Seminars, Workshops, and Strategy Consulting

For more than 25 years, Dr. Christian Muntwiler has been helping executives and companies make better and more transparent strategic decisions. In doing so, he combines the holistic St. Gallen management approach—in the tradition of Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich and Prof. Dr. Knut Bleicher—with the latest findings from behavioral psychology as applied to management decisions (Behavioral Strategy) and his own research on the influence of cognitive biases on strategic decisions.

Management Seminars and Keynote Speeches

Bring the collective expertise of the St. Gallen Management Model—combined with the latest scientific insights on strategic thinking errors—directly into your company through customized continuing education programs and keynote presentations in the areas of strategic leadership, modern marketing, and sales excellence.

When under time pressure, management often relies on intuition—and this is where the most costly cognitive biases arise. In interactive workshops, we raise your leadership team’s awareness of unconscious biases in strategic decision-making. You’ll learn proven “debiasing tools” to drastically reduce strategic risks and fully harness your team’s collective intelligence: Identifying and eliminating groupthink; implementing “debias by design” processes in your company; scientifically validating major upcoming decisions; addressing the opportunities and risks of using artificial intelligence in strategic management; and visual decision-making as a tool for improving your own decision-making processes and decisions.

Strategic Decision Excellence

  1. Strategic Foundations for Decision-Makers
    Thinking and acting holistically in volatile, uncertain, and disruptive markets, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the behavior of all stakeholders.
  2. VUCA als Führungsrahmen
    Das VUCA-Paradigma als Orientierungs- und Analyseinstrument für robuste und ausgewogene Wachstumsstrategien.

  3. Strategische Denkfehler erkennen und vermeiden
    Heuristiken, kognitive Verzerrungen und Denkfehler in Strategie-, Innovations- und Transformationsprozessen gezielt adressieren.

  4. Entscheiden unter Unsicherheit
    Wie Unsicherheit und Veränderungsdruck strategische Entscheidungen beeinflussen – und wie Status-quo-Bias und andere Verzerrungen vermieden werden.

  5. Der integrierte Strategieprozess
    Entwicklung eines durchgängigen Strategieprozesses von der Analyse bis zur Umsetzung.

  6. Früherkennung von Marktchancen und Risiken
    Management-Screening, Trendanalyse und SWOT als Instrumente zur frühzeitigen Identifikation und Evaluation strategischer Stossrichtungen. Wo künstliche Intelligenz unterstützen kann und wo ihr Einsatz heikel sein könnte.

  7. Normativer Rahmen für Wachstum
    Eignerstrategie, gesellschaftlicher Nutzen und ethische Leitplanken als Basis verantwortungsvoller Wachstumsentscheidungen.

  8. Marktgetriebene Transformation
    Stakeholder, Marktgrenzen und relevante Trends wie Nachhaltigkeit, Digitalisierung und künstliche Intelligenz ganzheitlich analysieren, um Wachstumsoptionen zu identifizieren.

  9. Wertschöpfung neu denken
    Veränderungen in Wertschöpfungsketten als Hebel für neue Geschäftsmodelle und Marktpositionen.

  10. Warum Transformationen scheitern
    Diffusion von Innovationen verstehen und als Erfolgsfaktor für Wachstum und Marktdurchdringung nutzen.

  11. Die zukünftige Marktrolle des Unternehmens
    Portfolios als Brücke zwischen Ist- und Soll-Positionen sowie zwischen interner Transformation und externer Marktentwicklung.

  12. Agilität als Wettbewerbsvorteil
    Wettbewerbsvorteile agiler Organisationen erkennen, aufbauen und in marktdifferenzierende Strukturen und Prozesse übersetzen.

  13. Vom Markt zum Erfolg
    Zentrale Hebel erfolgreicher Marktbearbeitung und Umsetzung.

  14. The Marketing Mix of Agile Organizations
    The balance between marketing strength and actually meeting customer needs.

  15. Customer Insights und Trendverständnis
    Relevante Kundenbedürfnisse, Markttrends und unausgesprochene Erwartungen systematisch identifizieren.

  16. Kundenwert und Marktattraktivität ausbalancieren
    Die richtigee Balance zwischen Vermarktungsstärke und Bedürfnisintensität beim Kunden finden.

  17. Von Kundenbedürfnissen zur Leistung
    Leistungspositionierung als Übersetzung von Kundenanforderungen in ein marktfähiges Angebot.

  18. Positionierung und Kommunikation im Markt
    Aufbau eines überzeugenden Vermarktungs- und Kommunikationskonzepts für das Angebot.

  19. Integrierte Marktbearbeitung
    Distribution und Kommunikation aufeinander abstimmen und zu einem ganzheitlichen Marktauftritt verbinden

Executive Workshops – Educonsulting

Educonsulting is a program that combines seminars and consulting for you. Tailored seminar content based on the St. Gallen Management Approach, Behavioral Strategy, and Visual Decision Making alternates with direct application to your company’s specific context and hands-on work on your own strategy.

This might look like this:

3-day Educonsulting project to develop the framework for a corporate strategy

Day 1 (Strategic Framework)

Input: Fundamentals of Strategic Thinking: The VUCA Paradigm as an Early Warning System

Transfer: Analysis of the Current State of the Company

Input: The generic elements of a strategy and the steps involved in strategy development. The normative framework of an integrated strategy: Integration of overarching strategic principles

Transfer: A Normative Framework for Your Own Company

Day 2 (From Strategy to Market)

Input: Methods for analyzing the current situation, management screening, accurately assessing the strategic framework, and identifying initial strategic directions at an early stage

Transfer: Vision, Mission, and Strategic Framework of Your Own Company

Input: Market-Driven Product Strategy: Who, Exactly, Are Our Markets and Customers?

Transfers: In-House Market Analysis Supported by Artificial Intelligence

Day 3 (Tools and Processes for Developing a Product Strategy)

Input: Portfolio management as the foundation of a product strategy, linking actual and target, internal and external, customers and products

Transfer: Actual/Target Product Portfolio (from a strategic perspective, not necessarily broken down into individual products) as a prerequisite for the further development of product strategies

Input: Implementing Product Strategies for Clients: The Diffusion of Innovations

Following this, the management team works out the details of the strategic positioning, the gaps between the current and target states, and the associated implementation actions. This process can be supported through regular brainstorming sessions (e.g., online) or review workshops, all the way through to implementation and beyond.

Strategy Consulting

Developing and supporting your strategic process to achieve a sustainable, transparent, and successful strategic repositioning at the corporate level, the business unit level, or for functional units or strategies (marketing, sales, etc.).

Examples of such projects:

Background/Problem:

Following a generational transition at the top management level, the family-owned company wants to develop a sustainable corporate strategy—including corresponding subsidiary strategies—and has realized that it does not actually have a consistent strategic process in place, neither at the corporate level nor at the subsidiary level.

Objectives and Approach:

  1. Development of the Strategy Process
    • Objective: A defined strategy process, including its phases, content, and responsibilities for each phase (Action Plan for Strategy Development)
    • Procedure: Management will develop the individual phases during a one-day workshop, facilitated by C. Muntwiler as a coach and sounding board
    • Outcome: Management reached an agreement on the strategy process and timeline
  1. Development of the corporate strategy:
    • Objective: A clearly defined corporate strategy (as the basis for the company’s strategies) comprising a vision, a mission (if applicable), objectives, a roadmap, resources, and a timeline, including any options.
    • Procedure: Development of content by management based on the steps of the strategy process, supported by C. Muntwiler as a coach and sparring partner (several half-day online workshops, including AI support)
    • Outcome: A shared foundation regarding the vision, mission (if applicable), and strategic guidelines. Clarity regarding the strategic direction(s)
  1. Facilitating the strategic decision-making process:
    • Goal: Joint decision by the holding company and its subsidiaries on the strategic direction and its implementation. Commitment from all decision-makers
    • Procedure: Internal development and preparation of the company strategies and holding company strategy (see point 2); preliminary coordination with an external facilitator (C. Muntwiler); facilitation of the consolidation and decision-making process during a two-day on-site workshop
    • Conclusion: Management commitment to the vision, mission (if applicable), and strategic guidelines. A unified approach to the strategic direction(s)
  1. Implementation of the Strategy
    • Objective: Derived measures and implementation steps (areas of action or strategic initiatives), objectives, and metrics for each measure
    • Procedure: Management and the respective individuals responsible for implementation will define the measures, implementation steps, goals, and metrics, supported—as needed and upon request—by C. Muntwiler as a coach and sparring partner (situational online workshops)
    • Outcome: Defined measures and action plans, including goals and metrics

More Examples of Seminars and Workshops

Goals:

  • Development of Personal Decision Excellence
  • Raising awareness of decision-making errors by oneself, teams and organizations
  • Consciously creating a good decision-making environment for yourself, teams and organizations

Contents:

  • Developing the relevance of decision quality: "What can go wrong in decision making"
  • How decision errors (biases) arise
  • Deepening: Cognitive biases, categories and effects
  • Countermeasures to achieve "Managerial Decision Excellence", procedure, tools, tips
  • Transfer to your own decision-making practice

Scope:

  • Possible as short input, teaser, 1-2h
  • One-day seminar

Objective: To develop a strategy for a company. Approach: Phase 1 (seminar, 2 or 3 days on-site): Teaching the fundamentals of strategic management, as well as the process and tools for developing a strategy, with the goal of achieving a “unité de doctrine” within the management team responsible for the project. Initial application of the tools to the company’s own case as part of a management screening (determining the starting point). Stage 2 (workshop, 2 days on-site): Formulation and development of initial strategic directions, feasibility assessment, and evaluation of options.  Objective: Concrete presentation of strategic options, prioritization, and decision-making regarding the strategic direction. Stage 3 (Workshop, 2 days on-site): Elaboration of the strategic direction in terms of market position, business model, and implications for organization, processes, and capabilities. Development of concrete strategic objectives (KPIs). Derivation of action plans and implementation measures. Phase 4 (optional – workshop, 2 days on-site): Detailing the market position (external implementation) and marketing mix. Developing the final positioning through to concrete action plans. Following this (optional): Regular review sessions (1–2 days on-site) to assess the status of implementation and continuously fine-tune the strategy.

Objective: A 2- to 4-day seminar (depending on the client’s needs) to teach the necessary methodologies and tools for developing a corporate strategy. Content: Fundamentals of Strategic Management

  • The holistic St. Gallen management approach as a navigation tool
  • Where strategies are necessary and useful
  • Strategic screening: correctly assessing the initial situation

Strategic analyses

  • Normative framework
  • Market and environmental analyses
  • Assess your own organisation and its development
  • Portfolio Management

Development of strategic thrusts

  • Instruments for developing strategic options
  • Business model development
  • The evaluation of options

Implementation of strategies

  • Implementation controlling
  • Implementation to the outside world: market positioning, marketing mix
  • Internal implementation: Organization, processes, skills

Objective: Development of a marketing strategy (company, business unit) Approach: Phase 1 (seminar, 2–3 days on-site): Teaching the fundamentals of operational and strategic marketing. Establishing the strategic framework for the marketing strategy. Developing a shared methodology. Phase 2 (Workshop, 2 days on-site): Formulating and developing possible and plausible market positions, followed by structured discussion and evaluation. Initial outline of the marketing mix and levers for market positioning. Stage 3 (workshop, 2 days on-site): Refining the marketing mix, deriving action plans, and defining implementation steps—launching the implementation. Subsequently (upon request): Regular review sessions (1–2 days on-site) to assess the status of implementation and continuously fine-tune the marketing positioning.

Objective: A 2- to 4-day seminar (depending on the client’s needs) to teach the fundamentals and methods for developing an effective marketing strategy. Content: From Strategy to Marketing

  • Basic understanding of the strategic level as a prerequisite for the marketing strategy
  • The starting position and general conditions of market positioning
  • Portfolio management as a link between strategy and marketing - placing marketing activities in the overall context of the company

Marketing analyses

  • Instruments for analysing market attractiveness
  • Our role in the market - managing our own market position
  • How corporate culture and size influence marketing options

The holistic marketing mix

  • From the four to the seven "P's"
  • The central levers of market positioning: price position, performance position, marketing strength, intensity of needs
  • Opportunities and challenges of digitalization in marketing

Implementation of market strategies

  • Marketing Controlling
  • Derivation of action plans and implementation actions

I would be interested in a seminar, workshop, or consulting project with Dr. Christian Muntwiler:

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