New propulsion technologies, autonomous vehicles and sustainable mobility concepts are transforming not only products, but also the organizations that develop them. But how can companies successfully navigate this transformation? We have invited Dr Gerhard Plasonig to give an expert talk on 18 June 2026, in which he will present an approach to innovation based on the EPOC model (‘Equivalence of Product, Organization and Culture’).
Dr Plasonig is an honorary professor at the TU Munich and an expert in innovation management. In the book “Towards the New Normal in Mobility” (ed. Heike Proff, Springer Gabler, 2023), he has published an article in which he outlines the organization as a reflection of the product and demonstrates how product, organization and corporate culture are inextricably linked.
The EPOC model is explained using practical examples such as Tesla and Ferrari, and Dr Plasonig will demonstrate why traditional hierarchies fail – and how companies can instead become agile, ethical and future-proof. We asked him for a short interview in advance.
Dr Plasonig, the EPOC model links product, organization and culture. Why do so many companies fail to develop these three areas in tandem?
The problem lies in manufacturers’ ‘buy-in’ mentality: instead of developing a product ‘from the ground up’ in-house, as good premium manufacturers do, they buy components off the ‘shelf’ from component manufacturers and assemble them. As a result, a vehicle becomes a collection of purchased parts which – just like the manufacturing organisations themselves – are poorly coordinated.
You compare the development of new mobility concepts to the making of a film – unpredictable and subjective. How can investments and risks still be managed?
Audi provided the answer many years ago: “Vorsprung durch Technik” emerged from the bottom up through the iterative efforts of courageous engineers and a brilliant “director”: this is exactly how great films are made – through trial and error, unplanned sequence changes, brilliant actors, and a very good editor at the end. None of this is found in the strategy documents of top management.
In your contribution to the book, you identify the fourth order – ethics and sustainability – as crucial for the future. How can companies integrate ethical decisions into product development without putting themselves at an economic disadvantage?
That is the big question: the European automotive industry is currently writing off many billions due to well-intentioned yet misguided developments in electric mobility. They misjudged the ‘zeitgeist’, developed products that overshot buyers’ readiness for comprehensive e-mobility, and ended up with excess stock. There are also ethical decisions that a profit-driven company simply cannot afford to make, such as fitting fire-safe Formula 1 fuel tanks into production cars – a move that could potentially save many lives but would make it impossible to sell such a vehicle at a reasonable price. And there are decisions that should – or must – be made on this ethical level that clearly oppose new and cutting-edge technologies – for example, using the CRISPR/Cas gene-editing tool to manipulate healthy embryos, also known as ‘designer babies’.
We invite you to join us for an Expert Talk on 18 June 2026 at 4.00 pm at the TU Wien Academy, where you will have the opportunity to discuss matters in person with Dr Gerhard Plasonig.