This week in the Essentials of Strategic Management and Introduction to Strategy and International Management courses, we focus on the strategic work of Kärcher, the world leader in cleaning technology.

Kärcher is not only a driver of innovation, but also an example of clearly structured yet adaptable strategy work.

Three key messages for companies can be derived from this:

• Involve stakeholders appropriately. If you want to be successful in the long term, you need to know how to reach and convince key stakeholders. It is important to decide which stakeholders can be involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of the strategy and how.
• Organisation follows strategy. Launching new product lines requires not only technological expertise, innovation and market knowledge, but also structural and cultural adjustments. Strategy implementation therefore means empowering managers, aligning systems and actively shaping culture.
• Managing change consciously. Not every strategic initiative requires radical change - but every one does require attention to the interplay between the existing and the new. Kärcher shows how change can be successful in an established family business.

Together with our students and Philipp Kluge, we reflect on how theory and practice intertwine - and what strategic management really means in the 21st century.

Thank you for giving our students the opportunity to interact with the real world.

Sabine Reisinger 

JKU - Institut für Strategisches Management | LinkedIn, opens an external URL in a new window