ZEISS: Commercializing Science

Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS AG Group, mused on how far ZEISS had come in 175 years of being a pioneer in optics, and how the course he had charted since taking the helm of the company could keep it on track. In his role, he oversaw the four core business units of the group, all operating worldwide: Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets, and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT). Previously, Lamprecht had led ZEISS SMT as its CEO through a tough time when troubles with the manufacturing of optical systems capable of handling extreme ultraviolet radiation held the business unit, and their partners back. Aware of how dangerous hesitant business decisions could be, ZEISS SMT was, once again, at a crossroads. Should SMT focus on investing in the latest lithography technologies, enhancing established technologies, or reducing costs? While Lamprecht had to determine how to allocate the ZEISS Group’s resources to the different units including SMT, the new CEO of ZEISS SMT, Andreas Pecher, was to decide on how to best position ZEISS SMT for the future. How should they balance what was potentially best for the Group, with what was best for SMT, and for the delicate relationships with their partners they had come to depend on?