Daniel Goeudevert – France

Linked with TRADITION EMBRACING THE FUTURE.

(He is) One of the Most Remarkable Lateral Thinkers in the Guild of European Industry Leaders, Bestselling Author: Daniel Goeudevert became one of the most renowned managers of the European car industry, having been appointed to the board of Citroën Germany, Renault, Ford Werke in Cologne and finally Volkswagen Group. His unusual career has led him to be First Vice President of Green Cross International, serving with GCI President and Founder Mikhail Gorbachev, until 1999. In April 1998 he was appointed Vice President of FEDRE (Fondation pour l’Economie & le Development de Regions d’Europe) and in October 1998 Vice President of EFI (Europe Finance et Industrie). Daniel Goeudevert’s management style is regarded as unconventional, creative and highly innovative and has earned him the title of “Querdenker” or “Lateral Thinker” … (full bio).

Daniel Goeudevert is a remarkable lateral thinker and business visionary. Following his roles as CEO of Volkswagen and Deputy Chairman of the VW Group, Mikhail Gorbachev, the President and Founder of Green Cross International, GCI, invited him to become its first Vice President. He is truly one of Europe’s leading and original management innovators. A radical business leader skilled at creating innovative cultures … (full text).

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Daniel Goeudevert – France

Videos in german:

Bedeutender Querdenker unter Industriemanagern in Europa.

Find him and his publications on amazon;on Economy-point.org; on UNBISNET; on Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek; on AbeBooks (in german); on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

He says: … « And that’s not the only deficiency? There’s also dearth of basic cohesion. Many executive board members only know their customers – how they live, what they think – by means of hearsay, and naturally as a statistical dimension in business reports. Apart from that, an executive board is a separate, self-contained world in which there is not much to laugh about. The executive board meetings are meticulously prepared, agendas and seating arrangements as well as stacks of documents do not allow any spontaneity, every half-sentence is – not the least due to legal liability reasons – is recorded. Nevertheless, when I occasionally told a joke in the board meetings or addressed an “extraneous” subject that the colleagues vainly sought for in the agenda, an awkward silence usually prevailed. Once, in a meeting about the future sales opportunities in Eastern Europe in a discussion a few years before the fall of the Iron Curtain, I commented that the German division would be overcome in the foreseeable future. The subsequent silence was not only awkward, but embarrassing. And that wasn’t all. After the meeting the personnel chairman approached me in a peculiar, conspiratorial manner and reported – proudly and assiduously – that he made sure that my comment was removed from the minutes » … (full long interview text).

possible topics (as speaker):

  • Managing in a changing society;
  • Creative Thinking in Global Markets;
  • Economy & Ecology;
  • Holistic and Networked Thinking in Management;
  • New Challenges of Global Businesses;
  • Innovative Changes and Creative Management Approaches.

… Skills learned during years of academic study, such as conducting research and evaluating information, are of growing importance in a global workplace that requires and rewards knowledge management. Graduates of the humanities are increasingly finding the doors open to higher management levels. Just two examples are Daniel Goeudevert (German Ford AG) and Guido Barilla (Barilla Company), who ran or are running international companies. More and more, students with a liberal arts education are entering job sectors outside the traditional realm of the humanities because their special talents are needed there … (full text).

How much progress can the world stand? This question is being posed by Daniel Goeudevert as keynote speaker at the DESMA Open House and he is going to elaborate on his view of the outlooks of industrial society under the dictates of dwindling raw materials and increasing environmental issues. He is also looking at the imminent change in technology and paradigms in a steadily changing world and at challenges and markets of the future. Among the demands resulting from this for elastomer industry, Goeudevert counts the environmental protection, the social factor and modern moral understandings. He cautions against short-winded location hopping à la Nokia – not only because higher salaries are sooner or later being fought for in low-wage countries as well – but also due to the great willingness to change employer within the well-trained staff in the Third World. Here he identifies new demands on enterprises’ management. « Innovations are still crucial » says Goeudevert, « but the people are the most important factor. They are much more important than the product » … (full text).

He says also: … « I had a lengthy discussion on this very topic with my wife recently. She wanted to know how far I, as a nonscientist, could really judge whether the geologists with their reassuring findings or the climatologists with their horror scenarios are nearer the truth. To be honest, I can’t judge at all. But I think that sooner or later one has to step away from the omnipresent dispute and come to one’s own decision. I have managed this and my case favors caution in the event of doubt. Even if we do not yet know categorically how great the risks really are, the bottom line is that billions of human lives are at stake today, and no one has the right to gamble recklessly with them » … (full interview text).

The vice chairman of Volkswagen A.G. has decided to leave his job, in what appears to be part of a continuing shake-up of the company’s top ranks under the new chairman, Ferdinand Piech. VW said late last week that the vice chairman, Daniel Goeudevert, would leave the group by mutual consent on July 31, as part of a structural reorganization. Mr. Goeudevert will continue to advise the company … (full text, July 6, 1993).

… Riane has had a powerful response from very diverse groups around the world because her common theme of caring helps people “connect the dots.” She is sought after to keynote conferences worldwide, and is a consultant to business and government on applications of the partnership model introduced in her work. International venues have included Germany at the invitation of Prof. Rita Suessmuth,former President of the Bundestag (the German Parliament) and Daniel Goeudevert (Chair of Volkswagen International); Colombia, invited by the Mayor of Bogota; and the Czech Republic, invited by Vaclav Havel (President of the Czech Republic) … (full text).

… and the best is in german:

Die Ethik des Ingenieurberufs und der Geist der Maschine, 10 pdf Seiten, 16. Mai 2006.

Daniel Goeudevert über den Faktor Mensch:

  • Die Beherrschung von Spannungen ist die Kunst des Managements in der Zukunft. Dafür müssen Führungskräfte völlig andere Begabungen entwickeln;
  • Der beste Manager lehrt seine Mitarbeiter nicht, wie sie denken sollen, sondern dass sie denken sollen;
  • Marktfähige Produktentwicklung:Im Leben muß man eben oft, wie beim Tango, auch mal zwei Schritte nach Hinten machen, um dann einen nach vorne zu tun.

… Goeudevert wurde in Deutschland einer breiten Öffentlichkeit bekannt als das für den Einkauf zuständige Vorstandsmitglied der Volkswagen AG. Nach einer Neuordnung der Vorstandsressorts zeichnete er ab 1991 für den Bereich Marken verantwortlich. Er machte sich bei VW einen Namen als « Querdenker », der gern ungewöhnliche Ansichten und Managementmethoden vertrat und dabei auch die menschliche Seite des Geschäfts nicht vergaß. Er wurde oft als Paradiesvogel apostrophiert. Er unterstützt den Ausbau des Öffentlichen Nahverkehrs und befürwortet die Entwicklung umweltfreundlicher Autos. Letztlich scheiterte Goeudevert mit diesem Ansatz an seinen eher traditionell eingestellten Kollegen. 1993 musste er daher Volkswagen verlassen. Seitdem versuchte er, seine Ansätze einer kreativen Unternehmensführung in einer von ihm initiierten Europäischen Management-Schule umzusetzen … (full text).

Er schreibt: … »Die Seerose ist für mich das passende Bild für das Agieren eines Großteils unseres Managements. Der krautige Oberflächenwucherer gilt als Meister der Selbstinszenierung, weil alle Voraussetzungen seiner Schönheit unter Wasser verborgen bleiben. Doch die Idylle ist trügerisch. Sowohl die Seerosen als auch viele Manager sind Starkzehrer. Sie tendieren dazu, ihrem Untergrund so viele Nährstoffe zu entziehen, dass sie ihren eigenen Lebensraum zu zerstören drohen« … Das Seerosen-Prinzip: Wie uns die Gier ruiniert.

Drei (überprüfte) Zitate:

  • « Ich glaube, daß das 21. Jahrhundert sich wieder dem Menschen und seinen eigentlichen Bedürfnissen zuwenden wird. Was Unternehmen heute planen und morgen investieren, sind die Ergebnisse von übermorgen und bestimmt die Rahmenbedingungen für unser gesellschaftliches Leben. Das bedeutet, daß Unternehmen die Gesellschaft nie aus den Augen verlieren dürfen. Nur durch eine neu zu belebende ethische Grundhaltung läßt sich ein Ausgleich zwischen den Ansprüchen aller herbeiführen. » – Wie ein Vogel im Aquarium. Aus dem Leben eines Managers, S.253, Rowohlt – Berlin Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 1996; ISBN 3-87134-281-5;
  • « Profit ist wichtig und für das Weiterbestehen einer Firma notwendig. Wer jedoch die Qualität eines Produkts ausschließlich über Kosten definiert, um damit den Profit zu maximieren, hat den Job nicht verstanden. » – Stern Nr. 12/2007 vom 15. März 2007, S. 226;
  • « Wenn eine Industrie alles falsch gemacht hat, dann ist es diese – ohne Rücksicht auf soziale Orientierung, ohne Rücksicht auf die Umweltverträglichkeit und ohne Rücksicht auf gesellschaftliche Ordnung. » – über die US-amerikanischen Autohersteller, Stern Nr. 12/2007 vom 15. März 2007, S. 226.

links:

The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st Century Britain, oct. 11, 2008;

Pourquoi les français sont les moins fréquentables de la planète;

BEBAN VISIONAL MASYARAKAT MULTIKULTURAL;

The Google download-books:

New Skills Are Knocking On French Firms’ Doors, FEBRUARY 6, 1992.