Creation of a Decision-Making basis for an Asset-Based Business Unit Development

Companies must deal with a continuously changing environment. New business opportunities must be seized and adjustments to the organizational structure are necessary. Medium-sized companies, which employ between 250 and 2,999 people, make up about 150,000 people in the Automotive Supply Industry in Germany and are particularly affected by the structural change in the Automotive Industry. The development of new Business Units within the company to tap into new markets poses great challenges for medium-sized companies. Existing assets are hardly or not at all considered in existing methods and new Business Units are developed as a reflection of the market. The paper aims to develop a methodology that enables Business Unit development that also takes into account and focuses on existing assets. The methodology is intended to serve as a basis for the management of a medium-sized company to decide which Business Unit should be developed and thus which Business Area should be tapped into. Conducting an initial workshop and expert interview and three retrospective case studies creates an empirical database and confirms the need for research. Furthermore, success factors of the methodology are derived. They serve as a basis for the development of an initial methodology. The methodology is discussed with representatives from research and industry and is subsequently optimized. The optimized methodology is initially evaluated by applying it to the medium-sized company brandgroup and with the help of a survey.