In early May, the Financials & Business Controlling team of Adhesive Technologies held a virtual lecture on the topic “Strategic Portfolio Management" to kick-off its all-female case study with four different universities. Under thorough support by the team, the students conducted portfolio reviews for each of our four. Four groups from four different universities - University Düsseldorf, University Münster, WHU Vallendar and Maastricht University - each represented one Division, analyzed its performance and created new ideas for innovations and strategies. One special requirement was to take changed market conditions into account and develop a COVID- 19 pandemic recovery strategy. After one month of intense preparation, the groups faced the challenge to present their results to the Adhesive Technologies management team. The outcome of their in-depth portfolio analyses was remarkable – a win-win situation for both parties. While the team from University of Münster took away the prize as the winning team, all teams presented creative and well thought through concepts. We are looking forward to welcoming all teams to the Henkel premises at the end of the year for a tour of our facilities and a personal dinner with the Adhesive Technologies management team.
Jan-Dirk Auris, Head of Adhesive Technologies, joined the virtual meeting as well to present the overall strategic agenda and ambition of Adhesive Technologies and provided interesting insights into his career path and the choices he made.
“The students were highly engaged and provided an interesting outside-in perspective on our business,” says Anne Erkens, Financial Director / Global Operations & Supply Chain Adhesive Technologies. “The project gave them the chance to gain first-hand insights into how we run our business, especially in challenging times. We would definitely be happy to see them again at Henkel when they start their career”.