International Expansion in the Case of Pfleiderer Wind Energy

Abstract

Rolf Bufe, CEO of Pfleiderer AG since 2000, was concerned with restructuring this traditional German company. One of the tasks which Bufe and his team had to figure out was which new and promising business fields to invest in based on the company’s core competencies. One particularly interesting field was the wind energy industry. Pfleiderer recognized that the company’s competencies in building towers for the mobile telecommunications infrastructure, for instance, might be applied to building towers and converters for the wind industry. The renewable energy industry is expected to experience fast growth in the future. Therefore, Bufe decided to make an initial foray into the new business by entering the German market. However, the Pfleiderer management team soon came to the conclusion that the domestic market was already firmly in the hands of the competitors. To become truly established in the offshore market, expertise was vital. Therefore, it became necessary to evaluate which national markets offer Pfleiderer room for development.

Dipl.-Kff. Ph. D. candidate Bernadette Sager, Chair of Innovation and Technology Management, University of Regensburg. Professor Michael Dowling, Chair of Innovation and Technology Management, University of Regensburg.

Based on data from the Master’s thesis of Maik Hüttinger.