The BMW Group is one of the world’s leading premium manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles. However, mobility, together with an increased world population, causes problems like traffic congestions, emissions, and an increased energy and raw material consumption that impacts our climate. This, digital developments like the Internet of Things, and the pressure from emerging car brands like Tesla or new mobility providers, have disrupted the automotive industry. Complexity has therefore increased, creating wicked problems for BMW that has to adapt itself to these dynamic times. It however also creates opportunities opportunities for whole new driving and mobility experiences.
To create these experiences, BMW has to rethink its current ways of working that are still largely engineering and product driven. Instead, a more experience driven mindset could be the answer to increasing customer demands and market pressure. This research therefore focuses on developing a strategy on how industries could adapt to dynamic times by changing a company‘s internal mindset, from a product-oriented focus to a more experience driven one. Starting from the experience, means taking a user-centred approach that focusses on human needs instead of merely product- and feature-evolvement. This would not only benefit the customer, but also the company‘s success by generating competitive advantages, profitability and sustaining long-term customer loyalty.
Following from the research, it was found that UX and CX can be taken to a next level, which not only optimises customer touchpoints around products and services but solves for human needs around a clear purpose. This is called a Business of Experience (BOX) and the newly framed goal is to create a strategy that transforms the BMW Group into a BOX that is fully human- and experience driven. In line with the 4M framework, the need for four strategies was derived, called CO: strategies, to reach this final goal. On the individual level, a strategy is needed that enhances the engagement of every employee, a.k.a. Individual Contributor (IC), which is translated into CO:NTRIBUTION. On the second level, collaboration and knowledge flow between teams and departments must be enhanced, resulting in a strategy involving CO:LLABORATION. Next to this, there is a need for supporting organisational structures, cultures, and leaders, thus CO:ORDINATION. Lastly, stakeholders that form the community around organisations should be involved in the development process to learn about needs and innovations, and a strategy to enhance CO:-CREATION should be implemented.
A roadmap with three horizons and a final vision for the BMW Group was created, that should lead the BMW Group towards becoming a Business of Experience. A good starting point is the creation of a Centre of Excellence (COE). A COE is a centralised and independent, physical and/or virtual facility within an organisation, that leverages the resources that are already there and provides the rest of the organisation with coordination, research, knowledge, support, trainings, and enablers in a specific area. It supports change initiatives, like that of mindset shifts, in corporate environments and constantly explores new tools and practices, which it then transfers across all functions of an organisation.