Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V.

What Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. does

Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. is a registered German non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) founded in 1978 through the merger of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft in Berlin and the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der betriebswirtschaftlichen Forschung und Praxis in Cologne, with both predecessor associations tracing their roots to the early twentieth century and to Eugen Schmalenbach, one of the most influential German scholars of business economics. The society operates as a politically and financially independent forum that bridges business research, teaching, and practice, serving over 1,700 individual members and approximately 250 institutional member organizations drawn from German-speaking academia and corporate practice.

The society's service portfolio centers on a portfolio of intellectual and convening assets rather than a single product. Core offerings include 27 Arbeitskreise (working groups) engaging 700+ experts across corporate management, finance/accounting/tax, operations/sales, and industry sectors; two annual flagship conferences, the Schmalenbach-Tagung in spring and the Deutscher Betriebswirtschafter-Tag in autumn; and two publication channels, the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBUR, 78th volume, English-language Open Access, jointly edited with the Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V.) and the Schmalenbach IMPULSE digital platform for practice-oriented analysis. The supporting infrastructure is conventional web technology (WordPress, ManageWP, IONOS hosting) with no proprietary technology platform, and intellectual output is produced collaboratively through the working groups. The society also administers the Schmalenbach-Preis award and the Schmalenbach-Stipendium scholarship to support emerging scholars.

The revenue model is dominated by recurring annual membership dues, supplemented by event registration fees and publication-related revenue. Personal membership subscriptions range from 80 EUR for academia and public service to 155 EUR for business practitioners, with discounted student tiers; institutional and corporate members set their own annual contribution with a 260 EUR minimum and receive coverage for all employees under a single membership. Fees are collected via SEPA direct debit at the start of each fiscal year and are tax-deductible under the society's recognized tax-exempt status. Governance is largely honorary, comprising a Präsidium (executive board) led by a sitting BASF SE board member, a Gesamtvorstand (extended board), and a member assembly, with a small operational team of approximately 25 professional staff based at the Geschäftsstelle in Frechen.

Name

Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V.

Legal name

Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V.

Website

https://schmalenbach.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. is a German non-profit association that bridges business academia and corporate practice through a network of 1,700+ individual and ~250 institutional members, organized around 27 working groups, two annual conferences, and academic publications including SBUR and Schmalenbach IMPULSE.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association / Business Research Society

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing (EDAGAFAL), Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Business research association
• Academic professional network
• Management economics forum
• Corporate governance research
• Professional society membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Cologne

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees are the primary revenue stream. Personal memberships range from 80 EUR (academia/public service) to 155 EUR (practitioners), with student discounts available. Institutional/corporate members pay a self-assessed annual fee with a minimum of 260 EUR. Fees are collected via SEPA direct debit at the start of each fiscal year.
2. Event Registration Fees: Paid attendance for the Deutscher Betriebswirtschafter-Tag and other conferences and events. Some events are free for members; others charge fees. The society offers special rates for members.
3. Publication Revenues: Revenue from academic publications including the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBUR) and Schmalenbach IMPULSE. The society also publishes hundreds of specialized publications from its working groups over the decades.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. is a registered non-profit professional association (e.V.) that operates as a forum for exchange between business research, teaching, and corporate practice. It sells annual memberships (personal and institutional), runs two flagship annual conferences (Deutscher Betriebswirtschafter-Tag and Schmalenbach-Tagung), publishes the Open Access SBUR journal and the Schmalenbach IMPULSE digital platform, and convenes 27 working groups involving over 700 academic and practitioner experts.

Product overview

The Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. is a professional association that provides a platform connecting business research, teaching, and practice. Rather than a unified product, it offers a portfolio of services: two academic publications (Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research/SBUR and Schmalenbach IMPULSE), two major annual conferences (Deutscher Betriebswirtschafter-Tag and Schmalenbach-Tagung), 27 specialized working groups covering all aspects of business administration, plus two funding programs (Schmalenbach-Preis award and Schmalenbach-Stipendium scholarship). The organization serves as a forum where scholars and business leaders discuss current management issues, develop solutions, and strengthen the link between academic research and corporate practice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBUR): International Open Access journal published jointly with the Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (VHB)
• Schmalenbach IMPULSE
• Deutscher Betriebswirtschafter-Tag
• Schmalenbach-Tagung

Products and services

• Personal Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• 27 working groups producing regular publications, position papers, and conference presentations annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (VHB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint editorship of the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBUR), the society's English-language Open Access international journal. This partnership combines the society's practitioner-oriented tradition with VHB's academic standing to produce high-quality business research publications.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CFA Institute: Global professional membership organization for investment professionals; comparable as a large-scale membership body combining credentials, publications, conferences, and practitioner-academic exchange, though focused on finance rather than broader business administration.
• Institute of Management Accountants (IMA): U.S.-headquartered global association for management accounting and finance professionals; similar in offering memberships, continuing education, publications, and conferences that bridge academic research with corporate practice in accounting and management.
• American Accounting Association (AAA): Long-established U.S. scholarly society for accounting and business research with multiple journals, sections, and an annual meeting; a larger incumbent operating the same academic-society-plus-publishing-plus-conferences model as Schmalenbach, though at greater scale and in a different geography.

Direct peers

• European Accounting Association (EAA): Pan-European scholarly society for accounting researchers and educators; closely comparable as a membership-based academic society with annual congresses, working groups, and an affiliated academic journal serving a similar audience to Schmalenbach's.
• European Finance Association (EFA): European scholarly society for finance academics; runs an annual congress and affiliated journals and operates a similar membership-and-conference model aimed at the same European academic and practitioner audience.
• Verein für Socialpolitik: Germany's principal scholarly association for economists; comparable as a long-standing German academic society with working groups, annual conferences, and policy engagement, though broader in scope (economics) than Schmalenbach's business-administration focus.
• Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (VHB): German academic society for business administration professors; directly comparable as a scholarly association for business economics and co-publisher of SBUR with the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, sharing an overlapping member base and publishing model.

Others

• Schmalenbach-Stiftung: The Schmalenbach Foundation, linked to but organizationally separate from the society, administers related prize and scholarship funding; included as a thematically connected ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Regional players

• Deutscher Verband der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschungsinstitute: German association of applied economics and business research institutes; comparable as a DACH membership network that convenes researchers and practitioners through events and working groups, focused on empirical business and economic research.

Emerging players

• Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA): Global professional association for internal auditors; partial overlap with Schmalenbach given the 80th conference's focus on 'Accounting, Auditing, Governance,' comparable in combining professional membership, conferences, and standards-related publications.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@SchmalenbachGesellschaft
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schmalenbach-gesellschaft-fuer-betriebswirtschaft-e-v

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V.