The value of the current BERTRAMS framework for managing supply chain and digital transformation complexity, here in the context of supply chain or digital transformation frameworks, is too some extend similar to typical supply chain concepts – often associated with complexity management, organizational structure, and process integration. These similarities can be found under other names or in related research, but not attributed specifically to “BERTRAMS.”

What Can Be Done to Extend your own Limitations?

1. Addressing Theoretical Gaps

• Many established frameworks (e.g., NIRN’s implementation drivers, Lean/Agile, digital maturity models) recognize the necessity for multi-layered integration: connecting business, technology, and people.
• However, even comprehensive frameworks rarely bridge all the perspectives vital for digital transformation across stakeholders in an organization. Important missing elements often include true cross-functional collaboration, well-aligned governance structures, and clear approaches for managing both systemic and emergent complexity.
• A promising direction is to connect layers of organizational integration (e.g., information, control, and decision-making) with the realities of complexity, as highlighted in frameworks for sustainable supply chains and digital transformation success.

2. Integrating Practical Implementation Tools

• Implementation science stresses that the bridge between theory and practice comes from developing and using shared case studies, context-specific adaptations, and staged integration processes.
• Frameworks must evolve to include concrete practices for joint sense-making—meaning both sides of the “organizational coin” (e.g., operations and IT, or strategy and implementation teams) work together to clarify goals, constraints, and routes to value creation.
• Modern case studies (e.g., integrated company-town projects, digital maturity models in construction) demonstrate the power of involving diverse actors and iterative, inductive-deductive approaches that allow theory to meet practical challenges directly.

3. Enhancing Client Understanding and Collaboration

• Framework extensions should involve mapping both the explicit (processes, structures, KPIs) and implicit (beliefs, habits, stakeholder agendas) facets of organizational complexity.
• Joint workshops, co-created organizational complexity maps, and facilitated learning/feedback cycles help surface mismatched assumptions and create shared language. Mature frameworks actively encourage this kind of collaboration.
• Digital transformation frameworks now also emphasize cultural and partnership factors, rather than just technology or process, to ensure mutual understanding and lasting change.

Recommendations for Evolving the BERTRAMS (or Similar) Frameworks

• Layered Integration: Explicitly tie together technical, process, leadership, and partnership perspectives that cut across and connect different actors in supply chain and digital transformation contexts.
• Iteration and Adaptation: Introduce feedback, monitoring, and incremental adaptation mechanisms to support the framework’s deployment in dynamic, real-world settings.
• Organizational Complexity Mapping: Offer tools for mapping current and potential structures of complexity, governance, and responsibility within and between client organizations.
• Practical Case Inclusion: Build up a portfolio of practical, co-produced case studies that evidence how the extended framework can work to resolve specific challenges across various industries.

Conclusion

To really enhance understandings and bridge the gaps between different “sides of the coin” within organizations, frameworks like BERTRAMS must develop multi-level integration, rigorous but adaptable modalities for implementation, and support for collaborative sense-making processes. Drawing from best practices in digital transformation, sustainable supply chain management, and organizational complexity research will strengthen both theory and practice, enabling more productive partnerships between framework providers and client organizations.

Chapter 2

European S&OP/IBP Leadership Evolution: Navigating Technical Engineering Management and Cultural Transformation Challenges

The intersection of Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) leadership in Europe presents a complex landscape where technical engineering management meets profound cultural transformation challenges. This comprehensive analysis explores how European organizations are witnessing pivotal development moments while struggling to integrate their organizational DNA into rapidly evolving digital frameworks, often encountering what can be characterized as a “cultural freeze” in the implementation of multi-level adaptable integration models.

European companies today face an unprecedented convergence of technical sophistication and cultural resistance, creating a paradoxical environment where advanced planning technologies coexist with deeply embedded organizational inertia. The challenge lies not merely in implementing new systems, but in fundamentally rewiring the cultural and technical DNA of organizations to embrace continuous adaptation and rapid iteration capabilities that modern S&OP/IBP requires.

European S&OP/IBP Leadership Landscape: Roles, Responsibilities, and Evolution

Strategic Leadership Transformation

European S&OP leadership has undergone significant evolution, with roles expanding beyond traditional planning functions to encompass digital transformation orchestration and cultural change management. The modern Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) in Europe now operates as both a technical architect and cultural catalyst, responsible for strategic planning alignment, cross-functional leadership, global-local integration, and digital transformation oversight.

Organizations like ADAMA Ltd exemplify this evolution, where the S&OP Lead & Demand Manager Europe role encompasses managing and optimizing demand planning processes across the EAME Region while setting key performance indicators (KPIs), establishing planning guidelines in alignment with global strategies, balancing regional needs, and addressing market-specific requirements. This role demonstrates the increasing complexity of European S&OP leadership, requiring both technical mastery and cultural intelligence.

Evolution of European S&OP/IBP Leadership Roles: A Multi-Level Framework for Digital and Cultural Integration

The Integrated Business Planning (IBP) approach has gained significant traction in Europe, representing a more sophisticated evolution from traditional S&OP. IBP vereint Elemente aus Finanzen, Vertrieb, Operations und Supply Chain Management, um eine ganzheitliche Sicht auf die Geschäftsziele und Geschäftspläne zu bieten (IBP combines elements from finance, sales, operations and supply chain management to provide a holistic view of business objectives and business plans). This integration demands leaders who can “speak the same language and use the same numbers between all departments, helping organizations make decisions more intelligently and effectively”.

Operational Excellence and Cultural Competency Requirements

European S&OP managers increasingly require dual competencies: technical expertise in advanced planning systems (e.g., SAP, Blue Yonder (JDA)) combined with cultural competence to manage diverse, multicultural teams effectively. The challenge becomes particularly acute in organizations operating across multiple European markets, where cultural differences can impact team collaboration, communication styles, decision-making processes, and problem-solving approaches.

Amazon’s EU Transportation Planning organization illustrates this complexity, requiring S&OP analysts who can “lead weekly country-level planning across the EU Transportation network while coordinating with key supply chain partners” and “analyze large-scale logistics and transaction data to identify user behavior patterns, delivery process issues, and optimization opportunities”. This role demands not only technical analytical capabilities but also cultural sensitivity to operate effectively across diverse European markets.

The Cultural Freeze Phenomenon in Digital Transformation

Understanding Cultural Resistance Dynamics

The concept of “cultural freeze” in digital transformation represents a critical barrier facing European organizations. Cultural barriers to digital transformation often prove more challenging than technical obstacles, with research indicating that “the single greatest barrier to digital transformation is not technical but very human: resistance to change at the cultural level”. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in traditional European industries where “failing fast and bouncing back is not a concept that comes easily to the German business mentality”.

Cultural Freeze Barriers in European Digital Transformation by Organization Type

European organizations exhibit distinct patterns of cultural resistance that manifest as organizational inertia. Companies often develop a culture that is resistant to change, with employees having a strong distaste for shifting routines and evolving roles. This resistance becomes particularly problematic when implementing S&OP/IBP systems that require cross-functional collaboration, shared accountability, and rapid decision-making capabilities.

The Siloed Thinking Challenge

Siloed thinking represents one of the most persistent cultural barriers, where departments operate in isolation, hindering digital transformation efforts by preventing cross-functional collaboration and stifling innovation. In S&OP contexts, this manifests as procurement teams finding cheaper parts without considering implications for logistics costs, or sales teams making commitments without supply chain consultation.

The problem becomes compounded in engineering-led organizations where “engineering teams, by nature, can be resistant to change. When a team has been following the same processes and using the same tools for years, introducing new methodologies can be met with resistance due to fear of the unknown or a belief that ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it'”.

Multi-Cultural Engineering Management Challenges

European engineering management faces unique challenges in managing multicultural teams that span multiple time zones, languages, and cultural backgrounds. Managing international engineering teams involves navigating complex hurdles beyond traditional team management, requiring specialized strategies that balance technical excellence with cross-cultural communication skills.

Critical challenges include time zone friction creating communication bottlenecks, language gaps affecting technical communication, varied cultural norms influencing collaboration styles, and inconsistent communication patterns across cultures. These challenges become particularly acute in S&OP implementations where real-time collaboration and shared decision-making are essential for success.

Multi-Level Adaptable Integration Models for European Implementation

Framework Architecture and Implementation Phases

European organizations require sophisticated multi-level integration models that address the complexity of both technical systems and cultural transformation simultaneously. The Multi-Level and Multi-Dimensional Integrated (MMI) model provides a framework containing three analytical levels (individual, organizational, and business ecosystem), four analytical dimensions (actor, determinant, process, and expected results), and two types of relations (same-level and cross-level).

Multi-Level Adaptable Integration Model: European S&OP Implementation Framework

The implementation framework reveals that cultural integration consistently presents the highest challenge levels across all implementation phases, with organizations struggling particularly during the assessment and implementation phases where cultural transformation and behavior change initiatives face maximum resistance.

Successful European Case Studies

European retailers have demonstrated successful S&OP implementation through structured approaches that prioritize cultural change alongside technical deployment. A European office supplies retailer case study revealed that key success factors include visible executive leadership, alignment in objectives, interdepartmental collaboration, and discipline in implementation, with particular emphasis on overcoming commercial function resistance to change.

German companies have shown that digital transformation requires balancing speed with traditional thoroughness. The proportion of German companies that see digitalization as important has grown to 46%, with 37% generating business through digital products, yet only 26% actually exploit digital services for professional benefit. This gap illustrates the cultural freeze phenomenon where intention exceeds implementation capability.

Integrated Business Planning Evolution in Europe

European IBP implementations demonstrate the evolution toward more integrated approaches. RELEX IBP bietet eine einzige, alles umfassende Wahrheitsquelle für alle Stakeholder (RELEX IBP provides a single, comprehensive source of truth for all stakeholders), representing the ideal of breaking down planning silos with a unified platform that combines granular supply chain optimization with financial planning and profit optimization.

SAP IBP implementations in European companies show successful integration of demand planning, supply planning, and inventory optimization modules, with companies achieving improved forecast accuracy, reduced excess inventory, and enhanced service levels through systematic implementation of integrated planning processes.

Technical Engineering Management and Digital DNA Integration

Engineering Leadership Development in European Context

European engineering leadership development programs reveal the critical intersection between technical expertise and management capabilities. The Engineering Leadership Development Program at Xylem demonstrates the evolution toward programs that “accelerate professional development through technical and leadership training and a variety of business-critical assignments”. These programs recognize that modern engineering leaders require both deep technical knowledge and cultural transformation capabilities.

German technical management education exemplifies this evolution, with programs like Technical Management at Hochschule Heilbronn providing “a unique and holistic qualification profile combining technology, management and business administration” specifically designed for “the interface between technology and business”.

Digital DNA Transformation Strategies

The concept of “Digital DNA” represents the evolution from treating digital as discrete projects to embedding it as organizational genetic code. Organizations with digital DNA demonstrate characteristics where digital capabilities permeate every function and level, with digital fluency becoming a prerequisite for leadership positions across the organization.

European companies like DBS Bank (operating significantly in European markets) illustrate successful digital DNA transformation through comprehensive approaches that included cultural transformation, structural evolution, and technology integration simultaneously. The bank moved away from treating digital as a separate capability and instead embedded digital expertise throughout its operations.

Organizational DNA Digitalization

Digitalizing organizational DNA involves capturing and maintaining key meta-information that describes how a business is designed and operates, including legal entities, organizational hierarchical structures, vision/mission/objectives, user identities, customer records, supplier records, capabilities and processes, policies and procedures, human capital roles, and systems master data.

This digitalization becomes critical for S&OP implementations because any change in an organization, building new software applications, or implementing strategy requires access to this organizational DNA in well-maintained and coherent form. Companies that fail to digitalize their organizational DNA face significant challenges in implementing integrated planning systems that require comprehensive understanding of organizational structure and capabilities.

Development Moments and Witnessing Experiences in European Transformation

Trigger Moments and Catalytic Events

European organizations experience specific “trigger moments” that catalyze digital transformation initiatives. These include investing in Internet of Things (IoT) and smart connected products, mergers and acquisitions, decommissioning legacy systems, compliance requirements, and periods of high growth. S&OP implementations often coincide with these trigger moments, creating opportunities for comprehensive organizational transformation.

Digital transformation tipping points represent critical junctures where small inputs result in disproportionately large and unexpected outcomes. European companies have witnessed these moments particularly during telecommunications deregulation in the 1980s and 1990s, banking deregulation, and more recently during COVID-19 pandemic acceleration of digitalization trends.

Leadership Development Experiences

European leadership development programs increasingly focus on preparing technical professionals for cultural transformation roles. EuroMaTech’s Leadership Development for Engineers & Technical Professionals addresses the unique challenges engineers face in leadership roles, teaching them to lead diverse teams with confidence, resolve conflicts effectively, and drive consistent performance under pressure.

The ECIU Leadership Development Programme demonstrates European universities’ recognition that “leadership now and in future at all levels within universities play a pivotal role” in managing complex transformation initiatives. These programs emphasize cross-cultural competency development and collaborative leadership skills essential for managing diverse European teams.

Cultural Heritage and Transformation Resistance

European cultural heritage presents both opportunities and challenges for digital transformation. Cultural heritage can support equitable climate action and social transformation, but addressing transformation impacts requires both adjusting heritage practice methodologies and better recognizing cultural dimensions of change.

The challenge of “safeguarding without freezing” in cultural heritage mirrors the organizational challenge of preserving valuable cultural elements while enabling transformation. There is a risk that certain elements could die out without help, but safeguarding does not mean fixing or freezing cultural practices. This principle applies directly to organizational transformation where companies must preserve valuable cultural assets while enabling necessary change.

Integration of Company DNA and Cultural Footprint into Digital Tools

Adaptive Integration Framework Development

Adaptive Integration Fabric solutions enable organizations to rapidly create sophisticated interfaces to complex legacy systems through visual, drag-and-drop development approaches. These solutions address the critical challenge of integrating company DNA into digital tools without disrupting core business operations.

European companies require integration solutions that support both technical integration and cultural adaptation simultaneously. Successful integration approaches include no-code real-time development, orchestration engines for complex multi-branch service flows, and support for multiple workflow languages and tools.

Quick Editing and Adaptable Systems

The requirement for “quickly editable integration model” reflects the need for systems that can adapt rapidly to changing organizational needs without requiring extensive technical expertise. Modern integration platforms provide flexible solutions that can be configured by business users rather than requiring extensive IT development resources.

European manufacturing companies particularly benefit from integration approaches that combine scanning, file processing, and format conversion capabilities with flexible integration options that can adapt to various document management systems and workflows. These solutions enable rapid adaptation to changing business requirements while maintaining operational continuity.

Multi-Path Adjustment Strategies

Research on multi-path adjustment in digital transformation reveals four key pathways: cultural leadership (CLP), talent development (TDP), capital-driven transformation (CDP), and process optimization (POP). Simulation results indicate that combinations of talent development and capital-driven transformation perform best, while cultural leadership combined with capital-driven transformation provides high effectiveness with relatively low efficiency loss.

This research directly supports the need for integrated approaches that combine technical implementation with cultural transformation initiatives, rather than treating them as separate workstreams. European organizations achieve better outcomes when they simultaneously address talent development, capital investment, and cultural leadership rather than pursuing sequential implementation approaches.

Recommendations for European S&OP/IBP Leadership

Multi-Level Integration Strategy

European organizations should adopt comprehensive multi-level integration strategies that simultaneously address strategic, operational, tactical, and cultural dimensions. The framework reveals that cultural integration requires the most intensive focus, particularly during assessment and implementation phases where resistance typically peaks.

Successful implementations require dedicated cultural transformation workstreams that run parallel to technical implementation efforts, with specific attention to cross-cultural competency development, change management, and stakeholder alignment activities.

Leadership Development and Competency Building

European S&OP leaders require dual competency development combining technical mastery with cultural intelligence. Organizations should invest in leadership development programs that specifically address multicultural team management, cross-functional collaboration, and digital transformation leadership skills.

Engineering professionals transitioning to S&OP leadership roles need structured support in developing soft skills, stakeholder management capabilities, and change leadership competencies while maintaining their technical credibility and expertise.

Technology Integration and Cultural Adaptation

Digital tool implementation should include explicit cultural adaptation components that help organizations integrate their existing DNA while enabling necessary transformation. This includes digitalization of organizational DNA, development of adaptive integration capabilities, and creation of flexible systems that can evolve with changing organizational needs.

European companies should prioritize integration solutions that enable rapid editing and adaptation without requiring extensive technical expertise, allowing business users to maintain and evolve systems as organizational needs change.

Conclusion

The evolution of European S&OP/IBP leadership represents a critical transformation that extends far beyond traditional planning functions. Organizations face the dual challenge of implementing sophisticated technical solutions while navigating complex cultural transformation requirements that span multiple countries, languages, and business cultures.

The “cultural freeze” phenomenon presents the most significant barrier to successful S&OP/IBP implementation, requiring dedicated attention to cultural transformation alongside technical deployment. European companies that successfully navigate this challenge demonstrate the importance of treating cultural integration as equally important to technical integration, with specific focus on developing leaders who can bridge technical expertise with cultural intelligence.

Multi-level adaptable integration models provide frameworks for managing this complexity, but success depends on simultaneous attention to strategic alignment, process integration, technology deployment, and cultural transformation. Organizations that attempt to sequence these efforts rather than integrating them typically encounter significant resistance and implementation delays.

The future of European S&OP/IBP leadership lies in developing hybrid leaders who combine deep technical competency with advanced cultural intelligence, enabling them to orchestrate complex transformation initiatives across diverse organizational and national contexts. These leaders must become adept at integrating organizational DNA into digital frameworks while preserving valuable cultural elements and enabling necessary adaptation and change.

European organizations that master this integration will gain significant competitive advantages through improved decision-making speed, enhanced cross-functional collaboration, and increased organizational agility. However, success requires sustained commitment to both technical excellence and cultural transformation, with recognition that these elements are interdependent rather than sequential components of successful S&OP/IBP implementation.