Brady Spangenberg leads a team that oversees the critical business information technology (IT) systems, transaction and customer data, business intelligence reporting, and strategic analytics for the U.S. sales organization of BASF Agricultural Solutions. Headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany, BASF is one of the world’s largest integrated chemical manufacturers and suppliers. With approximately 114,000 employees in more than 80 countries, BASF supplies chemistry-based products and solutions to business partners in nearly every part of the world. BASF’s global advertising tagline, “We create chemistry,” highlights the corporate mission to combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Based in BASF Agricultural Solutions Headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Spangenberg and his team focus primarily on supporting the company’s U.S. agriculture product portfolio.
The Agricultural Solutions division has something to offer nearly every grower and farming operation in America. Examples of key brands and uses include Armezon Pro herbicide for early season weed control in corn (see Exhibit 6-8), Priaxor fungicide for foliar (“leaf related”) disease control in soybeans and cotton, and even Nealta miticide for mite control in almond orchards. That is what makes Spangenberg’s job both fun and challenging at the same time. One day, he and his team are formatting county-level data about California almond acreage.

Questions
1. What knowledge and skills are required to be successful as a business systems and analytics manager?
2. What do you think is the best part of Spangenberg’s job? The most challenging part?

3. What does Spangenberg’s career profile tell you about the importance of professionalism and a good work ethic at a company such as BASF?
4. BASF engages in a wide range of environmental protection and sustainability initiatives, including membership in the voluntary Responsible Care initiative for chemical companies.
Dig deeper: Conduct some exploratory research on these initiatives at BASF, and write a short essay or make an oral in-class presentation on your findings.
5. In light of the recent global economic downturn, should Lew Frankfort’s strategy for expanding in China be revised?
6. My Lab Marketing Only—comprehensive writing assignment for this chapter.