Since the beginning of the Chair of Sales Management there has been close contact with the management network iExecutives e. V. (www.iexecutives.de). iExecutives is a network of former IBM managers dedicated to sales and start-up support. After their IBM career, these managers have risen in a wide variety of industries, from energy and waste management to executive search and mechanical engineering, naturally with a certain focus on the Internet/ITK sector. Many iExecutives today are active as business angels, patrons, founders/entrepreneurs, investors, start-up consultants or business coaches. The homepage www.iexecutives.de offers more information. Our chair is grateful for the material and non-material support provided by the iExecutives network.

On 15.05.2018 twenty iExecutives visited the Campus Düsseldorf to discuss technical and economic trends. As every year, we took the opportunity to present our commitment to research and teaching and to benefit from feedback from experienced managers. Since the iExecutives combine an interest in sales, entrepreneurship and IT, we were particularly pleased to present our latest course "Entrepreneurial Selling". The aim of this course is to prepare students in an application-oriented manner for the challenges facing young entrepreneurs in sales. The course combines sessions on classic sales content with lectures on CRM systems, the sales channel mix of the future and the establishment and management of telesales teams. 

The professional and ethical skills of tomorrow's managers are our focus in the course "Introduction to Corporate Management". With the iExecutives, a lively discussion arose about the question of which social task business economists should take on and to what extent political content should take up more space in the curriculum. 

As every year, the iExecutives met with students of the current WHU-MBA class. We ended the day with good food and animated conversations. The students of the MBA received tips on careers in Germany from iExecutives. The iExecutives told us that the discussions with the MBA students this year have been more exciting than ever. 

We thank the iExecutives for the inspiring discussions and valuable suggestions. Every year, our meetings show us how fruitful feedback from practice is for our research and teaching.