First port of call for news business models

Fraunhofer IAO and KPMG help companies change and realign

In the newly established Center of Business Model Engineering (CBME), Fraunhofer IAO and audit firm KPMG AG lend their advice and expertise to companies that are looking to take their business model in a new direction. The CBME is conceived as an interface between technology and the market, serving as a platform for the exchange of ideas about new models and strategies for the future.

With the lifecycle of business models shortening by the day, companies need to keep up with a rapidly changing business environment – as KPMG’s recent “Survival of the smartest” study testifies. Often it is a challenge that companies cannot cope with alone. To come to their aid, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and audit firm KPMG AG have teamed up to establish the Center of Business Model Engineering (CBME), which officially opened its doors in Stuttgart on November 8, 2013.

The CBME’s goal is to support companies as they redefine their business model, and to continue to provide support over a longer period should this be required. “Irrespective of the sector, markets are now changing so fast that companies run the risk of getting left behind. We see an urgent need for companies to adapt, but they clearly also need advice on how to develop and implement new business models,” explains Markus Deutsch, Director at KPMG.

Dr. Marc Rüger of Fraunhofer IAO’s Board of Directors says: “With KPMG’s consultancy expertise and our own applied research know-how, we can establish an interface between technology and the market. And founding the CBME is the right way to go about it, as it’s the only way for us to offer companies a truly thorough insight into the latest developments in research and practice.”

As well as helping to develop suitable strategies for the future within companies, the CBME also helps to analyze whole value creation chains and the companies they involve. This makes it possible to take a comprehensive view of any given problem. What is more, the CBME offers companies facing a need to implement similar measures an opportunity to form networks within which to discuss their ideas for new models.

“I am delighted we have set up the Center of Business Model Engineering, a platform that promotes the exchange of ideas on current business model trends and actively helps define specific ways to respond to them,” affirms Dr. Robert Gutsche, Head of Consulting at KPMG.

IAO Director Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bauer is equally enthusiastic: “These days, if companies want to remain competitive over the long term, they absolutely must be able to develop innovative business models. We want the CBME platform to give companies the chance to benefit from the very latest research findings on business models.”

Further information:
http://www.iao.fraunhofer.de/lang-en/press-and-media/1078-first-port-of-call-for-news-business-models.html

Fraunhofer IAO:
The basis for all work undertaken at the Fraunhofer IAO is a deep conviction that business success in a globalised arena is contingent on an ability to profitably leverage new high-tech potentials. In order to optimally exploit these opportunities, companies must be capable of developing and implementing customer and employee-oriented technologies faster than their competitors. Work organisation concepts must be simultaneously innovative and anthropocentric. A systematic design, in other words, is the outcome of pooled management and technical expertise. This holistic perspective when it comes to project processing ensures that equal consideration is given to commercial success, employees' interests and social consequences.

Through its close cooperation with the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management (IAT) of the University of Stuttgart, Fraunhofer IAO unites basic university research with applied science and business practice.

Contact:
Dr. Marc Rüger
Business Development
Fraunhofer IAO
Nobelstraße 12
70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone +49 711 970-2044
E-Mail: marc.rueger@iao.fraunhofer.de

This release was published on openPR.