Franz Fehrenbach

Mr. Franz Fehrenbach, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH and partner of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, will present success factors for profitable growth from the perspective of Robert Bosch GmbH in his lecture "Bosch in global competition - strategic challenges and answers".

Robert Bosch GmbH is a leading international technology and services company. In 2006, around 260,000 associates generated sales of 43.7 billion euros in the Automotive Technology, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods and Building Technology divisions. Since its foundation as a "workshop for precision mechanics and electrical engineering" in Stuttgart by Robert Bosch in 1886, the Bosch Group now comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and around 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in more than 50 countries. Majority-owned by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, the Bosch Group's special shareholder structure enables it to plan for the long term and act independently as an entrepreneur.

Franz Fehrenbach, born in 1949, studied industrial engineering at the University of Karlsruhe after graduating from high school. After a one-year trainee program, Mr. Fehrenbach began his first position within the Robert Bosch Group in 1976 as a specialist in the management office of the Electrical and Electronic Engine Equipment Division. After various positions as department head and commercial plant manager as well as principal consultant in the central department for business planning and controlling, Mr. Fehrenbach first took over the commercial plant management within the Automotive Group of the Robert Bosch Corporation in the USA and then joined the management of the Robert Bosch Corporation. After several positions - first as General Manager and then as Spokesman of the Board of Management for the Starter and Alternator Division and subsequently for Diesel Injection Systems - Mr. Fehrenbach became Deputy General Manager of Robert Bosch GmbH in 1999. In 2001, Mr. Fehrenbach was appointed Managing Director and in 2003 Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH.

In his presentation, Mr. Fehrenbach will address success factors for profitable growth from the perspective of Robert Bosch GmbH and discuss the question of the extent to which lean value creation structures support profitable growth.

Status: Beginning of 2008