From the introduction:

Value networks - global networks of inter- and intra-firm relations that make the world one big production line, come in numerous shapes and sizes, though their purposes usually coincide. One form such a network might take has been devised by the German software group, SAP. SAP maintains a network of 20 “Labs” in 17 countries all over the world, which are tasked with developing and improving software solutions. The SAP Labs Network is a particularly salient example for transcultural collaboration within a global company and is, therefore, a perfect object of study for LEIZ researchers.

LEIZ first encountered the SAP Labs Network when developing its Lake Constance Innovation Cluster Digital Transformation in 2018. The Sustainability Lab in Markdorf, Germany, is one of LEIZ’s closest partners in this project. Thus, when LEIZ planned to launch a “Transcultural Student Research Group” on “A Diverse Network of Relations as Driver of Innovation”, partnering with SAP was an obvious choice for several reasons.

Following up on research questions devised at the 2018 Transcultural Leadership Summit, the 2019 Transcultural Student Research Groups concentrated their efforts on Brazil. Among other things, field missions to Brazil were on the agenda, and the destination of one of those missions was the SAP Labs Latin America in São Leopoldo.