How Hilti Masters Transformation

Abstract

In 2000, Hilti launched a major business transformation project bringing all eight production plants, more than

50 sales organizations, and over 20,000 employees into one single global ERP system. The project was one

of the biggest transformation projects of its kind for the company and it substantially changed the way Hilti

is doing business today. In this study, we report on the transformation project referred to as “the Hilti Case”.

We begin by presenting relevant background information and specifically defining the need for action along

with the goals, vision and strategy. We then report on the project’s realization, its major results, and also the

lessons learned as reflected by the managers involved in the project. We base our study on interviews and

intensive document analysis conducted between 2009 and 2010. The results are presented in the form of a

case narrative to allow for different perspectives of analysis in future studies. We very much encourage fellow

researchers and practitioners to engage in the discussion in order to contribute to the body of knowledge on

global business transformation management.

CASE STUDY

How Hilti Masters

transforMation

by Jan vom Brocke, Martin Petry and Theresa Schmiedel

Hilti is a global corporation in

the construction industry. It provides tools, systems and services to customers worldwide.

With an annual revenue of 3.9

billion Swiss francs in 2010,

Hilti employs almost 20,000

people around the globe, of

which roughly 1,700 work at

the headquarters in Schaan,

Liechtenstein. Two-thirds of all

employees worldwide work directly for the customer in sales

organizations and in engineering, which means a total of

more than 200,000 customer

contacts every day. Hilti has its

own production plants as well

as research and development

centers in Europe and Asia.

Hilti launched its transformation project called “Global

Processes and Data” (GPD)

in 2000. The objective was

to overcome...