Germany — Frankfurt
Alumni Club of Germany

A.T. KEARNEY — KAC Summer Convention

Sixty alumni and guests attended this very interesting event on the automotive industry at A.T. Kearney´s Frankfurt office in July. Participants had sufficient time to interact with the speakers and with each other. Dr. Klink from A.T. Kearney gave a solid overview about the developments in the automotive sector over the last decades and drew the audience's attention to the latest trends. Matthias Holzammer from Faurecia, a leading European automotive supplier, touched upon the latest developments in "Just in Time" production and particularly highlighted "Just in Sequence," a new model implemented by BMW which — based on its customer and supplier orientation — could become a major topic in the years to come. Dr. Peter Brinkmann WHU-06 focused on the role of a material supplier and the challenge to move from delivering material to switching to solutions by vertically and horizontally integrating other modules in the value chain. Overall we gained very good insights and were able to draw parallels to our own industries. Above all we enjoyed very much getting together and talking to our fellow alums.

	A.T. Kearney's Goetz Klink
	Faurecia's Matthias Holzammer

COMMERZBANK — KAC Spring Convention

Apart from the most wonderful, sunny-day view from the 49th floor of Commerzbank towers, we also enjoyed some very heated discussions and interesting presentations. One-hundred twenty-seven alumni and guests were present and after the event we had sufficient time to get together and meet good old friends. Professor Schneider from Georgetown University gave an overview about cultural diplomacy from the U.S. perspective and insights into her experiences with the topic. Professor Kipping used, among others, the example of the failed takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Börse and the cultural forces that were at play. In a very interesting panel discussion chaired by Matthew Murrel from the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, the two professors and Roman Martens TMP 1990, CFO of IMS Health Germany and a Commerzbank representative, discussed potential challenges posed by culture, and strategies to overcome cultural barriers in international business. This joint event with the WHU alumni club in Praxi and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy was a great success and we thank our guests who traveled in from all over the world.

All the best,
Murat Üenal WHU-06, Roman Martens TMP 1990 and Rüdiger Holzammer '88

Kellogg alums from the Germany club also attended Commerzbank's spring convention.