Hans-Willi Schroiff

I am Dr. Hans-Willi Schroiff (Hon.-Prof. at RWTH Aachen), a Marketing and Market Research academic and practitioner with more than 30 years of academic and business experience. A former Corporate Vice President at Henkel KGaA, I am the founder and CEO of MindChainge – a Düsseldorf-based consulting firm, supporting clients successfully on consumer-centric new product development.

My academic background is in Psychology (Ph.D. in 1982) and Human Medicine – obtained at RWTH Aachen, Germany between 1978 and 1983. After my doctoral degree in 1983 I was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Psychology at RWTH Aachen. In 1987, I joined Henkel KGaA, a global German DAX company based in Düsseldorf. A globally responsible Corporate Vice President since 1997, I was responsible for their Market Research function until end of 2012. In 2013, I founded „MindChainge“ – a business consulting firm focused on successful consumer-centric new product development.

Besides my business career, I always kept up strong ties to academia. Since 1999 I have been a faculty member at the Faculty of Business Administration of RWTH Aachen – first as a Lecturer, as of 2004 as Honorary Professor of Business Administration. I was appointed twice as a Visiting Professor at the Tuck School of Business in 2013 and 2014. Since 2017, I got nominated as a Lecturer at the European Business School (EBS) at Oestrich-Winkel. Besides that, I had the pleasure to teach on and off at Executive Programs at the Harvard Business School, INSEAD Fontainebleau, the Wharton Business School, and the London Business School.

I live in Neuss, Germany, with my wife Marion. Besides enjoying our six grandchildren, I have remained an avid and dedicated guitar player and I continue to tour in Germany with my trailblazing R&B Band „Mind The Gap“.

Education

• Ph.D. RWTH Aachen University (1978 — 1982)
• Advanced Management Programme INSEAD (1998 — 1998)
• Masters Degree RWTH Aachen University (1975 — 1978)
• Bachelor RWTH Aachen University (1973 — 1975)

RESEARCH

• HOW TO BECOME THE „LEADER OF THE PACK“
• GENDER MARKETING
• NEW PRODUCT IDEA DEVELOPMENT
• VALID COMPANY PERFORMANCE PREDICTORS

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Schroiff, H.-W. (in preparation). „Spearheading Innovation – from Context to Concept“

Ledermann, P., Schmidt, V. & Schroiff, H.-W. (in print). „Permanent im Wandel“. Haufe Verlag: München.

Müller, T. & Schroiff, H.-W. (2020). „Warum Produkte und Start-Ups floppen“. Haufe Verlag : München

Müller, T. & Schroiff, H.-W. (2013): „Warum Produkte floppen“. Haufe Verlag, München.

Schroiff, H.-W. (2011). Marktforschung. In: Amelang, W. & Hornke, L.F. (eds.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologischen Diagnostik. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Schroiff, H.-W. (2007). The Market Research Process. In: van Hamersfeld, M., de Bont, C. (eds.), Market Research Handbook (5th ed.). Chicester: Wiley.

Schroiff, H.-W. (2007). Creating Competitive Intellectual Capital. In: Mouncey, P. & Wimmer, F., (eds.), Market Research Best Practice: 30 Visions for the Future. Chicester: Wiley.

Schroiff, H.-W. (2006). Marketing-Controlling durch Marktforschung. (Marketing controlling via Business Intelligence). In: Reinecke, S. & Tomczak, T. (eds.), Handbuch Marketingcontrolling (2nd ed.). St. Gallen: Thexis.

Schroiff, H.-W. & Arnold, D. (2004). Strategies for Managing Brand and Product in International Markets. In: Quelch, J. & Deshpande, R. (eds.), The Global Market –Developing a Strategy to Manage Across Borders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schroiff, H.-W. (2001). Durchführung des Markttests (Market tests). In: Pepels, W. (Hrsg.). Launch – Die Produkteinführung. Kohlhammer Verlag. Stuttgart.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Blair, M.H. & Schroiff, H.-W. (2001). Wann wirkt Werbung heute, morgen – oder gar nicht? Planung und Analyse, 1/2001. ! Blair, M.H. & Schroiff, H.-W (2000). Advertising: Today’s Sale or Brand Building for Tomorrow. In : Quirk’s Marketing Research Review, May 2000, Vol. XiV, No. 5. Schroiff, H.-W. (2000). Marketing-Controlling der Werbeeffizienz (Marketing controlling of advertising efficiency). In: Planung & Analyse. 1/2000.

Schroiff, H.-W. (1999). „Business Intelligence 2000“ – Einsichten managen statt Daten verwalten (Business Intelligence 2000 – managing insights or administrating data?). Planung & Analyse , 1/99.

Lachmann, U. & Schroiff, H.-W. (1998). Marktforschungs-Qualität: ein Begriff der Buchhaltung oder der Geisteshaltung? (Research quality – bookkeeping or intellectual added value). Planung & Analyse, 2/98, 14-18.

Schroiff, H.W. (1994). Innovation, Qualität, Verantwortung. Perspektiven der Marktforschung im Unternehmenskontext (Innovation, quality, responsibility. Perspectives of market research in a business context). Planung und Analyse, 5/94, 17-24.

Cabus, E. & Schroiff, H.-W. (1989). Das „Choice Optimization Board“ auf dem methodischen Prüfstand (The choice optimization board revisited). Werbeforschung & Praxis, 5/89, 153-160.