- Center for Strategic Management
- Center for Innovation
- Center for Start-up-Management
- Center for Digital Business Transformation
- Center for Governance & Compensation
- Center for Sustainability Management
- Center for Executive Coaching
- Center for Leadership
- Center for Change Management
- Center for Personal Leadership & Motivation
- Center for New Work
- Center for Communication
- Center for Rhetoric
- Center for Marketing Management
- Center for Brand Management
- Center for Online Marketing & Social Media
- Center for Resilient Marketing
- Center for Sales Communication
- Center for Financial Management
- Center for Mergers & Acquisitions
- Center for Controlling
- Center for International Management
- Center for Asia
Center for Corporate Innovation
Our world is spinning faster than ever, and no company can escape the exponential technological, socio-cultural, political, economic and environmental changes - because current and future competitiveness is inextricably linked to these factors. Innovation has the potential to leverage these challenges to the company's advantage. In practice, however, innovation efforts often do not lead to the desired success. This is usually due to the fact that innovation is viewed in isolation instead of being embedded in overall strategic considerations.
The faster the market environment changes, the more important it is for companies to put their strategic competitive advantages to the test and renew them if necessary. A strategy geared to this can lead to an additional value increase of 4-8% in three years on average, and even up to 17% in decisive times of crisis.
The Center for Innovation shows in a practical way how strategic innovation can become a growth engine in the age of change. To this end, strategies, processes, models and cases are taught that enable participants to independently develop and implement these very strategies.
Corporate Programs
In corporate programs, innovation strategies and processes can be effectively learned and applied based on specific challenges. Executives, managers and employees can thus incorporate new impulses directly into the corporate context and make practical use of learned strategies and methods. Targeted employee programs can also strengthen the innovation culture within the company and ensure the rapid development of innovation skills, e.g.:
- Development of a systematic innovation strategy
- Implementation of a systematic innovation process
- „100 Days Innovation Challenge“: from employee to intrapeneur in 100 days
Consulting Services
- Development of a holistic innovation strategy
- Strategic portfolio analysis and development
- Implementation of a systematic innovation process
- Establishment of a sustainable innovation management as well as the appropriate organizational structure
- Implementation or support of innovation projects
- Development of an agile innovation culture
- Establishment or optimization of separate innovation units
Keynote Speeches
- „The corporates strike back“ - How large companies can win the innovation race against disruptive start-ups
- "Successful through the crisis" - Strategy development in times from financial crisis to Corona
Publications
Head
Lucas Sauberschwarz
Director of the Center for Innovation at SGMI Management Institute St. Gallen
Lucas Sauberschwarz studied business administration with a focus on business information systems at the EBS University of Economics and Law. He worked in management positions at L'Oréal and Schwartauer Werke and built up a digital agency with more than 100 employees. In his current activities, Sauberschwarz researches, teaches and consults established companies in the areas of strategy and innovation. In recent years, he has worked with more than half of the German DAX corporations, as well as with numerous large medium-sized companies and international corporations. He and his colleagues were named Germany's Best Consultants for Strategy (2019) and for Innovation & Growth (2018) by the leading business magazine WirtschaftsWoche. His book "Das Comeback der Konzerne" (“The Corporates strike back”), was repeatedly Amazon bestseller in several categories. His most recent book "Erfolgreich durch die Krise – Strategieentwicklung in Zeiten von Finanzkrise bis Corona” (“Successful through the Crisis - Strategy development in times from the Financial Crisis to Corona“) was published in 2020. He shares his expertise at conferences, trainings and universities with a focus on the following:
- Strategic Innovation
- Portfolio Management
- Innovation Methods and Processes
- Separate Innovation Units
- Digital Transformation
- Corporate Resilience
Thorben Sertler
Co-Director of the Center for Corporate Innovation at SGMI Management Institute St. Gallen
Thorben Sertler studied International Management and Corporate Innovation in Germany, England and Sweden. Today, he combines research in strategy and innovation management with entrepreneurial practice and supports management teams in tapping into new areas of growth and anchoring agile innovation structures in established companies. In recent years, he has worked across industries with DAX-listed corporations, medium-sized companies and family-run businesses. For his consulting work, he and his team were named best consultants for strategy and innovation & growth by WirtschaftsWoche Magazine and were recently voted among Germany's best management consultants by brand eins magazine. In addition to several publications, his book ‘Strategische Agilität – Dynamische Strategieentwicklung und -anpassung in turbulenten Zeiten’, which he co-authored with his colleagues, was published by Springer-Gabler-Verlag in 2024. He also co-authored a chapter for the book ‘The Generative Organization’, an AI playbook for modern innovation methods. As a speaker, lecturer, angel investor and mentor, he shares his knowledge with a focus on the following areas:
- Strategic Innovation and Corporate Venturing
- Organisational and Strategic Agility
- Portfolio Management in Dynamic Markets
- Establishing separate Innovation Units & In-house Start-ups
- Resilience and continuous Corporate Renewal
