Autor: Thorsten Voigt

Global brands require global service providers for supporting their worldwide business. Especially for SME service providers this represents a significant challenge. Whereas physical products more or less look alike in different world markets, peoples’ expectations on services can be of entirely different nature. Therefore a service provider might be forced to re-invent his services when entering a new market. Beyond that, the obvious financial and cultural challenges of founding an organization in a foreign market remain. For those reasons it may not always be the best solution to found an own organization in a foreign market. A strategic partnership with a SME service provider in that other market reduces financial risks, enables high quality services from day one on and preserves a major USP of SME service provider: top managements’ commitment. The conflict “SME service provider” vs. “global services” can be solved and allows SME service providers to compete with global ...

In the branch of technical high end consumer goods for the companies it’s becoming more and more difficult to differ in the functionalities of their products. This applies especially in the luxury car segment. Keeping in mind the developmental periods of about 60 months, a clear strategy is needed. A process for strategy development can be found in most companies on the top management level. But a systematic approach for the prioritization of development projects is also needed on medium enterprise levels. The implementation of such an approach in the development resort of an automotive company shows barriers and potentialities.