Jan-Erik Baars

Jan-Erik Baars is head of the post-grad program in Design Management at the University of Applied Science in Lucerne, Switzerland. He also researches the aspects of organizational maturity, design leadership, and customer-centricity. As a result, he created the Customer Centricity Score (CCS) and is the author of the book „Leading Design“, a hand and brain book to develop design-led organizations. He is recognized as one of the leading experts in design management. He led the Bachelor Program in Design Management in Lucerne from 2011 to 2019 and lectures at Universities in Germany and the Netherlands.

In 2011, he founded his consulting firm, and he is advising and supporting organizations to improve the effective use of design. Before starting his consulting, research, and education activities in 2011, he headed Design Management at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany. He joined Telekom in 2009 after 19 years with Philips, where he worked as an industrial designer, design manager, and Head of Design. His design work has won various awards, like the Rotterdam Design Award and the IF-award in Gold.

Jan-Erik Baars is a Dutchman living in Germany and Switzerland.