WE ARE CONBEN
We Are CONBEN And How About You?
“If you change the way you look at people, the people you look at change.” Wayne Dyer
We are consultants and coaches with many years of professional experience in various industries, international consulting companies as wells as public organizations.
It has taken us into the wide world in a variety of roles and functions. Leadership experience in different cultures, conceptual thinking, the ability to analyse quickly and to listen to nuances allows us to respond rapidly and efficiently to the specific needs of your company.
We all have different characters – however we have a great deal in common:
It motivates us to bring people closer to their goals.
And we do this with great passion and conviction of our consulting approach.“
CONBEN LEADERSHIP TEAM
Your Contact for Business in Europe
Mrs Susanne Lohrke is a shareholder of CONBEN and belongs to the founding team of the company.
Through her international strategy consulting experience in multinational corporations as well as in industrial family businesses, she is equally proficient in a conceptual and pragmatic approach to complex topics.
After leading Asian and European teams in many industries, Mrs Lohrke has remained true to her passion for “advancing people and companies in alignment with their values”.
She works solution-oriented and with a northern directness. Humour is an essential part of work for her. However, there are also situations where containment becomes even more important. Between these two levels, Mrs Lohrke moves in her coaching.
In addition to her university degree as Diplom-Kauffrau (Controlling & Marketing) at the Heinrich- Heine-University of Duesseldorf, she is a certified coach and supervisor (DGSv) with psychological background.
Expect an open and trustful conversation at eye level when working with her.
Susanne Lohrke
CONBEN Executive Principal
Coach & Supervisor DGSv certified
Dr. Annette Metz
CONBEN Founder
Your Contact for Business in Asia
Dr. Annette Metz co-founded CONBEN in Germany in 2002. After her relocation to Shanghai in 2004, she accompanied the management teams of internationally active CONBEN customers in the area of personnel and organizational development in China, Southeast Asia and India for 18 years. Since 2022 she has been in charge of CONBEN’s Asia activities from Hamburg.
As a scholarly practitioner in the field of organizational development, she serves as a bridge between pragmatic management consulting on the one hand and academic research and teaching on the other. Both her many years in trading/marketing in a European trading company and her experience in a Swiss management consultancy form the basis for her consulting work. After graduating with a degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences (Osnabrück, D) and her Master of Arts in European Marketing Management (Brunel University, GB) Annette Metz received her doctorate from Leuphana University (Lueneburg, D) in the field of international management.
Her passion is to accompany changemakers and their teams to develop their leadership and communication potential holistically. In doing so, she creates trusting spaces for joint discovery, in which the head, the heart and the hand are equally involved. Her personal enthusiasm for facilitating healthy dialogue with the aim of shaping sustainable solutions is the driving force not only for her CONBEN commitment but also for her involvement in social projects.
MINDSET & VALUES
Our Core Values
EMPATHY
- Have openness and ambition to put oneself into somebody else’s position
- Understand where the other person is coming from
- Openness to exchange
- Understand the other without giving up your point of view
- Show respect
COURAGE
- Courage to call a spade a spade
- Courage to make the right decision and act accordingly.
- Courage to admit a mistakes
POSITIVE THINKING
- Positive mindset and attitude
- Work as partners using constructive and imaginative ideas
- Act future-oriented and flexible
- Understand change as a chance
PRAGMATISM
- Implement high quality with a holistic view on structure and processes
- Aim for concrete results
- Recognise resources of the individual person as well as the organisation to reach goals
Publication List
Publications
Artikel & Buchbeiträge & Monografien
- Metz, A.; Schinnenburg, H.; Boehmer, N. (2022): Vertrauensaufbau als zentrale Herausforderung in der virtuellen Führung, in: Die Unternehmung, 76 Jg., 1/2022, S. 50-63, doi.org/10.5771/0042-059X-2022-1-50
- Metz, A.; Schinnenburg, H.; Boehmer, N. (2021): Wenn das Headquarter blockiert, in: Harvard Business Manager, Mai 2021, S. 88-93
- Lohrke, S.; Metz, A. (2021): Online-Supervision und -Beratung in Zeiten von COVID-19, in: Positionen #1/2021, S. 1-8
- Metz, A.; Prange, C. (2020): Interfere! – How Chinese Subsidiaries manage their global headquarters, in: Journal of Business Strategy, doi.org/10.1108/JBS-02-2020-0041
- Metz, A. (2019): Fostering a collaborative mindset, in: Prange, C.; Kattenbach, R. (Hrsg.): Management Practices in Asia. Case studies on market entry, CSR and coaching, Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, S. 253-269, doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19662-2
- Metz, A.; Gunkel M. (2018): China speaks out: How and why Chinese employees use their voice toward German managers, in: Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 60, No. 3, May/June 2018, S. 365-385, doi.org/10.1002/tie.21880
- Metz, A. (2017): Voice – Die Bereitschaft zum kritischen Diskurs als wichtiger Beitrag zur Organisationsentwicklung, in: Freimuth, J.; Schaedler, M. (Hrsg.): Chinas Innovationsstrategie in der globalen Wissensoekonomie, Heidelberg: Springer Gabler, S. 365-377, doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17651-8
- Steinkuhl, C.; Gray, C.; Metz, A. (2015): Lecturing key competencies in China and the challenge of transnational education, in: Schwaegermann, H.; Mayer, P.; Ding, Y. (Eds.): Handbook Event Market China, Oldenbourg: De Gruyter, S. 385-397, doi.org/10.1515/9783110366778
- Metz, A. (2015): Kulturkompatible Führung von chinesischen Mitarbeitern. Qualitative Untersuchung zum Voice-Verhalten, Heidelberg: Springer Gabler, doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-658-09285-6
- Metz, A.; Gunkel M. (2013): China schweigt – Wie westliche Expatriates erfolgreich mit Chinesen kommunizieren, in: Personal Quarterly 4, S. 14-19
- Schinnenburg, H.; Metz, A. (2012): Mentoren in China, in: Böhmer, N.; Schinnenburg, H.; Steinert, C. (Ed.): Fallstudien im Personalmanagement, München: Pearson, S. 280-284
- Metz, A.; Schinnenburg, H. (2009): Führungskräfteentwicklung China – Heterogenität managen, in: Kull, S.; Schinnenburg, H. (Ed.): Auf gelben Spuren, Saarbrücken: Südwestdeutscher Verlag, S. 48-64