the analysis of key success factors, the development of new business opportunities and the realization of concrete projects.

Within the scope of perspectives, the Impact Groups receive systematic support for their respective projects and are introduced to new methods, instruments and approaches for attaining their set targets. This methodological knowledge is complemented by numerous useful internal and external case studies.

Are these methods and instruments also available to employees who are not part of an Impact Group?

In order to make this possible, we have now developed condensed workshops under the title "perspectives Key Concepts", which address all interested BASF staff. These not only concentrate on knowledge delivery, but also present working tools and case studies that everyone at BASF can use in their team.

The first pilot workshops have already been held with great success and over the next few weeks, perspectives Key Concepts will be offered across all regions within the scope of BASF's training offer.

What importance do the exchange of experience and the formation of networks have within the scope of perspectives?

In my opinion, it is decisive for BASF's future success to look beyond the confines of the respective units. Only if we all see ourselves as BASF - The Chemical Company and further develop our business by utilizing all the possibilities of the whole company can we help our customers and BASF to be even more successful.

In order to promote this, we are creating a global network that embraces everyone involved in the market process. Colleagues all over the world can exchange approaches and successful concepts, as well as discuss problems and challenges, learn from each other and develop new ideas together.

With this, we are complementing our efforts to consolidate BASF's experiences as well as competencies by means of cross-divisional approaches such as the Global Automotive Steering Committee, the regional Construction Steering Committees, the Packaging Network Team and the industry teams for 3C (Computing, Communication, Consumer Electronics) and Electrochemicals with a view to improving our market success.

The first steps towards developing networks have already been made, since the workshops were comprised of employees drawn from different units. The workshop activities have in fact already prompted the establishment of concrete networks. These have a practical usefulness for the participants, who like this can learn from the experiences and ideas of colleagues from other units and regions. We encourage this exchange both through events like Impact and electronically through for example an intranet platform.

What challenges do you see for perspectives?

First of all, it will be extremely important to continuously further develop the critical questions and methodological approaches that we have now established on a broad basis throughout the company.

What is currently decisive is to reinforce the awareness that we can't afford to rest on our laurels. The Business Units are mainly dealing with the following questions: "How can we help our customers to be even more successful?", "Is our business model still appropriate and are we implementing it consistently?" or "How can we make sure that we obtain a fair share of the jointly created value?". This is very important, but what is even more important is that these questions are not only asked and answered once, but time and time again.

This awareness must become part of BASF's corporate culture, just like the continuous exchange of information and experience throughout the entire company. The same goes for the willingness to learn from each other, to consolidate knowledge, experience and also energy beyond the boundaries of the units and to utilize these for the benefit of BASF.