Publications
Publications
- February 2020
- HBS Case Collection
Klöckner & Co: Steeling for a Digital World
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Abstract
Hoping to get ahead of potential digital disruption at Klöckner & Co.—one of the world’s largest steel and metal distributors—CEO Gisbert Rühl set up both kloeckner.i (KCI), an internal transformation arm, and XOM Materials (XOM), an independent industry platform. KCI and XOM sought to digitize the $350 billion materials supply and service chain, and promote greater price transparency and efficiency. However, the materials market traditionally resisted digitalization, making the process longer, harder, and more expensive than expected. As 2020 opened, Rühl and his teams wondered how they could dramatically increase uptake.
Keywords
Digital Transformation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Market Platforms; Multi-Sided Platforms; Markets; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Technology Platform; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Steel Industry; Information Technology Industry; Europe; Germany
Citation
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Klöckner & Co: Steeling for a Digital World." Harvard Business School Case 820-035, February 2020.
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