Roland Berger turns 70

On November 22, Roland Berger celebrates his 70th birthday. The company Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, which he founded in 1967, is today the only strategic consulting firm among the top five in this sector that originates in Europe. Since July 2003, Roland Berger has acted as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Childhood, university and a young entrepreneur

Roland Berger was born in Berlin on November 22, 1937 to Bavarian parents. His father was director general of a food company and a ministerial counselor, his mother the general manager of a trading company. As a war baby, his first childhood memories are of "howling sirens, air raid shelters and regular nightly visits to the family home from the Gestapo." Berger's father, whom he considers his moral role model, was first persecuted and then arrested by the Nazis and later interned by both the Russians and Americans. Berger attended elementary school in Vienna and Egglkofen (Upper Bavaria) and high schools in Landshut, Munich and Nuremberg. After graduating in 1956, he spent one semester studying electrical engineering before switching to economics and business – subjects where he says he "immediately felt right at home." He also took courses in history, drama and psychology. While still a student, he founded a laundry service in Munich's upscale Bogenhausen neighborhood, ultimately employing 15 people. He personally delivered the laundry in a VW Beetle. However, he didn't want to "end his career as a laundry millionaire," so – in between his written and final oral exams at the university – he sold the company for DEM 600,000 and opened a discount beverage store. This he also sold for a profit a short time later. After graduating as top student of his year in Munich in the winter semester of 1961/62, he joined Gennaro-Boston Associati, a consulting firm based in Milan, where he was promoted to Partner within five years. It was at this company, an Italian-American joint venture between Bruce Henderson, the founder of Boston Consulting Group, and Pietro Gennaro, the then doyen of Italian top management consulting, that he learned his trade working on numerous international strategy consulting projects.

1967: One-man business

In 1967, at the age of 29 and supported by a single secretary, Roland Berger founded Roland Berger International Marketing Consultants in Munich. One of the fledgling company's first big projects involved tackling a marketing problem for Touropa, a tourism company. Roland Berger recommended focusing on charter flights and merging Touropa, Scharnow, Hummel and Dr. Tigges into TUI, a giant tour operator. With his support this was a huge success. This and other major projects for clients such as for Farbwerke Hoechst (as it was then called), Oetker (Germany's largest family-run company) and Barilla in Italy formed the beginning of an unparalleled success story. The following facts and figures pick up the plot.

In 1970, just three years after its founding, the young company is already generating DEM 5.6 million (EUR 2.86 million) in sales. By 1980 this has grown to DEM 35 million (EUR 17.9 million) and in 1990 to more than DEM 175 million (approximately EUR 90 million). In the year 2000, partly thanks to German reunification and spurred on by the new economy, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants earns DEM 847 million (approximately EUR 433 million). In 2002, the last year in which Roland Berger personally manages the company, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants – by now the leading strategy consulting firm originating in Europe – generates client fee income of EUR 526 million, the equivalent of DEM 1,028 million, thus breaking through the billion deutschmark barrier for the first time. Between 1970 and 2002, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants' income from client fees grows by 17.7% per annum and profits by 26%. Between 1982 and 2002, shareholder value increases by approximately 26% a year. By 2007, Roland Berger's successors have increased sales to more than EUR 600 million.

The 1970s: Growth through international expansion

The firm develops into a partnership-based management consultancy focused on strategy and marketing. In the mid-70s, it establishes international offices in Milan and São Paulo, and strategic alliances in the United States, Japan, Paris, London and Madrid. Ten years after the company's founding, Roland Berger has more than 100 employees and generates sales of approximately DEM 17 million (EUR 8.6 million). The company expands with multiple branch offices in Germany and then internationally. In 1980, Roland Berger is the first European consulting firm to be admitted to the Association of Consulting Management Engineers (ACME) – the oldest and most prestigious association of consulting firms in the United States.

The 1980s: More international offices, Deutsche Bank takes a stake

Roland Berger evolves into a top management consultancy. In the mid-80s, more than half of the company's revenues come from strategy projects. The company opens more offices abroad, among them Madrid and Vienna. In 1988, Deutsche Bank, a long-standing client of Roland Berger, then led by Alfred Herrhausen, acquires a 75.1% stake in the private limited company. Roland Berger retains the remaining shares and stays in charge of the company. "I am thrilled about practicing my profession in a new dimension, conducting a large international orchestra," he explains. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the company advises about half of the fifty largest ex-East German collectives, and privatizes more than 900 small and medium-sized enterprises. In 1990, Roland Berger works with a team of 466 employees, generating DEM 175 million (approximately EUR 90 million) in consulting revenues.

The 1990s: Roland Berger goes East and buys back shares from Deutsche Bank

Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the company expands its activities into Central and Eastern Europe, with offices in Moscow, Kiev, Prague, Riga, Budapest, and Bucharest. The firm opens further offices in the Far East in Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing, and strengthens its Western European presence with additional offices in Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris and Zurich. In the United States, the firm forms cooperative deals with local partners, as Deutsche Bank's stake in Roland Berger Strategy Consultants prevents it from opening independent offices, under the US Bank Holding Act. It isn't until the management buyout takes place in 1998, returning sole ownership to Roland Berger and his Partners, that the barriers are removed and offices open in Detroit and New York. That same year, two-thirds of the company's sales are generated by projects for innovation and growth strategies.

The move into political consulting

Roland Berger also makes a name for himself as a political advisor. "I advise individual politicians on business topics – strictly pro bono, person-to-person and irrespective of party membership," explains the consultant, who describes himself as something of a "political animal". He is appointed a member of various committees at the federal and state government levels, among them the "Lean State" Expert Commission under Helmut Kohl, the Expert Group on the Reform of German Bundesbank Structures, Roman Herzog's "President's Advisory Council for Innovation" and Gerhard Schröder's "Commission for the Long Term Health of Germany's Social Security System" (Rürup Commission). Due to his commitment, he is sometimes invited to run for political office, but he declines: a job in politics does not fit in well with his personal and professional plans, and he thinks that the chances of making headway in German politics for would-be entrants from other backgrounds, such as himself, are slim.

The new millennium: Move to the Supervisory Board, new Executive Committee – Continuity

In 2000, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants sees global sales growth of 27%, and even in financially difficult 2002, the company achieves double-digit rates, increasing sales to EUR 526 million (over one billion deutschmarks). No longer just companies, the client pool expands to include governments, administrative departments, cultural and educational institutions. The consultants continue their own expansion, opening offices in Warsaw and Amsterdam. On July 1, 2003, Berger takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. A new five-member Executive Committee under Burkhard Schwenker is now responsible for the global business of the world's leading strategy consultancy with European roots. The other EC members are: António Bernardo (Deputy CEO), Lisbon; Vincent Mercier, Paris; Dirk Reiter, Munich; and Martin Wittig, Zurich. These top strategists emphasize continuity on the path of international growth. The team opens offices in Zagreb, Manama (Bahrain) and Hong Kong, and expands the company's presence in Western and Eastern Europe and Asia. With 33 offices in 23 countries, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has successful operations in all major international markets. In 2007, the company achieves double digit-growth, speeding up expansion especially in China, Japan, Central and Eastern Europe and France. Over 1,700 employees will achieve more than EUR 600 million in worldwide revenues this year. Among the leading global strategy consultancies, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants ranks second and third in Germany and Europe, respectively. Globally, the firm is number four.

The strategy consulting firm is an independent partnership owned exclusively by over 150 Partners. Roland Berger continues to hold just under 10% of the shares in the group, with international Partners holding the remaining 90%. Roland Berger supports leading international industrial and service companies, as well as public bodies. Consulting services cover all areas of strategic corporate management – from general strategy to new business models, processes, organizational structures, information technology strategy and restructuring. In Germany, Roland Berger's clients cover 79% of the top 100 industrial and commercial enterprises and 60% of the top 20 financial service providers. The offices of Roland Berger located in Western and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Japan and China serve a similarly impressive list of blue-chip companies.

Achievements and awards

Roland Berger has continuously demonstrated his commitment to the profession, whether as Vice Chairman of the American Management Consulting Federation (AMCF), President of the Fédération Européenne des Associations de Conseil en Organisation (FEACO) or President of the Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater (BDU). In 2000, he was inducted into manager magazin's Hall of Fame, and that December he received the Carl S. Sloane Excellence in Management Consulting Award from the American Management Consultant Federation (AMCF) in New York.

He has been honored with numerous international awards and distinctions, including the Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland, the Grand Officer Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, the Grand Officer Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, the Grand Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, the State Medal for Special Services to the Bavarian Economy, Germany's Federal Service Cross, 1st class, and honorary doctorates from TU Munich and the Lusíada University in Lisbon. He is Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Finland in Bavaria and Thuringia.

Academic work

Roland Berger is a member of the Council of the Ludwig Maximilian University and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, and a Member of the Board of Directors at INSEAD in Fontainebleau. He is Honorary Professor for General Business Administration and Management Consulting at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus. He is also the author of numerous books, including "Auf dem Weg zur Europäischen Unternehmensführung – Ein Lesebuch für Manager und Europäer" (with Professor Ulrich Steger, Munich 1998), "The Light and the Shadow – How Breakthrough Innovation is Sharpening European Business" (with Dr. Otto Kalthoff et al., Oxford 1997), "Schubkräfte – das neue deutsche Wirtschaftswunder und seine Macher" (with Peter Gillies, Munich 1992) and "Unternehmenserfolg im Europäischen Binnenmarkt" (with Klaus Töpfer, Landsberg am Lech 1991). He writes regularly in the international press, magazines and specialist journals and has published more than 150 articles on questions of strategic management. He is also a sought-after speaker, interview partner and commentator on management topics, as well as social and economic issues.

Current activities

Berger is a member of several supervisory boards, including those of Fiat in Turin and Alcan in Montreal. He sits on many advisory councils, such as those for the Sony Corporation in Tokyo and the Blackstone Group in New York. Even though he has stepped back from the operational leadership of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Berger continues to work as a consultant in economics and politics. He also holds shares in diverse companies.

Personal and private life

Roland Berger is an enthusiastic collector of modern art, a music aficionado and an avid reader of historical and political literature. For relaxation, he enjoys hiking in the mountains, cross-country skiing and cycling. He is married to the former editor Karin Berger and has two grown sons – both of them entrepreneurs. His life aim, inspired by the German philosopher Hegel, is "to contribute to the progress of society."