Burkhard Schwenker

Burkhard Schwenker, Head of the Supervisory Board of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Burkhard Schwenker (born April 20, 1958 in Minden, Germany) is a German business consultant. He served as CEO of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants from 2003 until July 2010 when he was appointed head of the supervisory board of the firm. He served as CEO again from May 2013 to July 2014 [1] after his successor/antecessor Martin C. Wittig stepped back due to health reasons.[2] In September 2010, Schwenker was additionally appointed the head of the Roland Berger foundation.[3]

His life

Burkhard Schwenker studied Mathematics and Economics at the University of Bielefeld. He started his professional career as the assistant to the board of management at PWA Papierwerke Waldhof-Aschaffenburg AG. After having successfully completed his PhD in Economics, he became a member of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in 1989 and was elected Partner in 1992.[4]

In 1994, he took over the management of the Center of Excellence in Corporate Development. He was the leader in the 1998 negotiations about the management buyout of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants between Deutsche Bank and the partners of the company. In 2003, Schwenker was appointed the head of the Executive Committee of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, this appointment being renewed for another term by the partners in 2006.[5] In July 2010 he was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board. After his successor, Martin C. Wittig, stepped back for health reasons on May 4, 2013, Schwenker reassumed his responsibilities as CEO.[6]

In 2008 the Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL) awarded him the honorary professorship.[7][8] Together with Torsten Wulf, Burkhard Schwenker has been the Academic Director of the school’s Center for Scenario Planning.[9] He sits on the Board of the German Academic Association for Business Research and is a member of the University Council at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg. In addition, he is a Trustee of Dresden International University and the EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht (University for Business and Law). Burkhard Schwenker is also Visiting Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. In February 2012, Burkhard Schwenker was appointed Chairman of the newly founded Roland Berger School of Strategy and Economics (RBSE).[10]

When he changed to the Supervisory Board of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in 2010, Burkhard Schwenker created a medial uproar by writing a farewell letter to the staff at the company in which he critically reflected upon his time as the company’s CEO.[11][12]

Additionally, Schwenker is the initiator of Best of European Business.

Burkhard Schwenker is married and has three children. He is lives in Hamburg.

Socio-political engagement

Next to his tasks as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Burkhard Schwenker is very engaged in various initiatives and organizations. Since September 1, 2010, Burkhard Schwenker has headed the Roland Berger foundation.[13] Each year, the foundation awards scholarships to underprivileged youth. Additionally, Schwenker supports the “Verband deutscher Unternehmerinnen (VdU)” (German branch of the international FCEM) and its key project focusing on the promotion of a stronger presence of women on supervisory boards.[14] He is Deputy Chairman of Atlantik Brücke e.V. and Chairman of the Board of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the Senate or Board of Trustees for the following: Germany's National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech); the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics e.V.; the Wertekommission – Initiative wertebewusste Führung (Values Commission for the Initiative on Values-Based Management); the Stiftung Initiative Wertestipendium (Foundation for the Values Stipend Foundation); the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the "Lebendige Stadt" ("Vibrant City") Foundation.[15] At the “enable2start”-award initiated as an award for innovative start-up companies by Financial Times Deutschland, Burkhard Schwenker was a member of the jury.[16] He is also one of the trustees of berufundfamilie GmbH, an initiative of the non-profit Hertie-foundation,[17] as well as of Wertekommission e.V.[18]

European engagement

As a European manager, Professor Schwenker is much consulted expert on economics in national and international media. Besides his publications about professional fields such as strategy, organization and change management, Burkhard Schwenker can also be seen as a promoter of a European-wide, value-oriented and sustainable approach to management. As the head of the supervisory board at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants – the only globally active consultancy rooted in Europe - Schwenker has stood up for a more self-confident Europe for years in his role as the initiator and jury-member of “Best of European Business”.[19] This award acknowledges European businesses and rewards their excellent economic success.

In addition, Burkhard Schwenker acts as council for the Roland Berger Foundation for European business management[20] and as vice-chairman of Atlantik-Brücke e.V., an organization promoting good relations between the United States of America and Germany.[21] He also writes about and discusses European topics as a guest-author of various Business Magazines.[22]

Publications (extract)

Burkhard Schwenker has always been very active as an author and is the publisher of think: act-CONTENT by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.[23] In this function, he has written various books about economics- and management-related topics. In November 2012 he published a book on leadership, called "Gute Führung" / "On good management. The corporate lifecycle" – An essay by Burkhard Schwenker featuring interviews with Franz Fehrenbach, Jürgen Hambrecht, Wolfgang Reitzle and Alexander Rittweger.[24] In February 2011 he published “Europa führt! Plädoyer für ein erfolgreiches Managementmodell” (“Europe shows the way! The case for a superior management model”). This book, published as a part of the rethink:CEO-series, deals with the “Erfolgsmodell Europa” (Success-story Europe). In Schwenker’s eyes, this European management approach based on consistency, local strengths, global cooperations and social as well as sustainable orientation is the successful counterpart to the American leadership-style.[25]

List of publications by Burkhard Schwenker:[26]


References

  1. ↑ http://news-round.com/economy/chief-change-with-roland-berger/
  2. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/media/press_releases/513-press_archive2013_sc_content/
  3. ↑ http://www.presseportal.de/pm/73325/1670802/roland_berger_stiftung, press release of the Roland Berger foundation
  4. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/company/management/Burkhard_Schwenker.html
  5. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/company/Burkhard_Schwenker.html, corporate profile on the company's website
  6. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/media/press_releases/513-press_archive2013_sc_content/Burkhard_Schwenker_ist_neuer_und_alter_CEO.html
  7. ↑ http://www.hhl.de/en/discover-hhl/awards/honorary-professorship/, Website of the Leipzig Graduate School of Management
  8. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/company/press/releases/51-press_sc_content/Honorary_professorship_for_Dr_Burkhard_Schwenker_de.html, press release of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
  9. ↑ http://www.scenariomanagement.de/team, scenariomanagement.de, Website of the Leipzig Graduate School of Management
  10. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/company/management/Burkhard_Schwenker.html
  11. ↑ ’’Außen hart, innen ganz weich’’. In: spiegel.de, German news magazine, 6 August 2010
  12. ↑ ’’Soul massage of the former Berger chief’’. In: ftd.de, German version of the Financial Times, 5 August 2010
  13. ↑ Pressrelease Roland Berger Foundation, vom 26 August 2010
  14. ↑ The fight against the separated world of manhood WELT Online, 1 February 2011
  15. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/company/management/Burkhard_Schwenker.html
  16. ↑ http://www.enable2start.de/jury/, Website www.enable2start.de
  17. ↑ http://www.beruf-und-familie.de/index.php?c=17#elema30, Website of berufundfamilie gGmbH
  18. ↑ http://www.wertekommission.de/presse/, Website of Wertekommission e.V.
  19. ↑ http://www.best-of-european-business.com/best-of-european-business/jury.html, Website of the BEB-Award
  20. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/media/pdf/rb_press/RB_Roland-Berger_Gesellschaft_mitgestalten_20080318.pdf, corporate presentation of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
  21. ↑ http://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/ueber-uns/gremien/, atlantik-bruecke.org
  22. ↑ http://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen-maerkte/weshalb-krisen-strategisches-denken-und-mutige-fuehrung-erfordern-383378/, Guest editorial, wiwo.de, 10 January 2009
  23. ↑ think:act CONTENT, rolandberger.com
  24. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/media/press_releases/512-press_archive2012_sc_content/New_book_on_Good_Management.html
  25. ↑ http://www.rolandberger.com/expertise/publications/2011-02-09-rbsc-pub-Europa_fuehrt_de.html, rolandberger..com
  26. ↑ https://portal.d-nb.de/opac.htm?method=showFirstResultSite&currentResultId=atr%253D111621437%2526any&selectedCategory=any, Catalogue Deutsche National Bibliothek (German National Library)