Panel discussion on the topic “Digitisation” at “AGRAVIS Unternehmerforum” (business forum)

12th November 2018

AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG is a modern agricultural trading company in the segments of agricultural products, animal nutrition, plant production and agricultural technology. Furthermore, it operates in the areas energy and Raiffeisen stores/markets including construction materials markets as well as construction projects.

With its more than 6,500 employees, the market leader AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG generates a turnover of EUR 6.4 billion and is predominantly active in more than 400 locations in Germany.

On 15^th October 2018, AGRAVIS’ “cooperative business forum” took place in Senden in East-Westphalia. Approx. 40 guests – managing directors and presidents of selected Raiffeisen cooperatives from the field of activity of AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG – met in Senden. The topic: “Challenges of the digital world”.

Following the opening of the forum by the managing board of AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG, Dr. Reinhard Schütte, Professor at the University Duisburg-Essen and Managing Director of consenso Consulting GmbH, lectured on the topic “Digital transformation is more than a platform”.

This was followed by a panel discussion picking up on this thesis:

Digital technology alone does not provide companies with value contribution, and does not make companies agile, innovative and efficient. Instead, it is essential to anchor the idea of change in the corporate culture – reconsidering and questioning the corporate structure and organisation, finally affecting business models and processes. This inevitably also means: realignment and optimisation, respectively change and digital culture.

In the discussion, all participants agreed that AGRAVIS is facing huge challenges. Especially the corporate culture and the view of the employees as companies’ most important resource will keep the management, shareholders and also the employees themselves busy during the next years.