Business Leaders

Operating a business in the age of disruption means that all assumptions and practices must be continually revisited and existential threats can come at any time, from any direction. Joerg Bauer, the President & CEO of Hungary-based Tungsram Group firmly believes that an efficient company manager should create and nurture a culture of change that drives employees and processes to stay on top of the game.  

Hungary’s Tungsram, an iconic name in the global lighting industry, returned to the international market in 2018 as an innovative, premium European brand following the acquisition of GE Lighting's general lighting business in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Turkey along with the U.S. giant’s global automotive operation. The acquisition re-invigorated a 124-year-old tradition of playing a leading role in manufacturing technology and service solutions. Tungsram is present in 100 global markets and exports 95% of its products. The company's highly integrated supply chain iscenteredon its 5 factories in Hungary with 4000 employees and a network of 1600 suppliers and partners around the globe. Tungsram Group invests into future-safe technologies and dynamically growing global markets, such as smart solutions, smart cities, indoor farming and healthcarewhile still strengthening its core business.

Staying ahead of Disruption

Tungsram President and CEO Joerg Bauer has been at the helm of the new enterprise since the GE transaction and is intent on leading the company down a path of continuous renewal. Over the past decade, Tungsram’s traditional core business of conventional lighting has been increasingly disrupted by LED technology, with countless new competitors entering the market, especially from Asia. According to Bauer, developments in LED technology for a while were so intense as to almost follow Moore’s law, which predicted that the number of transistors on a microchip would double every two years, leading to exponential growth. In a way,the LED disruption is symptomatic of several industries and economic theory predicting a gradual move to new technologies doesn’t always reflect reality, the executive notes. In practice, the mix of regulations and technological advancementsrapidly changed consumer priorities, often resulting in sudden, massive shifts. "A leader has to be on top of trends, regulations, technology, competitors’ strategy – and create a culture of change everywhere, but at least at the edges of the organization," Bauer states. 

Moving Towards Data-Driven Solutions

"When we restarted Tungsram we asked ourselves what is the purpose of our company, our work – where can we add value to the society?", Bauer says. The answer is tackling some of the most pressing challenges of our times, including food security, sustainability through lower energy consumption and costs, as well as a safe and smart environment. In short, human wellbeing. Tungsram has set out to build a business model rooted in both its innovative heritage and cutting-edge technology and materials by leveraging its state-of-the-art workforce and infrastructure in the heart of Europe. Consequently, the company is moving away from analogue products to data-driven solutions, aiming to offer turn-key solutions in lighting modernization projects, which often include alternative funding models. 

Providing Opportunities for Small Business 

Bauer labels Tungsram and himself as the ‘industrial ambassadors’ of Hungary, always on the search for global opportunities for Hungarian expertise. In addition to Europe and the U.S., the company is also successful in the Middle East.  "As a traditional, 124-year-old brand, we think of Tungsram as a flagship of Hungarian enterprises, an integrator that helps smaller companies to arrive at global opportunities via our supply chain and distribution network in 100 countries," the executives says. Tungsram is actively searching for and cooperating with promising local business, offering them the possibility to exploit the company’s extensive sales network and supply chain. Joerg believes that Tungsram is 124-year-old ‘re-startup’, a multispeed, multi-industry enterprise, that focuses on traditional activities while simultaneously investing into future-proof industries and technologies. "We cannot neglect today, otherwise there is no future - and vice versa," he asserts.

Candid Feedback – a Precious Asset

Prior to taking the helm at Tungsram Group, Joerg Bauer was the President of GE Hungary, an enterprise boasting more than 10,000 employees, 12 plants, 4 R&D and engineering centres and one of GE’s five Global Operations Centers. He also acted as the CFO for GE Healthcare in Central and Eastern Europe and his previous professional experience includes international finance and management assignments at Audi and Mettler-Toledo. The executive notes that close interaction with the managers he had worked with during his career have proven the most useful to him. "Luckily most of them were very good ones that I was happy to look up to. In the best cases, I received candid, fair feedback from them – which as you move up the hierarchy becomes more and more rare and precious.” He adds that some of the constructive criticism voiced by his managers was more valuable than a lot of the “Well done-s”.

Born and raised in Germany, Joerg currently lives in Hungary with his family. He is involved in the work of several prestigious institutions in Hungary, supporting innovation and volunteering. Besides numerous awards, in 2020, Joerg was chosen Person of the Year in Hungary by the Figyelo business magazine.

Balancing Curiosity and Priorities

Bauer opines that being an owner and CEO is very different from being a senior manager in a large organization. "Our teams rightly expects direct communication from the owner, our key customers rightly expect my commitment". He adds that as a result of his extensive travels in pre-COVID times, he has automatically become the face of the company to the media, the public and private stakeholders. While being a great responsibility, this has also provided him with an opportunity to learn and develop, once he embraced the new situation. Joerg Bauer observes that the challenge of leadership is finding a good balance between unlimited curiosity and the ability to prioritize. He says working on too many options overburdens the organization, and too little kills innovation.

No Shortcuts in Experience

Joerg observes that there has never been a time when the younger generation has been so well prepared to add value to the strategy of any company, based on their upbringing in a digital world and their different views and approaches. He also stresses that "At the same time, one of my previous managers always commented that ‘the good thing in 20 years of experience as a senior manager is that it takes 20 years to accumulate it’– there are no shortcuts." Bauer believes that combining decades of professional experience with the fresh and innovative approach of the younger generation is the winning formula for a corporation.