Last day a roller coaster

Last program day a roller coaster

Started the day with our session at Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN).  Although BMW was definitely a really sharp presentation (maybe 8 on scale of 1-10), SAP TURNED OUT TO BE A 9! Talk about formality, preparedness and interaction, wow! Printed agenda with all participants' names and titles, acrylic table name stands and ample refreshments. The main presenter, Mr. Volker Ziegler, Head of Business Portfolio, Strategy and Business Development, did an awesome job of presenting the NSN story. Mr. Ziegler's style was extremely interactive, making his way around the group, both answering our questions and asking his own of us, all by addressing each person by first name. It felt like we were in a staff meeting  for a company we all worked for. Included were a brief history of NSN, market overview, competitive landscape and basic business direction.

Heiko Straulino, Head of Technology and network Visioning, shared a large portion of the current situation and future vision of NSN from a technological and market perspective.

The Solution Experience Center was just that... an experience! After a 3-minute virtual tour of Bavaria in  a room designed as the inside of a chateau (complete with rock wall and tree-stump seats), we immediately jumped into a 3D demonstration of cell tower operational technology which load-balance and fill in blind spots when a tower goes down. Multiple other demos were viewed, along with a ~6'x3' tabletop model with interchangeable elements (eg. a stadium, hill or building) and, coupled with an overhead projector replicating traffic and phone signals on the model, becomes a focal point for high level business discussions with carrier C-level visitors. I must say this is a high impact impression NSN leaves with me (probably the objective, huh!).

Then, back to reality of a low(er) tech truck manufacturer --- Volvo Group. Completely divorced from the automotive company bearing the same name (maybe to their detriment?) we plowed though a much more sobering picture of a traditional manufacturer.

The most interesting aspect for me was the diametrically opposite personality of the companies. NSN was vibrant, energized, with lots of activity and apparently happy-looking employees.

Last visit

I am going to miss Munich!!! Great city, awesome experience, amazing group. Thank you Shirley, Judith and Gino for the team work! Volvo trucks was very good! Ready to go for our bavarian show!!!!!!

BMW

For an industrial engineer like me, visiting BMW factory is such a pleasure... a benchmarking to my own company. From the very first moment you enter into the facility, everything is detailed oriented. Not doubt why their quality is so high or why it is one of the better considered brands in the world. A sample for the rest of the manufacturing companies. The automatitation carried out the motors and assembly line is shocking. Everything calculated by the second. Great day and sad to be over!

BMW - A great example of german engineering and business precision

What a fantastic presentation at BWM (no, surprise, eh?). Bill McAndrews is certainly one of the most competent presenters I've seen, not just here, but in general. His knowledge base is amazing. I suppose if you have to represent BMW to the world, even on CNBC, you really need to be prepared --- and polished.

I did chuckle over one of Bill's phrases... the very same one I heard him say on a CNBC special on the 2012 Automotive Show. After the spokesperson from Audi proclaimed that Audi's objective was to unseat BWM as the #1 luxury car by 2015, McAndrews quickly said, "Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery!"

The mission statement presented was very interesting: “To continue as the leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility.” Why? In addition to the fact that they are the only luxury car manufacturer who also produces motorcycles, who knows what the “luxury mobility market” will look like 20 years from now. Regardless, it certainly seems BMW is already deeply involved in shaping whatever it is we ride in or on, no matter how many wheels!

Dr. Girst presented an amazing amount of work BMW does form the cultural perspective. It was very interesting to hear that their work in this area exudes the very foundational philosophy of the company, and not the more typical “sponsorship” activities most companies engage in in order to be seen by the maximum number of eyeballs, regardless of the fit/tie.

Some other surprising items we heard:
-    BMW is headed up by an engineer, not a sales or marketing type;
-    The controlling board has huge representation from the unions;
-    BMW did not cut their cultural programs even during the auto industry’s recent crisis;
-    BMW holds both Toyota and Hyundai in high regard as competitors and excellent companies;
-    A 3-cylinder engine doesn’t sound so silly anymore;
-    Don't give yourself a full-chest BMW tattoo first, then attempt to get BMW sponsorship!

Munich is full of surprises

See Evan's post about this wild... and completely unbelieveable... activity in the heart of Munich.

Tuesday, Day 4!!

Just like yesterday, today was very successful. We had presentations from Mr. Dirk Liedtke of Mummert & company; Mr. Robert Neal, Global Commodity Manager of Faurecia during the morning period. Very informative and educational pieces on joint ventures, alliances and perspectives of a foreign investor in Germany!

After a sumptuous lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Munich, with loaded stomachs we headed to BMW. Of course Michael thrilled us on the way with his "shower" of indepth historical knowledge of the city of Munich, pointing out the many historical symbols which line up every nook and corner of the beautiful capital of Balvaria...."oh goodie goodie goodie..." with special interruptions of classical music!...nice. I want a BMW!!!

Mr. Bill Mc Andrews and Dr. Thomas Andrews gave a presentation of BMW- intergrating business, community interest and culture. It was entertaining, informative, educational and you could feel the pr....ide oozing out of their BMW's success story; what it has accomplished in the automobile industry and what it stands for. Class! It is true!!! I want a BIMA... latest coupe..:-)..will use my key chain sourvenir for the key:-) Anyways, it was fun!

Some of us headed back to explore Munich and ended up in a Greek restaurant! Good job discovering places.. gals... Satur and Fidel joined later:-) Very tasty lamb dish:-) It was fun! Inshort, I am proud to be part of this program!

Meeting with Mummert and Company

Our fourth day in Munich began with a meeting with Dirk Liedtke from Mummert and Company. Mummert is a small to mid-cap corporate finance company who also provides management consulting services within the German marketplace.

Dirk was kind enough to explain to us the special considerations that that need to be taken when dealing with the "Mittelstand": a small to mid-sized privately owned business in Germany. Since the Mittelstand also tend to be family run and reasonably large (50 to 200 million Euro, or 50 to 500 people) they require special handling when it comes to financing, restructuring, and merger and acquisition activities.

Dirk also provided many insights on what makes for a good (and a bad) joint venture partner, and we look forward to contrasting his opinions against those of a larger firm like faurecia and BMW; whom we will meet with later in the day.

We are very thankful that Dirk could spend so much time with us!

Surfing in Downtown Munich?

An ice cold river with its origins in the German Alps erupts out from underneath a bridge in a downtown park creating an endless wave for surfers and kayakers alike. This city has suprises around every corner!

Visit to SAP

Tony woke me up at 6 AM since we had to leave early for a company visit. Thanks Tony, you are very nice room partner and friend.
We visited the SAP office at 8:30 AM . We had to deliver 10 mts presentaion on SAP. Tony deleivered the first presentation for our group and raised the bars for others.We had warm welcome by Philips from SAP. Then we had long session about SAP business strategy . It was very interesting and informative. Everybody was asking good questions and Philips had patience to answer all of them. Got some interesting information that if you work for SAP Germany for more than 3 years , you get BMW. Sounds intersting.!!! ( if you want BMW, try SAP)
We had a good lunch at SAP . Philips was standing outside and waving us hands till our bus left the premises of SAP.
Overall very very good experience !!!
After SAP visit we came back to hotel. The tour guide Michael is very interesting person. He entertained us on way and played good music and told good stories. Goodie ! Goodie !!
Then we had very good session from George, who stayed in Silicon valley for 8 years and then came back to Germany. He talked about the business culture in Germany and some dos and donts about the German culture. Very useful information on international business.
We had a short quiz of 30 mts (tense peiod post lunch:)
Overall day was good. Evening had beer and dinner with Don , Rita and Tammy.

Dinner in Munchen

Last night a group of us walked down to Marienplatz to have a traditional German dinner. We found a great place full of locals and travelers alike. We were a group of seven and many of the tables were taken except for the reserved tables. And yes, we did not have a reservation. While scouting for the house manager my cohorts found a table near the front door that was occupied by a nice man named Karl who was visiting from another town about 500km away.

We spoke enough German and he spoke just enough English and the next thing we were all sitting together sharing dinner and talking about our work and lives. Karl was awesome, he helped us understand the offerings on the menu and wrote down our orders for the waitress.

Karl was a funny and outgoing man in his mid to late forties who sported a finely tuned mustache. He told us about his work as an administrator in local government and talked about his daughter who was a social worker here in Germany. He also appreciated cars as much as I did and drives a 10 year old Mustang.

After dinner we all thanked Karl for his help and toasted him one final time before we got the bill. Not bad I thought 122 Euros for all of us plus beers. The waitress was all business and no smiles until we gave her a nice tip. Language is not a barrier it seems, and Munich is bustling with people and commerce, even at 10:30PM on a Sunday night.