Mission
„In Business it’s about People. It’s about Relationships.“
(Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist)
I have baptized my business on the name of „BXB“, the „eXchange“ of goods, services and know-how, as this is the essential basis, the raison d’être for any business relationships. The conscious decision of Business-to-Business partners to exchange in order to generate value for their respective organization is based on the concept of “quid pro quo”, of “give and take”.
Jürgen Scherer
Ph.D.
Personal background
German & Baby Boomer
Resident of Germany & California, USA
Happily married
Three wonderful adult children
Soccer fanatic, avowed fan of FC Bayern München
Love cooking & wine as well as classic interior design
Eductional background
MBA from Cologne University (Marketing, Procurement, Economical/Social Psychology)
Ph.D. (DBA) from Cologne University (Procurement Marketing)
INSEAD Management Training
Professional background
Henkel KGaA, 1987-1999, FMCG, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Director Corporate Purchasing
incl. Henkel of Americas, 1992-1994, Philadelphia, PA and Detroit, MI
- Marketing Manager, Industrial Adhesives
Cognis GmbH, 1999-2011, now part of BASF SE, Specialty Chemicals, Monheim, Germany
- VP Corporate Key Account Management
- GVP Purchasing & Supply Chain Management
- MD Cognis Germany
- Member of the Executive Committee
Mauser GmbH, 2011-2018, Industrial Packaging, Brühl/Cologne, Germany
- SBU President Europe, Middle East & Africa
- MD Mauser France, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK
- Member of the Executive Committee
Vision
„People do business with people they know, like and trust. If you believe business is built on relationships, make building them your business. Everything has changed, and nothing is different!“
(Scott Stratten, Canadian author, entrepreneur and keynote speaker)
The willingness to supply and deliver, to pay contributions towards a customer as a supplier, is dependent on the realization of own expectations, on the likelihood of receiving an adequate return on investment in this business relationship. Likewise, the chances to receive goods, services and know-how fulfilling the own requirements as a customer will increase with the attractiveness of the offered incentives towards the supply side. As such, incentives are a means by the customer to prompt supplier contributions (“The New Purchasing – Promoting your Suppliers”), vice versa expectations addressed by the supplier are a means to challenge customer requirements (“The New Sales – Challenging your Customers”).
(based on the behavioral coalition theory of March/Simon, Cyert/March and conceptualized by my doctoral colleague at Cologne University, Bernhard Biergans)
USP
„Eagles don’t take flight lessons from chickens“.
(Hindu proverb)
I have successfully built, developed, nurtured, but also limited and ended Business-to-Business relationships for more than 30 years. I have managed strategic relationships with customers and suppliers at executive levels, often significant larger in size and market position. And I have had the opportunity to run global Sales and Purchasing teams simultaneously within one company. The analogy, synergy and compatibility of both Go-to-Market functions is mind-blowing and powerful!
Services
Coaching
„Autonomy, mastery, purpose – the surprising truth about what motivates us!“
(Daniel H. Pink, American author)
Whether you coach people on or off the job, I’m a strong believer that „micro“-coaching is not your best option. On contrary, most managers, especially Millennials, want to be rather self-directed, urge to get better skills and desire to do something that has meaning. This is the basis for my (individual) coaching, focused on B2B „Go-to-market“ roles: Relationships to customers and suppliers and to the coachee’s internal stakeholders, i.e. supervisors, peers, employees are in the center of my coaching (lots of reflection!).
Consulting
„Collaboration – is it the new innovation?“
(EY Advertising campaign)
“While there is a tendency to portray “arm’s-length” relationships as full-of conflict, and on the contrary, “partnerships” are assumed to be more friendly and cooperative - this is a misconception. All business relationships are likely to consist of a varying combination of cooperation, conflict, integration and separation”. This statement by the European IMP Group is the play-ground for my consulting work: helping clients to deal most effectively and efficiently with business relationships in an ethical, authentic and of course profitable way (lots of innovation!).
Teaching
„The market is at the beginning and at the end.“
(Konrad Mellerowicz, late German Business Professor)
Kotler described the “Generic concept of Marketing” as the disciplined task of generating values to others for the purpose of achieving a desired response. This is the idea, and the mission of my business, of BXB-EXCHANGE. In terms of teaching, this flourishes best with a boundary-spanning, inter-disciplinary and cross-functional audience. And it needs to connect the buy-side with the sell-side of the business, the end-to-end supply chain of concepts, methods and people. This is what and to whom I’m trying to teach (lots of creativity!).
Training
„You don’t send your people to training, you take them!“
(Lowell M. Hoffman, American Business Consultant)
I have developed comprehensive training curricula and academies jointly with HR for Procurement & Supply Management (PSM) as well as for Sales & Marketing Excellence programs. This includes, contracting training modules with external partners, like Cegos/Integra, Mercury, Insight, writing company-specific case studies, story-telling and personally executing many global, cross-functional multi-day training sessions. I’m specialized on an interactive multi-dimensional training module for Go-to-Market functions, called „Competitive Bridge Building“ (lots of fun!).
Portfolio
Publications
Zur Entwicklung und zum Einsatz von Objektmerkmalen als Entscheidungskriterien in der Beschaffung, Köln 1991 - received the Scientific Award for PhD papers in 1992 by the Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik (BME)
Bedeutungswandel der Beschaffung. Objektmerkmale als Entscheidungskriterien in der Beschaffung, in: Beschaffung aktuell, 39/12 (1992): 50-55
Erreichung der Beschaffungsziele. Objektmerkmale als Entscheidungskriterien in der Beschaffung - Teil II, in: Beschaffung aktuell, 40/3 (1993): 24-27
Personalkonzepte für die Beschaffung bei der Henkel KGaA, in: Hahn, Dietger; Kaufmann, Lutz (Eds.): Handbuch Industrielles Beschaffungsmanagement, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden 2002: 973-986, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-01582-6_51
Schlüsselkunden managen mit der Balanced Scorecard: in: Harvard Business manager, 28/9 (2006): 54-59 (with Prof. Lutz Kaufmann)
Management von Kundenzufriedenheit in der Spezialchemie: das Beispiel der Cognis Gruppe, in: Homburg, Christian (Ed.): Kundenzufriedenheit, 6th/7th ed., Wiesbaden 2006/2008: 605-625/461-481 (with Dr. Sven Kühlborn)
Herausforderungen im Einkauf der Zukunft, in: Gabath, Christoph W. (Ed.): Innovatives Beschaffungsmanagement: Trends, Herausforderungen, Handlungsansätze, Wiesbaden 2011: 9-14
Building a Sustainable Brand in Specialty Chemicals (Carve Out from a Big Corporate), in: Wollmann, Peter et al. (Eds.): Organization and Leadership in Disruptive Times, Cham 2021: 253-265 (with Susanne Marell, Jutta Wenzl), https://lnkd.in/d6HyC5R
Aufbau einer nachhaltigen Marke in Spezialchemikalien (Ausgliederung aus einem großen Konzern), in: Wollmann, Peter et al. (Eds.): Organisation und Führung in turbulenten Zeiten, Cham 2024: 279-293 (with Susanne Marell, Jutta Wenzl).
The Role of “Navigators” in Travelling Organizations, in: Kempf, Michael; Kuehn, Frank (Eds.): Navigating a Travelling Organization, Cham 2022: 53-64, https://lnkd.in/eEJ7qwKs
Verhandeln im B2B heißt zuhören, um zu verstehen, in: Sales Excellence, 33/12 (2024): 32-34
Verkauf und Einkauf: Auf gemeinsame Wurzeln besinnen, in: Sales Excellence, 34/1-2 (2025)
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Federal Association of Sales Managers, https://www.dievertriebsmanager.de
Reviewer for California Management Review (CMR), Q1 Journal for Strategy & Management of Haas School of Business, University of Berkeley, USA and for Industrial Marketing Management (IMM), Q1 Journal for Business Management & Marketing by Elsevier Publishing
Conference Proceedings
European Packaging Regulations, Packaging Strategies Conference, Atlanta, GA, 03/25/96
Strategic Procurement for the 21st century, Arthur D. Little Management Forum, Frankfurt, Germany, 02/10/98
Der Einkauf im 21. Jahrhundert – Herausforderungen und Chancen, 4. IIR Einkaufsleiterforum: EPCON, Mainz, Germany, 04/16/08
Key Account Management Training, 3M, Neuss, Germany, 09/19/08
Plastic in Rigid Industrial Packaging, 3rd GPCA Plastic Summit, Dubai, UAE, 04/04/12
Cradle to Cradle – Sustainability in Industrial Packaging, Dachmarkenforum, Düsseldorf, Germany, 09/11/13
B2B – Erfahrungen aus der Einkaufs-/Vertriebsperspektive, Miller Heiman – Sales Leadership Series, Berlin, Germany, 07/11/16
Purchasing and Sales: Separated at Birth?, Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) @ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 04/25/19, https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/scrc-meeting-closing-the-gap-between-marketing-and-procurement
How can strategic suppliers and strategic procurement collaborate more effectively?, Cranfield School of Management, Key Account Management Forum, 07/22/21, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-strategic-suppliers-procurement-collaborate-more-effectively-/?trk=pulse-article
Purchasing & Sales - Twins separated at birth!, The Conference Board, Procurement Leadership Council, Bruxelles, Belgium, 03/13/24
Purchasing & Sales - Twins separated at birth!, V-Kick, Bundesverband der Vertriebsmanager e.V., 10/16/24
Podcasts
Developing Procurement’s Unique Selling Proposition, Art of Procurement Podcast hosted by Philip Ideson, https://artofprocurement.com/episode340/ , 09/28/20
Listening as a Success Factor for Sales and Negotiations, Listening Alchemy Podcast hosted by Raquel Ark, Episode # 27, https://listeningalchemy.com/2021/08/16/, 08/16/21
Beyond silos: Navigating organizational boundaries, Second Crack - The Leadership Podcast hosted by Martin Aldergård & Gerrit Pelzer, Episode # 32, https://www.buzzsprout.com/1659493/14709549, 03/22/24
University Lectures
Key Business Relationships – Comparing Customer and Supplier Perspectives, IMBA/WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany, 11/30/07
Competitive Bridge Building, Real Life Learning in Customer – Supplier Relationships, PT-MBA, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Düsseldorf, Germany, 06/25/11
B2B – Learning from a buying and selling perspective, IMBA/Mannheim Business Forum, Mannheim, Germany, 09/16/11
B2B - Learning from a Sell- and Buy-side Marketing Perspective, University of San Diego (USD) School of Business, CA, MBA class Supply Chain Management, 05/09/19
B2B - Learning from a Sell- and Buy-side Marketing Perspective, University of California San Diego (UCSD), CA, Rady School of Management, MBA Executive Speaker Series, 10/17/19
Operations Management (MGT 171), University of California San Diego (UCSD), CA, Rady School of Management, Undergrad class, 10/28/19
B2B - Learning from a Sell- and Buy-side Marketing Perspective, PT-MBA, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Düsseldorf, Germany, 07/12/20
Stop Marketing - Start Engaging: Key success factors in B2B Relationship Management, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Germany, 10/22/20
Personal Selling, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Germany, 01/18-19/21 and 01/25-26/22
Supply Chain Analytics (MGT 449), University of California San Diego (UCSD), CA, Rady School of Management, MBA class, 02/17/21
Supply Chain Strategy: Business Performance and Cost (MGT 176), University of California San Diego (UCSD), CA, Rady School of Management, Undergrad class, 04/16/21
Negotiation Management, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany, Sales Management Department (SMD), 06/09/21, 11/09/21, 06/14/22, 11/02/22, 06/06/23
Insights from Strategic Procurement, Key Account Management Forum Webinar Series, Cranfield School of Management, UK, 07/22/21, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-strategic-suppliers-procurement-collaborate-more-effectively-?trk=pulse-article
Industrial & Service (B2B) Marketing, Elective in Digital Business Management, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Germany, Spring 2022
Bridging the gap between academia and practice, DBA workshop, Otago Business School, Dunedin, NZ, 08/12/22
Strategic Supply Management & Sustainability (SCM 571), MSc SCM online, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), TN, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring & Summer 2025
New Thinking in Marketing Theory (BDBA 909) & Strategy and Growth (BDBA 912), DBA postgraduate program, Otago Business School, Dunedin, NZ, May & August 2023
Strategic Sourcing, FT-MBA/EMBA Elective, Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Fall 2023, Fall 2024 (with Prof. Finn Wynstra)
Sourcing & Procurement Management (SCM 431), Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg, Germany, Spring 2024
Sales & Procurement - Two sides of the same coin!, Supply Chain Relationships (Jenkins MBA 541), North Carolina State University (NCSU), Supply Chain Leadership Series, Raleigh, NC, 11/19/24
Value Supply Chain (VSC) Conception (CoSE 270A), Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) specialization, University of California San Diego (UCSD), CA, Jacobs School of Engineering, Fall 2025 (upcoming)