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Case Study

Dachser (A): Intelligent logistics

By Benoit F. Leleux and Marta Widz

28 pages

January 2022

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Reference: IMD-7-2313

The case, based on extensive interviews with top executives and two generations of Dachser family owners, documents the genesis and spectacular growth of the global logistics specialist, a group that now has close to 400 locations on all five continents and employs 30,000+ people. Despite its global footprint, Dachser stayed loyal to both its core business – intelligent logistics – and to Kempten, a picturesque town of 70,000+ inhabitants and the center of gravity for Dachser’s operations and the place the Dachser family owners call home. Dachser received the IMD Global Family Business Award in 2019

Learning Objective

Provides rich settings to discuss the operational, strategic, generational and governance challenges of one of the leading logistics companies in the world at a critical time for the industry – the COVID-19 pandemic, which inevitably wreaked havoc on supply chains around the world.

Keywords

Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Freight Transport, Container, Shipping, Road Transport, Warehousing, Family Business, Growth Management, Succession Planning, Value, Mission, Philanthropy, Responsible Consumption, Responsible Production, Strategy, Operations

Settings

World/global
Dachser, Logistics and Supply Chain
2019-2020

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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This case study is part of a series

Dachser (A): Intelligent logistics
Dachser (B): Putting intelligent logistics to the test

Selected for the 2023 Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition

This case study is part of a series

Dachser (A): Intelligent logistics
Dachser (B): Putting intelligent logistics to the test

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