World Business Dialogue
The World Business Dialogue is a business congress organized by students, which is held annually by the non-profit GmbH Organization Forum Business Congress (OFW).
Emergence
The student-run Organizational Forum Business Congress was founded in 1984 as an association. Every year the OFW, which was renamed a non-profit GmbH in 2013, organizes the World Business Dialogue with around 40 students. This took place for the first time in 1987 at the University of Cologne ; at that time still under the name "German Economic Congress".
history
1st to 6th German Business Congress
The 1st German Economic Congress, which was focused on the topic of "Space as a Market", took place from March 10th to 11th, 1987. After the patron had initially canceled his presence for the congress, a. D. Hans-Dietrich Genscher , who called for a German space agency in his speech. Due to the murder of the Siemens board member Karl Heinz Beckurts - who wanted to take part as a speaker at the 1st German Economic Congress - by the RAF a few months before the event, the OFW was forced to step up security checks.
Starting from this basis, in the following years particular attention was paid to expanding and improving both the organization and the program of the congress. First of all, since the 2nd German Business Congress in 1989, a large festival hall was built on Albertus-Magnus-Platz in front of the University of Cologne, which was supposed to reflect the university character of the event. Two years later, in 1991, the workshops, which are still very popular today, were introduced, in which students can independently develop and record results. In the meantime, the German Business Congress was known throughout Europe and thus more and more foreign participants mingled with the students and speakers.
The 3rd German Economic Congress was alternatively arranged via satellite connection to the USA, since at that time some American speakers could not travel to Germany due to the terrorist threat from the Gulf War . For the first time, over 300 students from all over the world attended the 4th German Business Congress. The application for the German Business Congress took place via an essay competition on the four possible subject areas of the congress topic "Human Resource". In addition, with Hermann Simon from the University of Mainz, a chairman led for the first time through the two days of the German Business Congress. A highlight in the history of the German Business Congress was the participation of Microsoft founder Bill Gates at the 5th German Business Congress in 1995. Since the interest in his lecture was so high, it was also broadcast in a neighboring lecture hall. In addition to Bill Gates, August-Wilhelm Scheer , Lothar Späth , Heinz Dürr and Rajiv Shah also performed .
The 6th event in 1997 was given the title "Return on Globalization". and took place on the Albertus-Magnus-Platz of the University of Cologne. All important information about the event could now be called up on the congress intranet.
7th World Business Dialogue 1999
The German Business Congress held in 1999 on the subject of "Rethinking Knowledge - Labor, Education and Business in the Knowledge Society" appeared in public for the first time under the current name of World Business Dialogue. Almost 70 nations were represented at the congress.
Speakers (selection)
Ron Sommer , Henning Schulte-Noelle , Heinrich von Pierer , Rolf Breuer , Klaus Zumwinkel , Chris Cramer , Manfred Schneider , Dieter Schulte , Masaaki Imai , Thomas Middelhoff , Hans-Olaf Henkel , John S. Clarkson , Kenneth S. Courtis , Maria Livanos Cattani .
8th World Business Dialogue 2001
Due to the many restructuring in the field of economy - referred to as "New Economy" - the 8th World Business Dialogue under the title "Net Planet - Strategies for a new Economy" set itself the goal of examining the diverse effects and scope of this change To discuss business, politics and society, as well as the resulting long-term demands on work, educational structures, entrepreneurial and political decisions and strategies. For this purpose, among other things, the change processes and effects of digital networking on companies and the economic environment were considered and analyzed.
Speakers (selection)
Roland Berger , John RH Bond , Rolf-E. Breuer , Marie Livanos Cattaui , Hans Joachim Körber , Martin Kohlhaussen , Klaus Mangold , Heinrich von Pierer , Jürgen Weber .
9th World Business Dialogue 2003
The congress focused on the phenomenon of volatility, detached from the pure financial market analysis. On the one hand, the causes and effects of increasing volatility were analyzed and the resulting challenges for the economy, society and politics were critically discussed. On the other hand, the main topics for entrepreneurial success in an unstable environment were the focus of this strategy congress.
Speakers (selection)
Roland Berger , Hans-Jörg Bullinger , Iain C.Conn , Claus Michael Dill , Dieter Hundt , Walter Jochmann , Wolfgang Klein , Karl Ludwig Kley , Klaus Peter Müller , Klaus Zumwinkel , Peter Zencke , Werner Wenning , Vilim Vasata , Wolfgang Urban , Martin Sorrell , Hermann Simon , Ekkehard D. Schulz .
10th World Business Dialogue 2005
The motto of the anniversary congress was "Transforming the Company - How to face Dynamic Forces". The main topic was internal company changes and developments. The need for radical realignment was at the center of the dispute. Corporate leaders such as Josef Ackermann , Frank Appel , Mark Fields , Manfred Wennemer and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz discussed a new culture of leadership on the evening of the first day of the congress and named versatility, flexibility, communication, honesty and team spirit as decisive characteristics. Furthermore, the opportunities and risks of globalization, technical progress and the digital world were discussed.
Speakers (selection)
Josef Ackermann , Frank Appel, Mark Fields , W. Chan Kim , John Nailsbitt , Andrew Robertson, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz , Adrian Slywotzky , Manfred Wennemer .
11th World Business Dialogue 2007
The motto of the 11th World Business Dialogue was "Population Dynamics - Aging Societies & Megacities - Opportunities for Corporate Growth". The thematic focus was on developments in globalization such as urbanization and the aging of society. The central question was how companies can react to the changes in the population, for example by reacting to the growth potentials that arise from these changes. For example, companies in megacities can use innovations (medical solutions, energy efficiency) to improve the living conditions of urban residents and also grow with these innovations. Both urbanization and demographic change, the ongoing aging of society, make it increasingly necessary to rethink and adapt old business models. The aim of the congress was to make entrepreneurs aware of the demographic challenges and to encourage them to take an active part in the restructuring process. The potential of these global changes and ways to use them should be discovered.
Speakers (selection)
Scott E. Carson , Hans-Werner Sinn , Paul A. Laudicina , Edward N. Luttwak , Caesar McDowell , Bernhard Mattes , Olaf Göttgens , Walter Köbele , Eckhard Cordes , Hans-Joachim Hunold
12th World Business Dialogue 2009
The theme of the 12th World Business Dialogue was "The Integrated Challenge - China, Resources & Customer Revolution - Linked Drivers Demand Innovation".
Speakers (selection)
Bernhard Fauser , Christian Rast , Claudia Kemfert , Frank Sieren , Herbert Hainer , John Fleming , Luc Wathieu , Martin Seiwert , Peter Nolan , Richard Hausmann , Richard Pott , Rolf Buch , Steve Welsh , Sven Giegold , Wang Yingming , Wolfgang Hartmann.
13th World Business Dialogue 2010
The theme of the 13th World Business Dialogue was "Crisis Demands - The End to Anything Goes". The focus was on the worst economic crisis since the "Great Depression" of the 1930s. The 13th World Business Dialogue therefore examined the crisis and the requirements for overcoming it from different perspectives and offered a framework for innovative and interdisciplinary solutions. In addition to a large number of workshops and other supporting formats, the main panels in particular provided the thematic focus. These panels inspired the participants to think critically about necessary economic changes with in-depth contributions to the discussion.
Speakers (selection)
Axel A. Weber , Frank Appel, Muhammad Yunus , Bernd Ziesemer , Roland Tichy , Christof Lang , Werner Kreuz , Erik Hölzl , Robert C. Wolcott , Norbert Walter , Michael Träm , Hugh Sullivan , David B. Speer , Oliver Rosenthal , Frank Riemensperger .
14th World Business Dialogue 2011
The motto of the 14th World Business Dialogue was "Managing Complexity - The Art of Collective Consequences". Particular emphasis was placed on illuminating markets from all angles and discussing developments in terms of temporal, cultural and expanding components. Changes that can be traced back to the evolution of the digital world were also recorded.
Speakers (selection)
Axel Ockenfels , Rolf Buch , Bernhard Mattes
15th World Business Dialogue 2012
The 15th World Business Dialogue took place from March 14th to 15th at the University of Cologne. The focus was on the topic of “Checkpoint Consumption”.
Speakers (selection)
Rüdiger Grube , Kurt Bock , Auma Obama , Bernd Kolb , Rolf Buch , Bernhard Mattes , Georges Strongylis
16th World Business Dialogue 2013
The 16th World Business Dialogue took place from March 13th to 14th at the University of Cologne under the motto "Next Generation Business Strategies - Finding New Ways to Succeed". For the first time, in addition to entrepreneurs, politicians and scientists, a student was on the stage and discussed in the “Human Factors” panel.
Speakers (selection)
Daniel Mahler , Bernd Kolb , Lars Feld , Niek Jan van Damme
17th World Business Dialogue 2014
The 17th World Business Dialogue took place on March 13 and 14, 2014 at the University of Cologne. This time the motto of the discourse was “Disruptive Innovation” and dealt with the influence of disruptive innovations, such as B. artificial intelligence and "machine to machine" communication, on existing and new business models.
Speakers (selection)
Auma Obama , Viktor Mayer-Schönberger , Pascal Finette , Tim Cannon
18th World Business Dialogue 2015
“Power To The People - Redefining Interdependencies In A Trembling World” - that is what the World Business Dialogue dealt with from March 8th to 13th, 2015 at the University of Cologne. The topic was changing power structures in various dimensions, e.g. B. between employees and employers, politics and citizens or between companies.
Speakers (selection)
David Hilton , Robert Epstein , Catharina van Delden , Ksenia Yolkina
19th World Business Dialogue 2016
The 19th World Business Dialogue took place from March 14th to 18th, 2016 at the University of Cologne and had the motto "Globalization: Disrupted?".
Speakers (selection)
Mari Kiviniemi , Liam Condon , William Colton , Thomas Pogge , Franz Josef Radermacher , Hans-Olaf Henkel , Thomas Sattelberger
20th World Business Dialogue 2017
The World Business Dialogue took place from March 6th to 10th, 2017. Under the title "Facing Change", topics from the first three congresses were taken up and three other topics discussed. Topic selection:
Space As A Market - starting a new chapter of exploration
Artificial Intelligence - the role of humanity in a virtualized world
Transformation in Transportation - redefining the concept of mobilty for tomorrow
The Future of Energy Supply - powering innovation: technology meets sustainability
InsurTech - disrupting and renewing the insurance sector
Leadership - leading a changing economy
Speakers (selection)
Natasha Vita-More , Brian Lim , Christof Mascher , Kathryn Myronuk , Daniel Krauss , Maxim Nohroudi
21st World Business Dialogue 2018
With the topic "The Digital Organization" the characteristics that are essential for a modern organization were discussed at the 21st World Business Dialogue from March 5th to 9th. In the panel discussion on "Organizational Culture", the former Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas , Henkel HR Director Kathrin Menges , Jovoto founder Bastian Unterberg and Google's former Superintendent for Well-Being Bill Duane discussed the cultural effects of digitization in different types of organizations.
Speakers (selection)
Taavi Roivas , Stephen Ibaraki , Kathrin Menges , Christian Illek , Claude Ritter , Andreas Pinkwart
22nd World Business Dialogue
"Digital Zeitgeist - Time to Rethink Learning" was the motto of the 22nd World Business Dialogue, which took place from February 18th to 22nd at the University of Cologne . It was about the importance of lifelong learning in a fast-paced digital environment and how this can be achieved in universities, companies and in the state. Personnel director Heiko Hutmacher spoke about how the Metro implements lifelong learning, Thomas Bachem , founder and chancellor of Code University in Berlin, presented a model of university learning and Alexander Zumdieck explained how his platform Milla learning should be made possible in the state.
Speakers (selection)
Hermann Simon , Shinjini Kundu , Thomas Bachem , Hubert Barth , Joann Halpern , Sandra Navidi