By working together business and science can help build a more sustainable world for tomorrow. That’s why the University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group are intensifying collaborations in a partnership designed to support the active transfer of knowledge and technologies in a wide range of topics. Further inspiration for both sides is expected to come from the mutual exchanges between upcoming academics and the world of business.
Customer Foresight Center
The research partnership between the University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group runs with the academic support of the Customer Foresight Center.
When the University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group established the Customer Foresight Centre (CFC) in November 2011, they were seeking the answers to a whole series of questions – such as what drives customers and what factors influence the purchase decision. Headed up by professors Torsten Tomczak and Wolfgang Jenewein, the CFC forms the foundation of long-term strategic partnership between our two organisations.
One aspect of our partnership consists of academic staff at both St.Gallen and various BMW Group locations carrying out research into topic areas with practical implications. By working closely with the Institute for Customer Insight, the Institute of Marketing and the University of St.Gallen’s Centre for Innovation, the CFC has access to a pool of approximately 80 academic staff.
Collaborations are being realised in the shape of research projects (including scientific studies and dissertation projects) but also through involvements in application projects, joint workshops, seminars and lectures both at St.Gallen and in Munich. At present a total of eleven doctoral candidates are carrying out research projects in the fields of innovation, design and aesthetics, pricing and offers, channel management, sales, aftersales, electric mobility and carsharing.
