Gustav Bergmann

Studium der Politikwissenschaft, Soziologie und Betriebswirtschaftslehre in Bielefeld und Münster. Nach der Promotion an der Universität Münster Wechsel als Geschäftsführer in die Industrie. Seit 1992 Professor, insbesondere für systemisches Marketing und Innovation (heute in Siegen). Als Partner von CoinCo widmet sich Gustav Bergmann als Coach und Berater der Entwicklung von Unternehmen und Unternehmern. Er publizierte bisher fünf Monographien und zahlreiche Aufsätze und Studien. Z. B. Die Kunst des Gelingens - Wege zum vitalen Unternehmen. Forschungsfelder: Systemisches Marketing, Kompetenzentwicklung Innovationsmanagement, Best Patterns.

Thomas S. Bley

Thomas S. Bley is the co-founder and former Dean of the new School of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany, an advanced interdisciplinary program incorporating management, the hard as well as the soft sciences. He is the initiator of the Master of European Design program, enabling students to study design at a conglomeration of leading universities in Europe.

As director of the graduate design program at Uarts in Philadelphia he conducted joint projects together with Wharton on business strategy and product development. His lectures and teaching style are known for their analytical, but informal approach. Thomas S. Bley is the only German designer to be part of the original Memphis design movement in Milan, Italy. He has been president of Zebra Design, New York, and general manager of Frogdesign, California. In his professional career he is consulting major companies and corporations from hard- to software. His expertise covers a wide field, from graphic to industrial design, from communication to interaction design, including advertising and new media.

Jörg Heithoff

Jörg Heithoff ist geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der Heithoff Identity GmbH, Münster. Das Unternehmen mit derzeit sieben Mitarbeitern berät Unternehmen und Institutionen. Schwerpunkt ist strategische Kommunikationsberatung.

Alan Topalian

Principal of Alto Design Management in London - has a first degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manchester University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Manchester Business School.

He was the first business graduate to enter the design field full time (in 1971) after a spell of management consultancy at Unilever, and has been a practitioner since then. His professional experience spans the design of stationery through to large-scale shopping centre developments. Clients have been drawn from North and South America, Europe as well as the United Kingdom. These have included: British Airways, The British Council, the British Standards Institution, Café Soluvel Brasilia (the largest coffee manufacturer in Brazil), IDEO Product Development, the International Social Security Association (Geneva), The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, and Tesco Stores.

In 1976, he initiated a formal programme of research into the management of design that provided a lead in promoting the common ground between business executives and designers. In its 1984 report 'Managing Design' - sponsored jointly by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Design Council in the United Kingdom - the Council for National Academic Awards concluded an international survey of work in the field by stating 'Probably the most comprehensive and widely researched views on design management are those of Topalian ... '. Institutions surveyed for that report included London Business School and the Royal College of Art, London.

This research has led to several ‘firsts’, among them the analysis of design leadership and board-level responsibility for design, the description of what constitutes a corporate approach to managing design, the teaching of designers and managers together in the classroom, and the development of a series of detailed corporate design management case studies relating to such well-known organizations as Allied Dunbar Assurance, British Airways, British Ever Ready, London Regional Transport, Jaguar Cars and W H Smith. Alan has lectured and run workshops on this work at business schools and design colleges in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Egypt.

From 1989 to 1991, Alan was Visiting Professor of Design Management at Middlesex University Business School during which time he introduced pioneering modules into MBA programmes (mandatory on full-time, part-time and tailored) as well as law and hospitality management courses offered by the School.

Frank van Dam

Van Dam Orenda is the foremost Dutch consulting firm in product development.

We are recognized for working at the cutting edge of management thought on product development, with practical methods and distinguished professionals. Van Dam Orenda helps you to create more value from product development.

Alexander Groenewege

Alexander Groenewege Industrial Design (AGID) is an industrial designer and has a broad portfolio of successful projects; showing ample international experience in designing business to business machines as well as consumer products, based on result oriented work and the capability to reconcile seemingly conflicting demands.